Hey guys! It's great to find a forum for the over 40 crowd. Before I post my q's, I'll fill you in a little on me.
Stats:
5'11
200 lbs
43 yr old
Currently been training for 2 yrs (much more when younger)
Current routine: 2 day split. Lift Mon, Wed, Fri...Cardio Tue, Thur, Sat
Day 1: Chest, shoulder, quads, tri's, abs
Day 2: Back, bi's, hams, calves, traps
I generally keep the volume low, doing a few warm up sets per exercise and only one working set to failure with the heaviest weight I can handle in good form. Example from today: chest - 40 pushups, flat bench 135 lb 12 reps, 155 lb 12 reps, 185 lb 12 reps (work set). Incline press - 135 lb 12 reps, 155 lb 11 reps (work set). Squat - similar deal ending with 205 lb 12 reps. Other exercises were leg press, leg ext, cable laterals, cable tri ext, cable crunch, hanging leg raise (no warmup on abs, just 1 set to failure of each). My rep scheme changes from one work out to the next. Today was 12's, next time will be 8's, and the next time will be 5's (for bench, squat, and rows), then back to 12's. So bodyparts get hit twice one week, once the next. I think I may go back to a "once a week per body part" soon, but I DO like to change things up every 6 - 8 weeks...
Diet is not bad but could always use improvement.
Today:
Wake at 5 am, drink one cup of coffee.
6 am - 3/4 cup of oatmeal w/skim, 5g creatine mono, 2g beta alanine, 30g protein blend (syntrax matrix 5.0), 2 tsp flax oil, multi vit, digestive enzymes, probiotics, b-complex, 400iu vit e, 2g fish oil, 1g acia extract.
8 am - 1 scoop NO shotgun...off to gym.
8:30 - 9:30: workout
9:35 - pws: 3 tbs dextrose, 50g maltodex, 40g whey, 5g creatine mono, 2g beta alanine, 2 tsp flax oil.
12:30 - 1 baked chicken breast, 8oz salad w/lowfat dressing.
4:00 - 1 cup brown rice, 2 cans (5oz) tuna, 2 tbs olive oil (xtra virg)
7:30 - 1 baked chicken breast, 1/2 cup steamed carrots, 1/2 cup steamed broccoli.
Drink 4 liters filtered water per day.
That's a typical day for me. Enough of that for now...

So things have slowed to a crawl as far as gains, when I push too hard my body tells me I'm not as young as I used to be...shoulder issues, bicep tendonitis, low back problems (recent x-rays show bone spurs and arthritis starting to set in), etc.
So I made the decision to give AAS a try. I've ordered my gear and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. And yeah, I still have mixed feelings about what I am about to do...and some fear I guess. But the decision is made and the money is spent, so...

First cycle will be like this:
wk 1 -10 test c 250mg 2x wk, adex .5 ml EOD
wk 8 - 12 t-bol 25 mg ed
wk 12 - 16 nolva 40/30/20/20

My biggest fear at this point is changing too much too soon, if you know what I mean. I don't want it to be obvious that I am taking AAS.

So my question is, at these dosages, is this fear unfounded? Should I reduce the test to 400 or 300 a wk? What can I expect?

I hope to be a part of your community for a long time and appreciate your experience and support.