Goals of my PCT:
- Restore size and volume to testes
- Recover HPTA from prolonged shutdown
- Maintain as much muscle-mass as possible
Duration of HPTA suppression: I’m basically coming off nine – ten months of straight AAS usage. (Cruising/Blasting)… Included long periods with 19-nors; combination of NPP & DECA & TREN for quite long bursts, so needless to say I was very shut down.
Physiology prior to PCT: My testes were not been impacted significantly from the prolonged shutdown whatsoever; and atrophy was kept to a minimum (barely noticeable, if any) due to HCG at different intervals throughout the ~nine-month span. (IE) Months 2.5 – 3 (HCG @ 250iu/ed). I found these short little bursts of HCG to be very effective.
What my PCT consisted of:
- HCG (weeks 1 – 3) @ 500iu/500iu/500iu/ed
- Clomid (weeks 1 – 7) @ 150/150/125/100/100/75/50
- Nolvadex (weeks 1 – 7) @ 40/40/30/30/20/20/10
- Aromasin (weeks 1 – 4) @ 20/20/10/5
- Accutane (weeks 1 – 9) @ 10mg/ed
Simple enough, right? It was a long PCT, but I definitely thought it was necessary for the goals I had set for myself.
This is a breakdown of what occurred in a chronological order throughout my PCT. To clarify, I just detailed in a dairy basically the ‘impact,’ per say, of the PCT on weekly intervals, and thought some of you might be interested in hearing my experiences.
(Weeks 1 – 3) Side Effects
- During these first three weeks, I felt like a king, honestly I felt better then I have at the beginning of any PCT (but I kind of expected that since HCG usage).
- Regained full size/volume/shape of testes within the first 2.5 weeks.
- Experienced absolutely no PCT depression during this time, to be honest, I was horny as hell 24/7 it seemed, lol.
- Little bit of acne on shoulders; however, I run accutane @ 10mg/ed so it was all gone within 5 – 7 days.
- No erectile dysfunction problems whatsoever
- Hot flashes (clomid side)
- Blurred Night Vision (clomid side)
- Weight Loss: 6 pounds in first 3 weeks
(Weeks 4 – 5) Side Effects:
- When I came off the HCG at the end of the 3rd week I began to feel pretty emotional. Let me rephrase that, extremely emotional (to be completely honest, ha..)
- Significant drop in motivation (little to no desire to ‘want’ to work out)
- Occasional hot-flashes
- Lots of sweating when I was exercising & sometimes light-headed during cardio
- Loved the fact that clomid was only @ 100mg/ed during this spurt of the cycle. I can easily handle that… it’s the 150mg/ed that really bites me with sides.
- Weight loss: 2 pounds (~ 1.1 each week)
(Weeks 6 – 7) Side Effects:
- The last two weeks of my PCT were virtually painless; except for one embarrassing issue: ED
- Significant drop in libido during this spurt
- No desire to have sex; and even difficultly sustaining erections during this time. (very awkward, lol)
- Occasional headaches
**During this time, and for two weeks following the discontinuation of my PCT I experienced erectile dysfunction regularly, Viagra/Cialis were my best friends, lol.**
- Weight Loss: 2.4 pounds
Reflections on the PCT:
- I truly believe that this was a very effective PCT. It was very long, and took quite a toll on my emotions and feelings; however, it was definitely worth it to fully recover
- Found that by using HCG within the first couple of weeks; although it’s suppressive, it seemed to help with recovery, and probably sped it up imo.
- 150mg/ed of clomid sucks. LOL.
- Liked the addition of aromasin in the PCT, felt it made a very positive contribution for the first four weeks. Probably helped control estrogen a bit as well (from the HCG spikes of E2)
- Total Weight Loss: 10.4 pounds (in two months)
o Very significant weight loss; however, it was expected & muscle mass was still retained, strength did not take as spark a decline as I imagined, which was a positive.
Would I do it again?
- Yes, indefinitely I would follow this protocol in the future; the only thing I might change is incorporating the use of HMG as well, at the beginning of PCT.
- That said, I’m not planning on doing long-cycles anymore, I’m getting tired of the highs and lows of coming off. From now on it’s going to be simple 6 week bursts, with a 4 week PCT following that.
Blood-work Results: 3 weeks and 5 days (7:00am) after discontinuation of all SERMS
Test Total: (Range: <4.5) – 3.25 nmol/L
Test Free: (Range: <50) – 25.8 pg/mL
Estrogen: (Range: <220) – 43 pmol/L
Reference range: Anything below 220 = post-menopausal/hypogondal
LH: (Range: <9) – 4.57 miu/mL
FSH: (Range: <20) – 5.21 miu/mL
SHBG: (Range: 10 – 70) - 41
Progesterone: (Range: 10 – 200) – 98 ng/mL
GGT: (Range: 10 – 58) – 33 U/L
ALT: (Range: <50) – 40 U/L
Ferritin: (Range: 15 – 180) – 31 ug/L
I know this isn’t the most complete blood-work; but it does give a lot of hormonal information, and in my doc’s opinion it suggests that I have nearly 100% recovered from the prolonged period of HPTA suppression/ shutdown.loll..
Before I ever started cycling I got blood-work done with placed my Total Test levels @ (range: <4.5) – 3.7. So although I haven’t reached my normal levels just yet, I am very close. Remember, I’m only ~3.5 weeks off cycle, so these numbers are great IMO.
I'm getting a sperm analysis done in about a week; just to check where my 'swimmers' levels are at. I will update them in the thread once the results come back.. (I realize that would be important information for people trying to conceive!... just be patient,)
Well anyways, long post, but honestly I hope this helps people out who are dealing with coming off prolonged periods of shutdown (or perhaps for people trying to conceive after being on cycle for prolonged-periods of time.)
Have a good one boys.
-VM![]()



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