[b said:
Quote[/b] (jboy @ Nov. 05 2003,5:54)]
"First off I agree with you about ephedra...taking the stuff makes me quick tempered and depressed...not to mention the effect is has on my sleep. I don't tolerate it well, I guess."
Plenty of people have that problem. Plenty more do not. Therefore, if you have that problem, don't use it. If you don't get that problem, use at will.
"I was shut down hard on a Test/EQ cycle. My cycle was 6 weeks of 500mg/test & 400mg/EQ."
Why would you do a 6-week cycle of a "long"-acting ester like undecyclenate? Also, what test ester was used? A 6-weeker of Boldenone and Testosterone would leave one shut down (depending), yet not allow for an optimal length of time so that the Boldenone could reach optimal levels. Even worse if you used a long-acting Testosterone ester. So, right off the bat, you short-changed yourself with your compound choice for that cycle length. If you had chosen Testosterone Suspension/Testosterone Propionate along with perhaps Boldenone (no ester), you would have made out much better on all fronts.
"Before that cycle I had done a test/dbol and 2 tren only cycles. The tren shut me down hard too (fina dick), but I seemed to recover from it fairly quickly."
Trenbolone is known for being especially nasty to the HPTA in most. All the same, that's not why you got Fina dick, nor is Fina dick an accurate method of establishing HPTA suppression.
"The thing is, I have this feeling that I wouldn’t be able to recover from any cycle now…I don’t think my body would tolerate being shut down again. I don’t plan to find out."
That's simply a personal choice. No fault in it, either way.
"Luckily I was able to recover most of what I lost (like I said, about 85%). For a while I didn’t think I was ever going to get my sex drive back…not a good thing!!!"
Subjective feelings. Beliefs.
"I did the standard post cycle clomid thing (didn’t do a dang thing)."
What is the "standard" use of Clomid? And how do you know it didn't do a dang thing? Did you have you have a blood panel with Testosterone, etcetera, checked? Considering that you didn't properly time the usage of your Boldenone, I could see you potentially improperly applying your Clomid usage. You may have been finishing your Clomid just as your levels of Boldenone and exogenous Testosterone were dropping below the point where they were exerting suppressive stimulus to the HPTA. In that case, it would have been as if you had never taken any Clomiphene at all.
"I also had some liqidex on hand (which didn’t help either)."
Again, how did you use it? Also, consider that Liquidex is a basically bootleg stuff. Different sellers have products with varied active ingredient amounts. In other words, you may have bought underdosed or bunk product.
"Over the next few months I tried tribulus (which actually helps me now if I stick with it), ALC…basically everything rumored to boost testosterone levels."
Tribulus has nothing to do with Testosterone. Only one study *by the manufacturer of the product* found any change in Testosterone levels...in rams...that didn't take AAS prior to the study...not humans...taking AAS prior to use. Tribulus is more of a stimulant for libido than anything else. People equate the increased libido with increased Testosterone levels. Such is not the case with Tribulus. Protodioscin this and Steriodal Saponin that. It doesn't appreciably raise Testosterone levels, especially after an AAS cycle. It is giving you a positive effect, but not in the sense you (naturally) assumed it was.
Acetyl-L-carnitine is good stuff, but not for restoring endogenous Testosterone in suppressed individuals...unless you are a rat suppressed from swimming to exhaustion in cold water. No relation to post-cycle suppression.
Notice the word you used. "Rumored". Exactly. Rumored. That is all.
"It was a big wakeup call to have this happen and realize that there really is nothing I could do to fix it."
Nothing you know of that you can do to fix it.
"The standard clomid answer is a poor defense which I found it to be very ineffective. This is one of the areas where there is a big void in the side effect prevention game."
The void comes from not applying personalized therapy to personalized cycles in unique individuals.
You may be "that guy" (we have all heard of "that guy" in passing) who simply is of such a constitution that you are now unable to recover from the effects of a cycle. You honestly may be, despite what I pointed out above. Still, most people don't react to AAS use by turning out like "that guy", so taking an alarmist stance to their use, just like the manner in which ignorant soccer moms take an alarmist stance to creatine, ephedrine, and protein supplements, is...myopic.
There IS a risk. There IS. However, for most folks, that risk is very slight. For those who know their bodies and exactly what they are doing with the compounds available to them, the risk is even less.
They are not as benign as water (which can also kill you if you take enough, mind you), but they are far less damaging than alcohol or even OTC pain meds like Acetominophen and Acetyl salicylate. Have you ever had an alcoholic beverage? Taken a tylenol or an aspirin for an ache? Probably.
Risk is inherent in being alive. Expand your knowledge to minimize that risk, if you intend to use something.
Or don't use them. The choice is yours...and mine.
