INTRODUCTION TO POST CYCLE THERAPY
A post cycle therapy is a controlled follow-up treatment to restore hormonal balance after completing a course of drugs or supplements. Any medicine, prescription drug or over the counter products, dietary or nutritional supplements, anabolic androgenic steroids, or other substances that cause substantial changes in the body will have aftermath effects. The biochemical changes in the body will have to be neutralized and then the various hormones should be restored to their optimal levels. It should be noted that a post cycle therapy should not undo the developments attained by the specific course of drugs, steroids, or other supplements.
The Significance of Post Cycle Therapy
Post cycle therapy may use drugs, supplements, diets, and lifestyle changes to stabilize various hormones and then to restore them. Such therapy is necessary after a steroid cycle. Anabolic-androgenic steroids will lead to the suppression of many hormones, especially testosterone. The steroids have traces in the system even after the cycle but they will get flushed out in due time. Some get flushed out sooner than later. As these traces leave the body, there is a scarcity of the triggers that maintained a certain state which facilitated bulking up, cutting, enhanced strength and endurance, more power, and other effects. The body may shed the improvements but the suppressed hormones may not be restored naturally. This is why a post cycle therapy is so important. The suppressed hormones have to be restored for obvious reasons. It is also necessary for the post cycle therapy to help the body retain some of the developments achieved with the use of steroids.
Clomid or clomiphene citrate and Nolvadex or Tamoxifen are widely used in post cycle therapy to restore natural testosterone levels. Both these agents can block estrogen in the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. This leads to negative feedback inhibition. There are of course other drugs or agents that can also serve the same purpose. Male users often use drugs to increase follicle stimulating hormones and luteinizing hormones. These stimulate the testes to secrete more testosterone.
Standard Protocol for Post Cycle Therapy
Nolvadex has a standard dosage of 100mg for the first day of the post cycle therapy. The next ten days should be 60mg per day. The subsequent ten days should be 40mg per day. The duration of the steroid cycle, the choice of steroid and its potency, the extent of development experienced and other factors will influence the exact dosage. The post cycle therapy, in this case, is of twenty-one days. Some people may need a longer period.
Clomid can be taken for the same period of time. If it is being used along with Nolvadex then Clomid should be limited to 250mg for the first day, 100mg per day for the next ten days, and 50mg daily for the last ten days. The dosage of Nolvadex should also be reduced to 60mg for the first day, 40mg daily for the next ten days, and 20mg daily for the last ten days. Those who have stacked steroids during the cycle, that is the use of multiple anabolic/androgenic steroids during the same period of time, will have to review the standard protocol of post cycle therapy accordingly. The dosage may have to be increased. The course should also be changed accordingly.
Getting Started with PCT
The exact start date and the duration of post cycle therapy will always be determined by the steroid used. For Testosterone Enanthate, the post cycle therapy should last three weeks and should start two weeks after the last time the steroid was taken. The same rule applies in the case of Testosterone Cypionate. Testosterone Propionate requires a post cycle therapy to start three days after last taking the steroid. The duration of the therapy should be three weeks. Testosterone Suspension requires the therapy to start in eight hours after the last administration and the course is three weeks.
Sustanon demands a post cycle therapy three weeks after the last time the steroid was taken and the course should be three weeks. Winstrol requires post cycle therapy to start within twelve hours. Dianabol needs on in eight hours. Trenbolone needs therapy in three days and the duration of post-cycle recovery should be four weeks. Trenbolone is much more potent than ordinary steroids so the suppression of testosterone is severe. Deca Durabolin demands four weeks of post cycle therapy starting three weeks after the last time the steroid was administered. Primobolan depot needs two weeks of therapy in fourteen days. Anavar needs the therapy for two weeks starting in ten hours after the last consumption.
Use of HCG in Post Cycle Therapy
Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin or HCG is a peptide hormone. It can be used by bodybuilders who are suffering from testicular atrophy during or after a steroid cycle. HCG was an integral part of post cycle therapy till a few years back. HCG was believed to aid the restoration of testosterone. This was found to be untrue as the effects are not exactly as was understood. HCG may or may not play a major role in restoring testosterone but it can help prevent or manage testicular atrophy. HCG should not be used in post cycle therapy. It can be used before the therapy for testicular atrophy.
Loss of Development during Post Cycle Therapy
Steroids are used for noticeable developments. It is possible the bulky and shapely muscles will lose some mass and the finely sculpted aesthetics will become subtle during post cycle therapy. These effects may persist after the therapy too. Steroids do not have positive effects lasting an entire lifetime. However, users will not lose the entire bulk gained during the steroid cycle. The cuts that had become prominent during the steroid cycle will still be there and regular workouts will help in retaining the aesthetic and sculpted appearance. The accentuation will be lost to an extent. This is unavoidable regardless of the steroids you have used or the drugs you choose for your post cycle therapy.
