WTF Ed? Everyone knows oral only cycles are stupid. You have to be joking.

No kids, I’m not joking. I’m very serious… but before you jump my shit please hear me out. As some of you know, I have had some medical issues as of late, and due to the issues the doc has me on Corticosteroids, which are in fact catabolic. The catabolic effects have been very evident, especially in the strength department. I still hit the gym hard, but every week, I notice in each lift that I am becoming weaker and weaker by the week. I am currently off cycle and have been for a couple of months now. My test levels are good, and to be honest I’ve never had such a decrease in size and strength like this.

So as of late and out of deep concern, I’ve been reading a good bit on how to counter this. I know for sure that my medical issue is going to require that I take the corticosteroids for at least another month. This is shitty to me. It seriously sucks to lose hard earned muscle.

So my cycle in turn will be 1 month long.
With the goal of stopping the catabolic effects of cortico steroids all the while minimalizing effect on my axis and natty production so that I will be able to start a normal cycle shortly after stopping the corticosteroids.

“Damn Ed, that’s a short cycle, you won’t get gains from that?”
That’s correct kids, but I am not running this cycle for gains, I am merely trying to stop the catabolic effects of the corticosteroids. Without upsetting my axis. That is my main goal. Anything extra will be a bonus.

So this is my cycle:

10 mg Anavar/Oxandrolone Every day split, once in the morning, once in the evening.
25 mg Proviron/Mesterolone Every day split, once in the morning, once in the evening.
20 mg Nolvadex/Tamoxifen, split once in the morning once in the evening.

Let me explain my rationale behind this little cycle. First let’s talk the Anavar/Oxandrolone.
The reason that I am going with the Anavar is because Anavar is actually FDA approved for use as an offset to protein catabolism caused by the administration of corticosteroids, and that is my very issue.

Yes kids, Anavar/Oxandrolone will cause shut down, but not too terribly significant in small doses. Studies show that 20 mg/day of oxandrolone suppresses endogenous testosterone by 67% after 12 weeks of therapy.

I decided on 10 mg/day, because it is quite a common dose prescribed for this very condition, and I don’t believe that one month of this will cause much suppression.

Oxandrolone, shuts the body down on high doses because it thinks the body’s test production is too high so it reacts by reducing the production of luteinizing hormone in turn eliminates further stimulation of Leydig cells in the nuts causing nut shrinkage.

This is where the Nolvadex comes in. I will use a small dose of Nolvadex/tamoxifen in hopes that it will counter the Oxandrolone by increasing the responsiveness of luteinizing hormone perhaps even giving me a slight increase in natural test. From my last blood test, my natural total test was above 800, which in my opinion for a 37 year old steroid using bro off cycle isn’t too bad. However my Free test was low. I believe this to be a result of the fact that I had eaten very little prior to the blood test. I experienced extreme weight loss due to the illness. I’m talking 20 lbs in 20 days. It was very shitty.

I believe the free test is back up because I have noticed quite an increase in sex drive since I’ve been eating again. I wish I had a blood test, but don’t. I’m pretty good at knowing where my test is at just from experience. So, I'll trust my inner feelings.

However, not taking any chances, to combat the low free test just in case), and yeah, I’d like to get a slight edge up on the competition, I am going to throw in 25 mg of Proviron/Mesterolone per day.
I decided on that number because from what I’ve read, that low of a dose doesn’t significantly reduce natty test levels. Yes, mesterolone in high doses will cause shut down, so again hopefully the Nolvadex will take care of this and be enough to counter such a low dose of Mesterolone.

So that is my cycle, and my reasoning. No, I don’t expect huge gains; I just expect that I will no longer see the catabolic effects of the corticosteroids. Once the month is over, I will stop the cycle and give myself a month before I jump back into a normal cycle. I don’t dare cycle with injectable steroids right now due to the immunosuppressive action of the corticosteroids. There are some serious risks of infection, and though I love my underground sources, I don’t want to take the chance of infection. I pinned pharmaceutical B-12 the other day and notice slight pip with that, and I never get pip from it. So I don’t want to take any chances with UGL gear.

To gauge my results, I will record my weight weekly (I am currently sitting at 215, 9-10% bf), and every Monday to gauge my strength I will for my first lift of the day, put 315 on the bar bench press and do five reps per set spacing sets out at 90 seconds per set until I reach the failure set. I will record the number of reps each week of that particular lift and compare week to week just as a general measurement. As a side note, before this sickness I could rep 405 8 times, now I can’t even come close. This is why I chose 315 as my number.

I understand my caloric base line, and I will strictly control my diet throughout the test.
Now that you have heard me out, feel free to critique, improve or share any thoughts. This simple light cycle is to merely keep me from losing any more muscle. That is the main goal. If I get an increase, that would be awesome.

Perhaps this little experiment will help any of you brothers who may be stuck in my same predicament of having to use corticosteroids such as prednisone now or in the future. I look forward to sharing the results in a month.

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to give some input, negative or positive all will be appreciated. I know we have some incredibly smart bros here so I wanted to throw this out before I jump in head first on Monday.

Thanks for reading.
All my love, no homo Ed.