Trt "plus" cycle - controlling estrogen
Hey y'all,
Trt typically runs @120 mg test e/week to keep me on the high range on normal and no ancillary compounds are needed.
I'm a few weeks into my first "trt plus" cycle of 500mg test e/week cycle and began getting high estrogen symptoms (massive bloat, crazy acne, joint pain, moody) immediately so I added .25 arimidex 2x/week, 24 hours after each injection. This controlled my estrogen but I'm worried it's over correcting estrogen (low libido, very dry flakey skin, moody in a different way). I'm looking for solutions.
Does anyone use arimidex once a week and does that lead to fluctuations in levels/symptoms?
Or now that it's temporarily controlled, should I only use arimidex reactively when symptoms pop up?
Never had to use an AI before so I'm. It sure where my sweet spot is. All advice is appreciated.
- Bookmark
- 0
- 0
Sucks but as noted, get bloods. Then If E high and you're testing the waters of a cycle you may consider lowering your test a bit and adding in some Primo to reap Primo benefits including helping regulate/lower E2.
AK80Just do 150mg of Test every Monday, Wednesday and Friday instead. Slin pins are great for that. If your bloodwork shows that you still need an AI, then try 12.5mg of Aromasin instead of Arimidex every Saturday.
My solution would be to get blood work. I know a ton of guys who hold water on cycle... test only is not fun especially the older you get. Btw if you are getting sever joint pain, your e2 is crashing. That's something that will happen to me regularly so I throw in low dose dbol the entire cycle.
Bloods^^^. Agree.
Why is test only a worse decision as we age? The only reason I'm apprehensive to add other compounds is fear of aromatization crushing my hair. My only experience is with test and var and I'm pretty sure var wasn't great to my hair at the time.
Your joint health & ligament health get worse & worse. If what I think is happening, your e2 is crashing & your joints are drying out. You are more prone to injury that way. When I was in my earlier 20s I could run high test no issue. 35 now & I have done some pretty bizarre lifts which have left their "damage". The hairline thing is a ruse. If you have family history of hair lose, you are really speeding up the inevitable. Don't take DHT derivatives & you will be fine. Add some Deca/NPP for joint health. If you don't want to run what makes you more efficient, you shouldn't be running gear at all. All these AIs mask more than just side effects. Then they create more if you aren't careful.
trt + is generally your trt dose plus a little something extra. 100 mg of deca, primo or mast maybe. You're just running a straight up cycle @ 500 mg.
The only way to know if you're at a good level with the AI is to go get bloodwork. Take that info and adjust as needed, if needed. No one can give you a legit answer without those details. Go get bloodwork done.
+1 to this. 500mg from 120 trt is not “trt+” it’s a mid-high solo Test cycle! Get bloods get bloods get bloods! End of story 100 times over. You can guess off how you feel, but why not know 100%! It’s cheap, accurate, and easily accessible in today’s world.
I get it. I got bloods less than two weeks before this cycle to establish a baseline. On cycle bloods coming soon.
Gotcha- I didn’t see any blood so assumed you were going in blind. You can only assume so much with sides and they all start popping up at different levels as everyone’s makeup is different. As was said baseline, trial & error. You will get it down brother man.
Totally understand and I appreciate the support.
What I'm wondering about are other people's protocols for getting it down with an ai. I think I'm going to try .25 arimidex 24 hours after every other shot, so once per 6 days, to see if that gets me to a sweet spot, but I'm worried that my estrogen will be yo-yoing like that.
I can tell you that i generally have to take .5 mg EOD when running anything over 350 mg/wk. Once i start to notice that i'm sweating at night in bed i know my e2 is getting too high and i need to start taking my adex.
Adex has a half life and when adex 'dies' it releases the leftover estrogen. Estrogen has a halflife too so theres a rebound effect.
Bloods! Again broken record. Find your bodies reactions. High bf etc can raise estrogen. If you just convert badly then rethink a cycle to low test with a second main compound. Or try like 400eq and 400test. Plenty big for growing with great diet and solid gym routine. Eq slight conversion to a mild ai. Or try a 500mg test with 300 masteron enth. See if mast keeps that conversion to e2 at bay. Etc etc
Fair point on this just being a cycle.
I plan on getting blood work in a couple weeks, but that brings up a good Q: is bloodworm always reliable for estrogen though? At trt baseline my estrogen is relatively high - I can't remember off the top of my head but 60s, I think, but I was completely asymptomatic. Would I use the new number to compare +/- change vs baseline or just to confirm it's not outrageously high or low?
How'd you fare on this after bloods? Adjustments, feeling all right man?
AK80Of course it's reliable. It's the only thing that is (next to how we "feel") You get bloodwork done 1 or 2 days AFTER injecting testosterone so the #'s are more accurate.
The truth is you're going to have to figure out what works for you specifically through trail and error. Some guys like to let their e2 levels get as high as possible so long as there aren't any side effects. Others like to keep it in what's considered the acceptable normal range. If you're not getting sides you probably don't need to worry too much. But if you've never done a cycle like this before you're going to have to get bloodwork after any changes to make sure everything is still working well inside you.
Ideally people get bloodwork done before they start running anything. If you have pre cycle numbers those are what you're going to use as a baseline. If you have to make more changes later while on cycle you'll use the initial 4-6 week bloods you got done for comparison.