Cut. Test var is straightforward and var kills appetite. Super anabolic so it holds muscles and adds size. Var the last 6 weeks of cycle. I like 50mg split am pm.

For nerves....you have a pt. Tried tens unit?

My vote, and take it with a grain of salt is to cut. Easier to cook a meal in a clean kitchen right?

If you don't slash cals to hard you can still recomp to a degree, esp regaining untrained/depleted muscles.

Getting bigger might have you hating the mirror very bad in a hurry. Imagine getting up to 25%? Know what I mean?

Congrats on your progress this far tho coach. Keep it up big dawg.

Honestly, I don’t think your real choice is “bulk and recover” versus “cut and permanently sacrifice the arm.” That is too binary.

There is no reason to assume that a controlled calorie deficit will stop nerve regeneration. You are carrying roughly 20% body fat, so you are not in an energy-depleted state. More importantly, the returning pec and triceps are essentially detrained muscles receiving improving neural input. That creates a very different situation from trying to build entirely new muscle as an advanced lifter. Muscle memory, renewed recruitment and progressive rehabilitation may allow you to regain meaningful tissue at maintenance or even in a modest deficit.

I would not do an aggressive cut, but I also would not deliberately run a traditional 16-week mass phase from 20% body fat. My choice would be an 8–12 week recomp phase:

Eat around maintenance or use only a small deficit.
Keep protein high and distribute it across the day.
Continue the rehabilitation and carefully progress the affected muscles.
Track waist, weekly average weight, photographs and actual strength, not daily InBody readings.
Have the nerve objectively followed with EMG/nerve-conduction testing if your specialist recommends it.

If strength and muscle thickness are returning while your waist is slowly decreasing, you have your answer. You can then decide whether a short growth phase is warranted from a healthier starting body-fat level.

I would also take the hematocrit issue more seriously than “everything looks good except hematocrit.” That is one of the markers most likely to become worse when exposure increases. I would want the cause evaluated and the number demonstrably controlled before adding more compounds especially before considering a stack involving testosterone, NPP and an oral. Tren is not a clever recomp solution to a neurological rehabilitation problem, either; it adds substantial risk without guaranteeing that a partially reinnervated muscle can respond.

At 47, I understand the feeling that the clock is running, but that is an argument for preserving health and maximizing the recovery window not forcing a “beast-mode” blast while one arm is still neurologically recovering.

My vote: maintenance-to-slight-deficit recomp, progressive rehab, objective nerve testing and no escalation until the hematocrit is genuinely addressed. Reassess after 8–12 weeks. You may be surprised how much of the lost size returns without accepting another significant increase in body fat.

HGH does wonders but you need to take some time off.
Let your body recover and see where you are 3 months after the Gold kicks in
Been there done that
yeah, it sucks but life isn't easy

A real good tens unit or two will do wonders with LR3
Worst case scenario is to make both arms the same size
Hey, nobody gonna notice
you already know this or your partner has told you many times

I wouldn’t lean into doing a full blown cycle yet. Perhaps adjusting training, cut slightly, and maybe use healing peptides to aid in the recovery.

Like someone else said, bulking on cycle at 20% bf is never a good idea.

Nandrolone will drive up that hematocrit like a son of a gun. Dbol too. Double whammy. Careful

I don’t see a tough decision here. At 20% body fat, your only option is to cut. This is my $.02.