+ 10 pct for women
a post I found very useful when first starting out ......
ok... this subject has been up for debate for as long as i can remember... There are not many studies nor research as with aas and pct for men...
So, i figured it was about time to make a post about women's pct options to help out women when coming off a cycle and to help men help women since we are VERY different!!!
Post Cycle Therapy i am sure you have heard time and time again... For men, this usually includes an ancillary to re-stimulate natural test production etc. With women, PCT is VERY VERY different.
I know it has been the general assumption that women do not need pct, however, it has come to my attention (and from years of experience) that we actually DO in fact need PCT...
Post Cycle Therapy for women obviously does NOT include a test stimulant, but rather other factors...
Tapers: Everyone wants to know about tapering... Well, that really depends on the aas you are using... The milder the aas, the less the taper. For example, anavar does not call for a taper, however many women have seen less side effects post cycle with a little post cycle taper. This may be 1 week after you complete your cycle where you taper down. Considering the average dosage is 10mgs, a taper would be: (5, 5, 5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5)
In my own personal experience with anavar, a taper for me really isn't necessary... so just stopping is fine. HOWEVER, i do apply Post Cycle Therapy!
I feel PCT should be considered due to these reasons:
Depression: MANY women report depression post cycle. I personally got it really really badly last nov, so now the last week of my cycle, i start cycling in 5HTP. You can also use St. Johns wart or valerian root etc...
Estrogen Rebound: Granted anavar is a mild androgenic, it is still an androgen. Some women experience a slight estrogen rebound. I personally have ALSO experienced this...
One of the ways i counteract it is to take "Twinlabs Male Fuel". This actually aids allowing my test levels to lower but not drop, thus preventing an estrogen rebound. When a hormone drops suddenly another one always tends to increase to counteract, even though it may not be beneficial to us...
Another way is to use a very very mild dosage of an estrogen suppressor (ie. nolvadex) to allow the estrogen to slowly level out as the test levels fall post cycle. (As our test levels begin to return to normal and decrease, estrogen will increase post cycle, due to the fact that an aas does suppress estrogen levels a bit, so a suppressor will control the speed at which it increases- thus preventing a possible estrogen rebound!)
Appetite: Most AAS tend to increase your appetite. This has a bit to do with an accelerated metabolism (increased muscle and protein synthesis), nevertheless, aas can increase appetite. With that said, I think a strict diet should follow your cycle.
My reasoning for this is that fact that since you have an increased appetite from using an aas, now that that is over, you will continue to experience an increased appetite, but with no aas anymore. Basically saying that now that you are OFF, you will not be using all the calories/fuel as efficiently as when you were ON. So if you splurge like crazy, you WILL notice a rebound in weight and or fat. Get it
I HIGHLY recommend a clean diet for about 2 weeks POST cycle!!
Those are the 3 main factors i can think of that may cause havoc with a woman's mental and physical well being post cycle... They are ALL factors i have personally dealt with, struggled with and learned to control!
As a female who is using aas, PLEASE know ALL the facts!!! Be over-prepared! There is nothing worse then a women who loves her results from weeks of suffering, training, dieting, etc... only to waste all her hard work and experience negative side effects post cycle... Estrogen rebound is a bitch. Weight/fat rebound is a bitch. Depression, we won't even go there lol...
So please ladies... LISTEN to your body. Get to really know what works for YOUR body! You may never need post cycle therapy, but you may... so good luck!!!
Stay Strong in the Iron Sisterhood!!
Luv super
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Great post. Please allow me to express a slightly different (and personal) point of view. Please, beforehand, I want to make it clear that I'm just expressing an opinion.
My (little) experience with women starts on my wife. Regarding tapering down, I think it's very useful. See, in case a girl is taking low oxandrolone dose, that's fine, but I've seen girls going over 10mg/ed up to 40mg/ed, which is nonsense. In case a crazy nut head is going that high, then tapering down would be extremely welcome to minimize the possibility (or the intensity) of eventual hormonal crash, especially when it comes to short half-life drugs, as the long half-life esters tend to gradually reduce blood levels. Anyway, IMHO, tapering down is always valid and it comes to be a safety practice.
Regarding estrogens inhibitors, it really should be closely followed by blood work, as dropping estrogens down would launch a woman to an induced menopause-like situation and, perhaps, there might be a rebound effect as the body may produce even more estrogens to reach homeostasis. My wife has never used estrogens inhibitors, and she'll do only if her period does not come back after a deadline of 90 days after the last dose/shot of AAS.
Regarding post cycle mental sides, some practices have been very useful for us (and I say us because my wife and I go through her cycles together) as taking some vitamins (D, C; E &Multi, and I won't mention dosages not to get punished by moderators) and fish oil on a daily basis, before, during and after cycles, and for good if possible.
My wife is about to run Primo Ace 25mg ED for 8-10 weeks. What is a good pct cycle for the average woman.
Is your wife going to take anything to prevent hair loss, if so, what exactly (been reading that this can be an issue for women as well).
??
What would you recommend as a pct for her?
tapering off is sufficient ... compounds are unnecessary and will cause problems
So I’ll be fine if I just taper of anavar, if do need to buy a pct pills ? Sorry for asking it’s my first cycle and everywhere I read they said different things. I was only running 10mg a day for 12weeks
No pct. taper down to 5 then 2.5 and you’ll be fine.
Thank you so much for this post! PCT is something I've been considering now for a while!
This is a great read. I agree with you 100% twice I had a bad rebound once post show and one 4 weeks out and almost landed myself in the hospital. I took on 30 pounds of water weight and my thyroid and liver levels were thru the roof. My hormones were so unbalanced I had gastroparesis and it took 3 months just to level back out. I lost a considerable amount of muscle as well. It was awful. Thanks for posting!!
I think there is more research needed to determine what kind of PCT should female athletes do. A female friend who in her 20s competed on NPC Nationals was able to do Anavar/Winny/Anadrol etc. cycles, then stop and get back to normal within weeks; however now that she's in her 40s - her hormones don't get back up...even after a year...her estrogen was <6 and her testosterone <5 so now her doctor has her on HRT.
I don't know if a low dose HCG would help but anyway....it all depends on age...and other factors.
hcg doesn't do a damn thing for women as far as 'restarting' the system .... in your 40s hormones decline doesn't have anything to do with suppression from cycles ... biochemistry changes all the time ... recovery for everyone is different
Hi, I'm finishin' a cycly and now seriously thought if I need a pct. The cycle was simple-I was runin' primobolone 100 weekly, oxymethalone 10 dayly and GH 3,3 every mornin'. The dosages were not high, some persons whom I ask an advice said I don't need PCT at all, but I'm not so sure. Appreciate any advice.
I think this is great. I am new to the AAS world and kept seeing that women don't need a PCT. I with my medical background and limit knowledge of biochemistry, my lizard brain kept thinking we should be doing a little something but not the way men do because our physiology is different.
Thanks! My girl is about to do her first cycle adjacent with mine granted hers will be shorter cause it'll be oral Anavar and Clen. Always heard no PCT necessary for females so interesting to know it is something to really consider!
Thank you so much for this post! Its so difficult to find honest information in this industry about females.
MazydBrilliant post
TestmanpowNOTICE: This is a fake user affiliated with anabolicenergy.com
- BFG
I know this is an older post, but I love having all of this info out there for us ladies! Really helps one feel like we aren't flying blind! Thank you!
Thank u for this. Im mid cycle anavar and was curious anout pct. Im estrogen defecient already due to early menopause
Running var now for 2 shows. 1 in 2 weeks and one in 3 weeks. Should i run nolvadex now and through both shows? Are there any major sides with nolvadex?
Also running clen 2 weeks on 2 weeks off.
nice post me and the wife have been arguning about this for so long. Glad to see some decent info out there about this
wow wonderful post! i am experiencing some post cycle issues, in the areas of lethargy and irritability and i tend to recognize that this must be hormonal. i experience it even more so, when my cycles are low and my menstrual cycle comes right after coming off or something like that.
anyways, i am glad to have read this. i will see if i can get my hands on some of this stuff to help me taper off my cycle.
I started to take Anavar 5mg in in AM and at night. About one week in Flow came to see me and would not leave for one month. Obviously, I had to stop taking it. The weird thing is that I had not had a cycle in at least 6 months and believe the Anavar kicked in to action. All the info I have read said it would stop my cycle. Has any one else had that happen?
Hi there. Im so glad that i found this and read. Im bout to take Anavar soon, but i dont have idea how many mg to start and for how long. can u help me? Pls. Thank u in advance.
try reading the beginners cycle post just below this one
Love all the info I have read and reread this a million times! Thank you so so much this has helped feel really comfortable about starting my first cycle
Thanks for the info there isn't a lot out there that I trust but here on the forums. My wife is thinking about running a cycle and her main concern was pct.
Great read
Nice read!
Interesting. I have personally never used PCT but rather just cycled through off and back onto various AAS.
AnonHow about a very conservative dose of aromasin? Literally a fraction of a dose? Lets say 2mg e3d. Do you think this may be beneficial for a couple weeks post cycle?
no, it isn't like you are having problems with excess estrogen (or are you?) and blocking too much estrogen will put your system even more out of whack while it is trying to recover from excess testosterone. I did experiment with aromasin while I was running npp and prop but dropped it when I dropped the npp. Otherwise running an anti estrogen during cycle would only be productive if you are trying to get rid of excess water at the end of a cycle or pre comp
AnonI was concerned about the pill and any negative effects an anti -estrogen would have on my BC. I am not having any problems now but I have It's no fun. I'm taking notes on this post. I have to try some of these out.
progestins are not the same as estrogens however (as a synthetic version of both hormones), that said the information that I can find indicates that the estrogen blockers will block both progesterone and estrogen. I would not risk it.
GOT IT
AquaMannice post, cheers !
5htp is a life saver. Thanks for posting such useful info~!
@hrdbdygrrr. OK I won't let her take it... that's why I asked.. is there something u would recommend??
AnonI recommend a taper but since she is already off ... she's off.. make sure her diet stays clean and she stays active.. it is quite common for women to get depressed coming off cycle, tapering helps but the body needs to adjust to the change in hormone levels some depression is going to occur any way
My wife just came off a cycle of 2omg var and 12.5 mg winny cycle. She ran var 8 weeks and winny 5 I just got some nolv. Can u help me with the correct dose she may want to try. She has been off for about a week or so..... thanx
AnonSHE DOES NOT NEED NOLVADEX. SHE DOES NOT NEED AN ESTROGEN BLOCKER PERIOD FOR PCT.. talk about an estrogen rebound ... did you not read the post? competitors use nolvadex to dry out pre contest but that is it
wait. there is a rebound? that sucks..
So wait. lets say for example i start with var right, are you saying i should taper? can you share to me your cycle?
And why is there a need for cycle? can we not take it as a maintanance pill.
if you stay on var longer than 12 weeks you will end up with liver corrhosis eventually! it is not a diet pill! lol how much are you planning on taking? whats your training and diet like?
What are you overall aims? Just because you are not taking the pill anymore doesnt mean you have to go back to where you were before! you maintain what you have achieved by diet and exercise! I have just posted my training in the diet and exercise forum. I will copy here if you want?
AnonI posted some sample cycles in another thread they are here in the Ladies Forum.. Yes you should taper it minimizes the side effects.. You cycle because we are not men. Cycling is the natural way of things anyway. Your own hormones cycle.. You don't want to take testosterone forever without cycling it.. well, unless of course you don't mind the side effects...
Anonexcellent post super.. something every one assumes we don't need... I concur regarding listening to what your body tells you.. I am just starting my taper and am already thinking about my diet considering I have become an eating machine..
tread-mIn the Iron Brotherhood, but nice read.