Why Post Cycle Therapy is Necessary Nolva

Bodybuilders and other athletes often take steroids to help with fat loss and to enhance muscle growth. But there are negative side effects to steroids. Once they stop taking the steroids there is the danger of experiencing a post cycle crash. Post cycle therapy or PCT is used to combat these negative side effects and avoid the crash. If you plan to take steroids you should plan your post cycle therapy in advance.

One of the reasons many people continue steroid use is because they suffered from a post cycle crash including muscle loss. To avoid this they would simply get back on steroids. But continued use of steroid use can cause problems. With the correct post cycle therapy you can stop steroid usage and not suffer as many negative side effects.

When you are using synthetic steroids your body is being given large amounts of testosterone. So much, that it stops producing its own testosterone or at the very least drastically slows production. Once you’re off your cycle your body will start producing testosterone again – but not right away.

Also, to combat the extra testosterone being produce while you’re on steroids, your body starts producing more estrogen. When you stop the steroids your body will still be producing the extra estrogen. This can cause unwanted side effects such as low sex drive, water retention and even breast production.

Because of these side effects; you want to get your hormones back into balance as quickly as possible. PCT helps get your body back into high gear. Without PCT, you can begin to lose the muscle mass you gained during your cycle.

PCT involves taking the following, HCG, Nolva and Clomid. These drugs help promote the production of testosterone until your body’s hormones are back in balance.

To reduce the amount of estrogen in your system, SERMS or Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators are recommended. Two of the most popular are Clomiphene Citrate and Tamoxifen. These are usually started during the last few weeks of a steroid cycle and then continued for three or four weeks after.

PCT plans often include a cortisol suppressor. This is because anabolic steroids block the receptors in the muscles that normally take in cortisol. Your body will start producing more receptors to fight this. Without this your body can go into a catabolic state that depletes muscle tissue. This results in losing the muscle that you just gained during your cycle.

A good post cycle therapy plan will get your body back into hormonal balance as quickly as possible and reduce negative side effects. A forty-five day post cycle therapy is usually recommended. It’s important to also keep lifting weights and working out as you were before. This also helps prevent muscle loss.

You should also eat a healthy diet and be sure to get enough rest during your post therapy cycle. But for most users this is not enough to combat the side effects.

Tamoxifen Citrate (Nolva) is used to treat some types of breast cancer in men and women. It is also used to lower a woman's chance of developing breast cancer if she has a high risk (such as a family history of breast cancer. Since Tamoxifen Citrate (Nolva) has the ability of inhibiting the growth of tumors that respond to estrogens, it is one of the most popular drugs for treating node-positive breast cancer in women following total mastectomy or segmental mastectomy, axillary dissection, and breast irradiation. The antiestrogen is also recommended for treating metastatic breast cancer in women and men and Tamoxifen citrate is an alternative to oophorectomy or ovarian irradiation in premenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer. Medically, it is advised for the treatment of breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic breast cancer) and is also advised to treat breast cancer in certain patients after surgery and radiation therapy and may even be suggested to minimize the chances of breast cancer in high-risk patients.

One of the biggest advantages of this antiestrogen is that patients whose tumors are estrogen receptor positive are more likely to benefit from it. In addition to that, it can minimize the occurrence of contralateral breast cancer in patients receiving adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. In women with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS) after breast surgery and radiation, Nolva can minimize the risk of invasive breast cancer. It is worthwhile to note that Tamoxifen Citrate is well tolerated in males with breast cancer and safety profile of the drug in males is similar to that noticed in women.

Sportsmen using anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs like Dianabol, Anadrol and Testosterone derivatives often make use of Nolvadex and medical studies in the past have suggested that use of this antiestrogen is associated with dramatic improvements in levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone, and estrogen control.  Since use of Nolva is featured by its mild yet highly effective properties, it is often preferred compared to Arimidex, Femara, and Aromasin since it does not prevent aromatization but plays the role of an estrogen antagonist, which is also useful in burning fat.

The recommended dose of Tamoxifen Citrate (Nolva) for patients with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS) is 20 mg daily for 5 years while sportsmen on steroids use it in doses of 20-45 mg per day, with or without food.

Nolva abuse can lead to side effects, which may be mild or severe, including hypercalcemia, peripheral edema, distaste for food, pruritus vulvae, depression, dizziness, light-headedness, headache, hair thinning and partial hair loss, and vaginal dryness. In very rare cases, side effects like erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, bullous pemphigoid, interstitial pneumonitis, and rare reports of hypersensitivity reactions including angioedema may happen.

Women keen to use Tamoxifen citrate (Nolva) should avoid getting pregnant for two months after last stopping its use and others should best use birth control methods that don’t use hormones like diaphragms with spermicide or plain intrauterine devices (IUDs). Moreover, breast-feeding is not recommended while using this drug as it is unknown of Tamoxifen Citrate passes into breast milk or may cause potential risk to the infant. Nolva is not recommended to individuals suffering with high amount of calcium in the blood, severely decreased platelets, decreased white blood cells, cataracts, problems with eyesight, blood clot in lung, stroke, obstruction of a blood vessel by a blood clot, blood clot in a deep vein, pregnancy, or a mother who is producing milk and breastfeeding. A loss of sexual ability or interest may occur in men making use of Nolva.

Medical advice should be sought on an immediate basis after stopping use of Tamoxifen Citrate (Nolva) if side effects such as pain or pressure in pelvis, vaginal bleeding, changes in the amount or timing of bleeding or increased clotting, sudden chest pain, shortness of breath, coughing up blood, pain, tenderness, or swelling in one or both of your legs , sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden severe headache with no known cause, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, or lack of appetite and yellowing of your skin or whites of eyes is noticed after making use of the anti estrogen.

How to take Nolvadex, HCG and Clomid for PCT

Post-cycle treatment (PCT) is often overlooked as just another nuisance, but in fact it is a very important aspect of a steroid cycle. In men, anabolic steroid administration produces a predictable, dose-dependent depression of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), via the negative feedback loop of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPGA/HPTA).  There is no point in spending your money on steroids and many hours in the gym just to lose it all at the end of a cycle because you didn’t recover your endogenous hormone production afterwards. PCT with chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and anti-estrogen drugs will speed-up recovery by stimulating LH production.


How To Take Clomid:
Clomid has a long half-life (possibly 5 days), so there is no need to split up doses throughout the day. If Sustanon has been used and Clomid is commenced 3 weeks after the last injection, I would estimate that androgen levels are low enough to start sending the correct signals. If androgen levels are still a little high, we need to start at a high enough amount that will work or help, even if androgen levels are still a little high. Try 300mg on day 1, then use 100mg for the next 10 days, followed by 50mg for 10 days.

How to take Nolvadex for PCT:
As an alternative to Clomid, which has been reported to have led to unwanted side effects such as visual disturbances in some users, Nolvadex can be employed. Nolvadex is a trade name for the drug Tamoxifen. Like Clomid, the half life of Nolvadex is relatively long enabling the user to implement a single daily dosing schedule. Administration would start as per the timescales outlined above and the duration would be identical to that of Clomid.

Typically, for a moderate-heavy cycle, the following dosages would be used:
Day 1 - 100mg
Following 10 days - 60mg
Following 10 days - 40mg

Occasionally, heavier cycles containing perhaps Nandrolone (Deca) or Trenbolone which by definition are particularly suppressive of the HPTA, may require a slightly longer therapy. Likewise, more modest/shorter cycles may require lower dosages, perhaps dropping each by 20mg per day.

Some users like to use both Clomid and Nolvadex in their PCT in an attempt to cover all angles. An example of the dosages involved might be:
Day 1 - Clomid 200mg + Nolvadex 40mg
Following 10 days - Clomid 50mg + Nolvadex 20mg
Following 10 days - Clomid 50mg or Nolvadex 20mg

Of course, the examples provided are not set in stone and may be adjusted

Using HCG:
HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin and is not a steroid, but a natural peptide hormone which develops in the placenta of pregnant women during pregnancy to controls the mother's hormones. (Incidentally, this is the reason you may hear of people testing for growth hormone (HGH) with a pregnancy testing kit - If their HGH shows "pregnant".

Its action in the male body is like that of LH, stimulating the Leydig cells in the testes to produce testosterone even in the absence of endogenous LH. HCG is therefore used during longer or heavier steroid cycles to maintain testicular size and condition, or to bring atrophied (shrunken) testicles back up to their original condition in preparation for post-cycle Clomid therapy. This process is necessary because atrophied testicles produce reduced levels of natural testosterone, this situation should be rectified prior to post-cycle Clomid therapy.

HCG administration post-cycle is common practice among bodybuilders in the belief that it will aid the natural testosterone recovery, but this theory is unfounded and also counterproductive. The rapid rise in both testosterone, and thus oestrogen due to aromatisation, from the administration of HCG causes further inhibition of the HPTA (Hypothalamic/Pituitary/Testicular Axis - feedback loop discussed above), this actually worsens the recovery situation. HCG does not restore the natural testosterone production.

The typically observed dosing of 2000 to 5000IU every 4 to 5 days causes such an increase in oestrogen levels via aromatisation of the natural testosterone that this has been responsible for many cases of gynecomastia.

From the above discussion it is clear that HCG is best used during a cycle, either to:
1) Avoid testicular atrophy, or
2) Rectify the problem of an existing testicular atrophy.

HCG Dosage:
Smaller doses, more frequently during a cycle will give best overall results with least unwanted side effects. Somewhere between 500IU and 1000IU per day would be best over about a two-week period. These doses are sufficient to avoid/rectify testicular atrophy without increasing oestrogen levels too dramatically and risking gynecomastia. This dosing schedule also avoids the risk of permanently down-regulating the LH receptors in the testes.

It is important for the HCG administration to have been completed with 6 or 7 clear days before the onset of PCT in order to avoid inhibition of the Nolvadex and Clomid therapy. Also, a small daily dose (10-20mg) of Nolvadex would normally be used in conjunction with HCG in order to prevent oestrogenic symptoms caused by sudden increases in aromatisation.

Synthetic HCG is often known as Pregnyl (generic name) and is available in 2500iu and 5000iu (not ideal for the above doses!). Administration of the compound is either by intra-muscular or subcutaneous injection. It comes as a powder which needs to be mixed with the sterile water. The powder is temperature-sensitive prior to mixing and should not be exposed to direct heat. After mixing, it should be kept refrigerated and used within a few weeks - though there are sterility issues which need to be considered after mixing.
Clomid and/or Nolvadex are more effective than HCG post cycle, but some long-term users like to use HCG during a cycle, or to prepare the testes for Clomid and Nolvadex therapy.
For example, if Dianabol, Sustanon and Winstrol were cycled, the time for administering Clomid should be 3 weeks post cycle, as Sustanon remains active in the body for the longest period of time.

Clomid is available in 50mg tablets most commonly, but also comes in 25mg capsule, often in boxes of 24 tablets. Tamoxifen is made by a number of manufacturers and comes in 10mg or 20mg tablets, most commonly 30 x 20mg tablets. HCG generally comes in kits of three ampoules of powder needing to be mixed with the provided injectable water as 1500IU, 2500IU or 5000IU per ampoule kits.

depending on the factors outlined above and individual variances.