Using low dose for recovery & blasting later on

[CellTech Member Find all posts View Profile Close CellTech]

Hey guys and girls. Some of you may be aware of my unfortunate situation with the pneumonia I got a few months ago. Well long story short - I lost 30lbs total and missed almost 3 months of training.

Now I've been training for 3 weeks (this is the 4th week) and I'm slowly recovering. My first workout I was so weak I was benching 75lbs for like 10 reps and that was all I could do. Today I managed to squeeze out 3 reps of 242, but considering I used to do at least 10 reps with 308 that's really weak.

I am slowly gaining weight, but what's bothering me is that it's mostly fat. I gained 10 lbs. so far, but everyone is saying how skinny/small I look compared to my old self.

My idea is to start a low dose of test. - 250mg. e.w. and run that for a month or so just to speed up the healing/recovery and to help me gain lean mass (not fat). Then when I am in a much better condition, I will just bump it up to 500mg. e.w. and maybe add in some nandrolone and run that for 10 more weeks. In the end it will be a 14+ weeks cycle. Is that too much?

What do you guys think? Anyone have any experience with recovering from shit like that?

[mortirius123 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mortirius123]

I'm not a Dr. but I do have a B.S. degree in biology and a masters in chemistry and have worked in the hospital field for 9 years. I don't know how long you have used aas but if its something you have been using for 10-15 years for 24 weeks out of the year then I think that yes what your doing seems to be ok. But if aas s something you have only used for less than 5 years for 12-18 weeks out of the year then you should just recover naturally and just take vitamins and light supplements to help aid your recovery.

[ODB Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ODB]

go get a blood test (total + Free testosterone) see what ur levels are?
if ur healthy (endocrine system wise) then why take a TRT dose?
Now if ur test is low or in the toilet it's another story.

JM2C;
I also don't like taking AAS to get back to normal or previous levels - ur body has muscle memory, u will get there faster - but when u use short cuts it always seems to lead to injury.
Get back to ur Solid base then take Off...

[mortirius123 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mortirius123]

go get a blood test (total + Free testosterone) see what ur levels are?
if ur healthy (endocrine system wise) then why take a TRT dose?
Now if ur test is low or in the toilet it's another story.

JM2C;
I also don't like taking AAS to get back to normal or previous levels - ur body has muscle memory, u will get there faster - but when u use short cuts it always seems to lead to injury.
Get back to ur Solid base then take Off...

Totally agree with ODB but like I said if you've been using and cruzing for the past 15-20 years chances are that your nat. test is going to be low. I know it feels like your missing your mojo however try to get back to normal normally.

[CellTech Member Find all posts View Profile Close CellTech]

Just did a blood test and here are the results:

Estradiol: 30.79 pg/ml (don't know the ref. but they told me it's normal)

LH: 2.27 mIU/ml (ref. 1.1 - 7)

Testosterone: 4.92 ng/ml which is equal to 492 ng/dl if I'm not mistaken (ref. 3.0 - 10.6)

TSH: 6.99 uIU/ml (ref. 0.34 - 5.6) >

FT3: 5.97 pmol/L (ref. 3.8 - 6.0)

FRT4: 14.47 pmol/L (ref. 7.9 - 14.4) >

CK (creatine kinase): 496.0 U/L (ref. 30 - 200) >

ALAT: 71.1 U/L (ref. 0 - 55) >

Everything else is fine.

Conclusion: not very happy about it tbh. I expected higher test. levels since I'm in my twenties. What levels do you guys typically get between cycles?

And I don't know why the thyroid hormones are a bit elevated. Could it be from my past cycles? The doc. asked me if I'm taking anything and I said no and I haven't been in a long time.

Now about the CK which is very high - I did some research and it says that it's elevated when a person has had a heart attack or from weight lifting, but mine are more than double the top range. Anyone know if this is normal for people that exercise regularly? Am I training too hard or something? I do get doms after every workout, but I've been like that all the time.

Would really appreciate some input here guys. Thanks.

[ODB Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ODB]

Just did a blood test and here are the results:

Estradiol: 30.79 pg/ml (don't know the ref. but they told me it's normal)

Testosterone: 4.92 ng/ml which is equal to 492 ng/ml if I'm not mistaken (ref. 3.0 - 10.6)

Conclusion: not very happy about it tbh. I expected higher test. levels since I'm in my twenties. What levels do you guys typically get between cycles?
Would really appreciate some input here guys. Thanks.

Is that FREE or TOTAL Testosterone ?


High creatine kinase levels are correlated with muscle damage.

Muscles, like other soft tissues in your body, are quite susceptible to damage. Trauma, infections, certain drugs or even strenuous exercise can all instigate damage to your muscles. Pain is a common indicator of muscle damage, but it is sometimes insufficient to establish a diagnosis. For this reason, certain biomarkers in the bloodstream, called creatine kinase, are often used to confirm damage to the muscles.
Function of Creatine Kinase

Creatine kinase, or CK, is a type of enzyme found in your muscles. CK aids in the production of phosphocreatine, a molecule utilized by your muscles for energy. CK is normally found in your muscles, but injury to the membrane surrounding the muscle can cause CK to leak into the bloodstream. CK actually exists as three separate forms: CK-MM, CK-MB and CK-BB. CK-MM is located primarily in the skeletal muscles, whereas CK-MB is localized to the heart and CK-BB is mostly found in the brain. For males over 18 years of age, normal levels of CK in the blood range anywhere from 52 to 336 units per L, or U/L. Normal levels of CK in females should fall between 38 and 176 U/L.

Causes of Elevated Creatine Kinase

Injuries to the skeletal muscles often trigger high levels of CK-MM. These muscles are the type that most commonly comes to mind when we hear the word muscle. These are the "voluntary" muscles that you are able to control -- for example, the biceps and triceps. Damage to these muscles can occur for various reasons, including muscular dystrophy, direct trauma, strenuous exercise, immobility, certain drugs, muscle injections, nerve conduction studies, muscle infection, seizures or surgery. Strenuous exercise frequently triggers a rise in CK that peaks 16 to 24 hours following a workout, then stays elevated for 72 hours before falling back to baseline. Those with muscle diseases typically experience chronically elevated CK-MM. In fact, those with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy may have levels that are 50 times greater than normal.

Branched Chain Amino Acids

Several studies suggest that amino acids may actually ameliorate CK levels after exercise. According to a study published in December 2007 in the "International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism," branched-chain amino acid, or BCAA, supplements may reduce CK levels after exercise as well as muscle damage and muscle soreness. The study found that consumption of a beverage containing 200 kilocalories of BCAA immediately before and 60 minutes into a workout reduced CK levels four, 24 and 48 hours after completion of exercise. These findings may be of particular benefit to those suffering from delayed onset muscle soreness after exercise.

Warning

One of the most common causes of elevated CK is a lack of oxygen to the heart muscle, known medically as a myocardial infarction or heart attack. According to Mayo Medical laboratories, CK levels peak two to 24 hours following a heart attack and then fall back to baseline after three to four days. Seek immediate medical attention if you have symptoms of a heart attack, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, jaw pain that radiates to your left arm or excessive perspiration. Since many of the causes of skeletal muscle damage can also be quite serious, it is also recommended that you contact your doctor if you experience severe or prolonged muscle pain or weakness.

[CellTech Member Find all posts View Profile Close CellTech]

Is that FREE or TOTAL Testosterone ?

They only had Total Testosterone.

[ODB Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ODB]

I would also get a "Free" Testosterone level test - if u Doc is a pain in the ass u can get a Saliva one on Amazon or google it - they r $35 -$45 includes test kit + testing + results.

If its not Free it cannot be used

"The only testosterone value that itself is clear in meaning is free testosterone.

The others are the product, of the free concentration and other things, and do not add any information about the biological effect of the testosterone, but only -- if already knowing the free amount -- add information about the amount of SHBG, serum albumin, and other substances weakly binding testosterone, none of which has any effect on outcome.

For example, if you have a given free T level both in an earlier test and now, but now you have half or double the SHBG levels, approximately speaking you will now have half or double the total testosterone.

The doctor, and most who don't understand the chemistry, will think that oh, this must biologically be very different. Nope, it's not: the hormonal effect of the testosterone will be the same. All that has been learned is that there's now half or twice as much SHBG.
(The only biological difference will be the SHBG itself has some slight signalling effect on cells, so the amount of that would be varying. But binding to the androgen receptor will be the same so long as free T is the same, totally regardless of changes to "total" or "bioavailable.")

These additional figures taken are not the slightest more relevant than taking, for example, total body testosterone, if there was such a thing.

In that case, when at 20% bf there would be, for same free testosterone, about twice as much testosterone in the body as when at 10% bf.
But exactly the same effect. The added measurement only adds confusion (if expecting it to mean anything) not information, or rather not any information except that bodyfat isn't the same level anymore.

I would not pay attention to anything but the free T, with regard to testosterone values. "