6 months on hcg?

[RBB]

one of my training partners has been on cycle for about 9 months. yeah, i know, dumb move but whatever. he knows better, but just doesn't care. so last night he tells me he's coming off in about two more weeks. i was talking to him about PCT, etc. and he tells me that he's been using 250iu HCG twice a week for the last 6 months or so. now he's worried that he's been using the hcg for too long and that it is going to compromise his recovery.

now, we all know that too much hcg at one time is a bad thing, but i've never heard of the length of time on hcg having any adverse effects on recovery. i told him it doesn't matter, but he insisted that he'd seen the research. any of you guys know something about this?

[Shark]

Never heard anything like that. I think he should approach his PCT as normal but up his dose of nolva or clomid and expect a much longer recovery period.

Could very well be several months before he regains full function.

[RBB]

Never heard anything like that. I think he should approach his PCT as normal but up his dose of nolva or clomid and expect a much longer recovery period.

Could very well be several months before he regains full function.
yeah that's pretty much what i told him. chris, how would upping the dose of nolva/clomid help? i thought once you were shut down you were shut down, and the length of the cycle doesn't determine the time it takes to recover. isn't all pct pretty much the same old standard protocol?

[El Kelio]

A blood test will give him a better idea how is his health and what should do to recover.

[RBB]

A blood test will give him a better idea how is his health and what should do to recover.
not really. his health isn't the question here, and something tells me that he doesn't need a blood test to tell him he's shut down right now. that's been established.

[JustinASU]

RBB - from personal experience (obviously I'm not flashing medical journals at you) the length of time you've been on has a LOT to do with the length of time it will take to recover. I finished a 9 month cycle in January of this year. I knew recovery would be tough, but I had no idea how tough. It's been about 8 months since I got off and I used PCT drugs for about 6 of those months and I am *just* now starting to feel normal. I've been consistently having bloodwork done throughout this recovery period and it's been a slow, painful process. Just to show there's a control in this case, I've done a 12 weeker before and recovered in about 2-3 weeks.

I would ramp up recovery drug dosage and keep it up for quite a while. Regarding the question at hand about HCG, I can't see that hurting recovery at all. In fact, it may help a bit.

[Shark]

yeah that's pretty much what i told him. chris, how would upping the dose of nolva/clomid help? i thought once you were shut down you were shut down, and the length of the cycle doesn't determine the time it takes to recover. isn't all pct pretty much the same old standard protocol?

I also don't have any medical information to back this up but from what I have observed the same individual go through the following recovery periods. All three of these cycles were 600mg test e for 12 weeks and all PCT was done with Nolva:

First: Full recovery in 6 weeks 40mg/d for 2 weeks and 20mg/d for 4 weeks.

Second: Full recovery in 4 weeks 40mg/d for 4 weeks.

Third: Full recovery in 2.5 weeks 60mg/d for 2.5 weeks.

As of yet I don't know anyone who has recovered from a 12 weeks cycle in less than 3 weeks. I do think however that upping the PCT dosage can lessen the amount of time needed to experience full recovery.

Take from that what you will.

[RBB]

Justin - that's rough, man. good to hear that things are on there way up for you now.

Chris - that's cool. i've never heard anyone say that before. i'll up my doseage the next time i run pct and see if i can have the same kind of results. i've always recovered quickly, but the shorter the better.

[K1M]

Why would someone want to stay on for 9 months? The thought of the reciprical PCT sounds very, very depressing.

[RBB]

Why would someone want to stay on for 9 months? The thought of the reciprical PCT sounds very, very depressing.
everyone has their reasons. he competes in powerlifting meets and pretty much needed to stay on to stay competitive. and he just kept putting it off. "one more week" turned into about 6 more months, lol. happens to a lot of guys. any of us could probably fall into that trap.

[Holto]

I have never run HCG but allways thought the idea was to avoid shrinkage while on.

[K1M]

That's what I thought too, Holto. Do the testicals revert back to normal size once you are recovered and th HPTA is back up and running?

[Y0yo]

I don't know if this helps at all, but many people on HRT take 250ius twice a week in order to keep the testes from atrophying and they stay on forever. Would there be any reason NOT to keep doing the hcg through his PCT?

[RBB]

I don't know if this helps at all, but many people on HRT take 250ius twice a week in order to keep the testes from atrophying and they stay on forever. Would there be any reason NOT to keep doing the hcg through his PCT?
yeah, you want to stop hcg before you begin pct. hcg keeps you shut down. he was saying something about the duration of time he was using it having a negative effect on recovery, which isn't true. but i thought i'd check anyways.

[Y0yo]

Just to clarify, you mean hCG keeps you from producing your own test?

[RBB]

yes and no. hcg mimics LH which causes you to produce test. however, if you're shooting hcg your feedback loop will not be functioning properly. so you gotta stop the hcg if you want your hpta to recover.

[Y0yo]

yes and no. hcg mimics LH which causes you to produce test. however, if you're shooting hcg your feedback loop will not be functioning properly. so you gotta stop the hcg if you want your hpta to recover.

I understand now. Thanks.

[Holto]

Do the testicals revert back to normal size once you are recovered and th HPTA is back up and running?

Yes, but only if you know what you are doing.