Post-Cycle Therapy

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.

I’m going to skip the scientific explanations of all the different components used during PCT and get straight to the business end and that is determining which PCT protocol will work best for your cycle/stack.

Fortunately there are people with extensive knowledge regarding the effects of steroids on the body and in this case particularly the effects on the HPTA axis. One such person is a well known South African doctor that writes under the nickname of Doctari. After allot of research and tests he developed a PCT protocol which demonstrated outstanding success in reversing the negative effects of steroids on the HPTA axis.

To date, I doubt that there is another PCT protocol capable of matching the effectiveness of “Doctari’s PCT protocol”. However this PCT is not really intended for low dose beginner cycles, therefore I will break this section down in three separate PCT protocols form least to most effective.

But, before we discuss the protocols you need to know when to apply the PCT protocol after your steroid cycle stopped. The timing is very important, because if you start too soon the PCT will not restore the HPTA axis to natural levels. This is due to the steroid compounds still being active in your body and thus continuing to apply negative feedback to the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. If you start too late you run the risk of losing muscle mass and also suffering more severely from estrogenic side-effects like depression, erectile dysfunction and even fat gain.

To get your timing right you need to know the half-life of your longest acting steroid in the stack. You can use the chart below to find the Half-Life of common compounds.

When you determined the half-life for the longest acting compound you can use the following formula to calculate the time you have to wait before you start PCT:

3 x tHalf-Life = Time to wait

For example- If you stacked Sustanon with dianabol, you will wait 3 x 18 = 54 days before commencing PCT. This is considerably longer than what most other sources might tell you, however they never took into consideration that traces of a steroid will stay active in your body for up to 7 x tHalf-Life. So even if you wait slightly longer than 3 x tHalf-Life the chance of much muscle loss is very minimal.

Now that you know when to start your PCT we can finally look at the protocols.

NO 1:
The first PCT protocol is one suitable for simple beginner cycles containing only one or two compounds used for short periods at low dosages. An example of a cycle this PCT is intended for will look something like this:

Week 1-4: Dianabol at 30mg per day.
Week 1-8: Testosterone Cyp at 250-350mg per week.

This PCT cycle will start 36 days after the last Testosterone Cypionate injection.
You will need the following: 15x Clomid 50mg, 30x Nolvadex 20mg

Instructions:
Day 1-7: - Clomiphene citrate is used as 50 mg twice daily for full 7 days.
Day 8-37: - Tamoxifene citrate at 20mg per day for full 30 days.

NO 2:
The second PCT protocol is one intended for slightly stronger cycles. An example cycle can look something like this:

Week 1-3: Anapolon at 100mg per day.
Week 1-10: Sustanon at 500mg per week.
Week 6-12: Anavar at 60mg per day.

This PCT will start 54 days after the last Sustanon injection even though Anavar was used up to week 12. The Anavar is ignored in this situation because the Sustanon is still the last compound to clear the body.

You will need the following: 15x Clomid 50mg, 1x HCG 5000iu, 30x Nolvadex 20mg

Instructions:
Day 1-7: - Clomiphene citrate is used as 50 mg twice daily for full 7 days.
Day 8-37: - Tamoxifene citrate at 20mg per day for full 30 days. - Liquid-Pharma HCG 5000 comes in one unit vial, multi-dosed, at 5000IU. The vial is accompanied by 2ml sterile water for mixing. This is what should be done. Draw up the 2ml ampule provided with the HCG and mix it into the powdered bottle. The HCG is now used from day 8 onwards as 20IU's drawn into insulin needle once per day. It is then used one day on, one day off.
It is important to note that PCTs NO 1 & 2 are not effective against highly suppressive compounds like Nandrolone or Trenbolone and whenever they are used in a cycle you should skip straight to PCT NO 3.

NO 3:
This is the PCT known as doctari’s PCT and I recommend this PCT above any of the previously mentioned ones. Every component in this PCT is critical for its effectiveness and you cannot substitute anything in this PCT.

For example- You cannot replace Aromasin with any other AI, because Letrozole or Anastrozole doesn’t work in the same way as Aromasin and replacing it will make your PCT useless.

One very important thing to note is that Ovidrel is used instead of HCG. Ovidrel is much more superior to Pregnyl (HCG), because it stimulates the FSH, LH and TSH production simultaneously, so it repairs your testosterone function, sperm production and thyroid function in one go, whereas Pregnyl does only the testosterone function.

Another reason for Ovidrel's use above that of Pregnyl is that the whole month's worth is cheaper, it can be mixed and kept at room temperature and the same vial can be used for more than 30 days after being mixed.

You will need the following: 15x Clomid 50mg, 1x Ovidrel 250mcg, 30x Aromosin 20mg, 30x Nolvadex 20mg

Instructions:
Day 1-7: - Clomiphene citrate is used as 50 mg twice daily for full 7 days.
Day 8-37: - Tamoxifene citrate at 20mg per day for full 30 days. - Exemestane at 20mg per day for full 30 days. - Ovidrel comes in one unit vial, multi-dosed, at 250mcg. The vial is accompanied by 1ml sterile water for mixing. But I don't prescribe it that way. This is what should be done. Get a 2ml sterile water ampule and insulin needles. Draw up the 1ml ampule provided in the Ovidrel box and mix it into the powdered bottle. Take 1.5ml sterile water from the 2cc ampule and mix it in as well. Now your Ovidrel vial should have 2.5ml in it. Ovidrel is now used from day 8 onwards as 10IU's drawn into insulin needle twice per day. It is then used one day on, one day off. The last day will only have enough for one injection. Ovidrel can be used intra-muscularly.