Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) is the process of solidifying your gains, reducing side-effects and returning all your body’s functions to its natural state after running a pro-hormone or steroid cycle.
Some would say that it is the most important part of any hormonal cycle as without it, you could be leaving yourself in a worse state than when you started your cycle. Without it, you could lose all of your recently acquired muscle and strength gains and leave your self-prone to blood pressure and estrogen related side-effects.
The purpose of a PCT is to start up your HPTA, restore hormonal balance, reduce side-effects and of course, maintain (or continue) your strength gains or fat-loss, depending on the cycle that you ran. Not everyone will have the same requirements for a PCT and the length and dosage will depend on the type of products that you ran on cycle.
For a milder hormone cycle, you could get away with over the counter supplements, however, for a stronger cycle, you would definitely need a SERM.
A SERM (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator) is a product that binds to the estrogen receptors within the body thus preventing the rebound of estrogen after your steroid cycle. It also increases free testosterone levels within the body and kick starts your HPTA, restoring hormone balance within the body.
If you’ve ran a milder cycle, such as B-Drol or Katanadrol V3, you will not require a SERM and can get away with using other over the counter PCT Products. You will need the following:
Anti-Estrogen
It is absolutely necessary to run an anti-estrogen product after any hormone cycle because your body has just been through an intense change in your hormonal balance. Over the course of 4-8 weeks you have been introducing outside testosterone in to your body and your body wants to compensate by increasing estrogen levels (if you’re smart you ran an anti-estrogen on cycle as well).
When you stop taking the pro hormones, it takes your body some time to start producing its own testosterone, during this time, your body will still be trying to restore balance and if you’re not running an anti-E, your estrogen levels can go through the roof causing some nasty side-effects like gynecomastia. You don’t want to completely eliminate all estrogen but you need to have it under control. By far the best product you can use here is EstroZone.
Test Booster
You’ve got your estrogen levels under control, great but you can’t run an anti-estrogen for the rest of your life. You need to bring your testosterone levels back up to ensure the hormonal balance.
This is where a Test Booster comes in. The job of a testosterone booster is to help your body increase its own testosterone production.
Unlike a hormonal product, test boosters do not provide any outside source of testosterone, it works with your body to produce its own, naturally.
A great well rounded option is: Test Infusion
Liver Support
Liver support is something that should be used on cycle and in PCT. Oral steroids and pro hormones are processed in the liver and this can beat up the liver pretty bad. It is ALWAYS a great idea to run a liver support product to keep your liver enzymes in check and to ensure healthy liver function. You only have one and should be taking very good care of it.
The best liver care product to use alongside any pro hormone is TUDCA.
Prior to TUDCA, Forged Liver Support was the king and still should be researched.
A robust stack for liver support containing these at a discount is the Perfect Post Cycle Therapy Stack.
Cholesterol and Blood Pressure Support
More than likely, after your steroid or pro hormone cycle, your cholesterol levels and blood pressure levels will be outside the normal range. Steroids have been known to increase your LDL (bad cholesterol) and lower HDL (good cholesterol) levels and if left unattended, it can also cause some serious damage to the heart.
Be safe and always use a good heart health supplement such as, CoQ10 and hawthorn berry and also a supplement to help you restore healthy cholesterol balance such as, Lipid Stabil.