QUOTE(Tkarrde @ Mar 23 2003, 11:32 PM)
I'm curious, you say that 6-OXO has helped you "feel better." What do you mean by this--less lethargy, etc.?
Yes. You know the feeling when you are on cycle (1-test, not 4-AD), that you just don't "feel" right. Maybe instead of right, I should say you don't feel normal. And this feeling gets worse, the longer the cycle goes. For me, it is more than just lethargy. I'm not sure of the best way to describe it. Lack of motivation is another part of it.
Anyway, after applying the 6-OXO 2x on Saturday, I woke up Sun. morning, and felt better than I had in several weeks, since I had started my PH cycle. Very noticeable difference.
Other factors: Increase in libido. Again, very noticeable change within 24 hours time. Increased cardio endurance. Sunday morning I ran 4 miles in 24:59 (far from my best time). I was extremely pleased with this, as my cardio endurance, while on cycle, was an absolute joke. I was really struggling to get through cardio workouts, even shorter, and less intense than normal. That run on Sun. AM just wasn't anywhere near the chore to get through that cardio most recently had been. If I had wanted to, I could have ran farther.
Increase in (weight-lifting) workout stamina. I lifted Sunday night, and the workout went very smoothly. I moved quickly in-between exercises. It was a crisp workout. You know the type of workout where you just feel that you had a very efficient session. Well, on this last cycle, I was having an awful time with workout stamina, similar to my troubles with cardio endurance. I was not moving crisply in-between exercises. I needed more rest in-between sets, as my stamina was suffering. It was to the point, that the last 3 weeks of the cycle, I split my workout into AM/PM sessions. Instead of doing the whole workout in one session, I split it into 2. Doing about half each in the AM and the PM. This helped me keep a high volume and high workout intensity, by keeping the workouts shorter than I am used to.
Anyway, I did a full workout on Sun. night, and it went very well. Again, the workout wasn't anywhere near the chore that it had been the last few weeks of the PH cycle. It was like a weight had been lifted, as I just felt better during the workout. I was very pleased.
Basically what I am trying to describe (and doing a very poor job of it), is the post-cycle recovery feeling that I have experienced in the past with using 6-OXO (orally) after a PH cycle. The differences this time are I am coming off a 4-week cycle that felt like 8 weeks (probably due to my dosing). The decreased workout stamina that I experienced the past 3 weeks was by far the worst that I have ever had that particular symptom.
The other difference being that I am using 6-OXO topically this time instead of orally. I feel that the effects have been more pronounced and also taking effect more quickly than what I have experienced in the past with dosing it orally.
QUOTE(Tkarrde @ Mar 23 2003, 11:32 PM)
but I have always had terrible trouble perceiving how post-cycle recovery is coming along from the analysis of how I feel.
TK, this is just my opinion here based on reading your posts, so take it for what it is worth. I don't believe you have ever done a long PH cycle (correct me if I am wrong). 2 weeks at a time, or alternating 1 week on, 1 week off.
I think that the reason you have trouble feeling post-cycle recovery effects is because you are never feeling the (bad side) effects of a long PH cycle to begin with. Some of what I tried to describe above normally takes a couple weeks to set in, and it definitely intensifies (i.e. gets worse) the longer you go. Perhaps with keeping to shorter cycles, you have never significantly depressed your HPTA, so you have a hard time perceiving post-cycle recovery effects (as you don't really need it as badly as someone who did a 4-week or, even worse, an 8-week cycle).
I have done longer cycles, and I have done them both with and without an anti-e for recovery. I can tell you that there is a big difference in how you feel, in my experience.