Thanks for the kind words.

I took Twinlab's Blood Pressure Control (available on this site), recommended to me by Max32, and Coenzyme Q10. I did not succeed in getting my blood pressure down to what most consider ideal; during PH cycles my BP would hover at the high 130s/80s, sometimes going up to as high as 145/95, but I keep my cycles fairly short so once I stop my BP normalizes fairly quickly.

If you have access to scripts like captopril you may want to consider taking such, barring any contraindications.

Thanks, bmarks, for your kind words. My responses to your questions:

1. I used a combo of Nolva and MetaCort for PCT after my MD cutting cycle. I quite liked it, and given the price for which I got it ($19.99 per bottle special over here way back when for MetaCort) I would probably use this combo again. Oral 6OXO probably worked just as fine, though, although MetaCort has the advantage of having 7-OXO-DHEA thrown in for good measure. No real sides to speak of with both options, aside from a little acne which I am not sure I should attribute to these compounds (because the acne began during the androgen cycle and started tapering off afterwards).

2. I was pretty happy with MD as a cutting agent but as I noted above I used pretty high doses. Given the price for which it's available now it's OK, though. I plan to try M4OHN for my next cutting cycle, and I'll post my results after that's done. Given the impending ban, though, I've stocked up on enough MD and M4OHN for a couple of cycles.

Good luck!

Thanks, Rod42753, for your kind words. Here are my replies to your questions:

1. I was using creatine and whey protein as well during my first cycle, along with basic multivitamins, but note that I was taking these supplements before I started my cycle -- so that I could properly attribute any gains to the marginal PH intake.

2. I experienced some lethargy and some outbreak of acne during my cycle, but it was not too bad. I took in 5g of Vit B5 ED to counteract the acne, and for particularly big nasty ones I applied a dose of benzoyl peroxide (OTC, available in any pharmacy). Worked fine for me. Lethargy disappeared after my cycle and acne disappeared into my PCT.

I have not used 1AD in a cutting cycle but I expect it would help maintain muscle mass despite the caloric deficit. Just don't expect massive strength and size gains given that you're eating less. The only way you're going to drop seven percentage points in bodyfat over the next 3 months is for you to go on a fairly strict diet so any gains in muscle should be considered a plus. That said, given that this is your first PH cycle then you may indeed gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. But everyone responds differently so if after a week you aren't happy with your results I would change one variable (eat more? Up dosage of 1AD a bit?) at a time and see how that works. Change stuff around too much and it will be difficult to figure out what's really working and what ought to be fine-tuned.

Good luck!

Thanks, Kow. Your advice and counsel played a big part in whatever "success" I am supposed to have achieved from these past few cycles. I will continue to update this journal also as a reminder to myself to stick to my goals and keep on chugging -- and PH or no PH, the best development one can achieve is built over long periods of time measured in years, not weeks or months.

I am excited to begin my cycle this October 1, which will be a "lean bulk" cycle. So far I am at 193.5 pounds (as of today), still as big as I was at 205/206, but strength gains have slowed down a bit. My objective is to bring back some of the lean mass I lost since I began my cutting cycle last June 1, but not to the extent of upping my cals so much that I gain back inches on my waist.

This "lean bulk" cycle will last for two weeks, with two weeks of PCT, and I will try 5mg ED of M1T to see how it works for me and whether I should stock up on it before the ban or if the sides that a lot of people seem to be complaining about are simply intolerable. Note that I now have eight months of experience with PH's before I even decided to begin a cycle with something as harsh as M1T!

To prepare for the stress that M1T is supposed to cause I have begun taking 400mg of r-ALA and 2 caps of 1fast400 ProLiver five days ago, which means I will have built up 2 weeks of "liver strengthening time" before beginning my M1T cycle on October 1. I will up r-ALA to 600mg ED and ProLiver to 3 caps a day while on cycle. PCT will be MetaCort and Nolva, tapering down over 2 weeks.

Would appreciate any feedback or inputs! Thanks, and I'll keep you all posted!

Thanks, Kow. You're right about the 4AD, almost overlooked that. I have oral 4AD handy and will take it if the lethargy gets too hard to handle. Otherwise I like evaluating how I respond to substances stand-alone. Hard for me to tell whether the gains come from the M1T or the 4AD if I start out taking both at the same time.

Since I've taken 600mg of 4AD in the past, 600 to 900mg of oral 4AD should be perfect for this upcoming cycle.

Thanks again! Will keep you posted.

Hope all is well, bmarks.

I start out with a (fairly) high dose of Nolva (40mg ED) and MetaCort (5 sprays twice a day) and taper down from there. Usually my PCT is as long as my cycle, then I spend 1-2 times that off to determine how much of the gains I actually end up keeping. So for the 2 week 1-AD/4-AD cycles in the past my PCT has been anywhere from 10-14 days; for the 6 week MD cycle I did a 6 week PCT, tapering down from the initial dose at a uniform rate.

Hope this helps!

Because of a family history of male pattern baldness I already apply a mix of minoxidil and azelaic acid topically. Not sure if I noticed any shedding from 1-AD supplementation; if it's at all comparable I probably noticed more shedding when I used 4-AD stacked with 1-AD.

Thanks, OmarJackson. My initial receptiveness to PH's was most probably just a newbie response; subsequent cycles never packed on more than 5-8 pounds over my typical two-weekers. Then again, I never did quite do a heavy bulking cycle like I did for this very first try. All I did were "lean bulks," focusing on dry gains.

All in all, I think my results in this first cycle were very much driven by every component of my regimen coming together: My health and strength levels were good, I was training hard and heavy, and was gobbling down good food and maintaining positive caloric balance. The 1-AD definitely helped kick my gains into overdrive, but I doubt that I would have gained so much if these other components of my regimen were not in check.

Just in case you might find it helpful, I created another review thread where I posted my evaluation of M1T/4AD and M4OHN:

My Review of M1T/4AD and M4OHN

Hope this helps!