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I am new to this world, i.e., the Elite Fitness forum and all that it represents. Although doing research for the past 6 weeks, it is clear I still don’t know what I don’t know, thus the reason I am reaching out. Probably best to give a little background on my situation and myself first though. I will try to keep it brief so as not to bore you…
I am 53 years old. I have a sedentary job environment, but try to stay active with exercise, weekend sports, golf, etc. I am clearly not a body builder, but I have always been able to build muscle mass easily and my wife has always said I have a “nice butt.” I am a hair under 6’-2” and my “feel good” weight is 215 lbs. I know that still rates obese on the physician’s chart, but does not look obese on my frame. OK, now the problems…
At age 35 I started having trouble with my left knee locking up. An orthopedic surgeon suggested arthroscopic surgery to clean out the knee. When I woke up from the surgery the doctor greeted me with the statement “You may never walk again.” He then related that when he went in to do the surgery the cartilage simply “blew away” and fell from the bone. His prognosis was that I either inherited this condition through bad genes or potentially my mother took a series of antibiotics while pregnant that resulted in deterioration of bone structure in her offspring (me!). In short, the doctor said I had knees of a 70 year old and ordered me to stay on crutches for two months after the surgery. He also said that I would absolutely need a knee replacement (or two) in my lifetime but with then current technology, I couldn’t consider that until I was 55 so I would have to make my knees last 20 years.
So, fast forwarding, I did recover through therapy and a lot of swimming. I have been able to live with my joint condition and had even learned how to, and more importantly how not to, use my knees over the years even to the point I enjoyed activities like skiing (both snow and water) with my children as they were growing up. Saying that, two years ago I had kind of a freak injury during a hobby outing. I was stretching/extending my body and arm and lifting 50+lbs with my fingertips. I felt a snap and incurred a tear in my bicep at the lower tendon area. This injury took 6+ months to heal and during that time my exercise/activity level went down. With that lack of activity my knees (well most of my joints as I now have trouble with hips, shoulders, etc.) stiffened. Since then, when trying to get back to exercise it quickly led to injured/swollen knees—a vicious cycle. In the process over the two years I have gained 40lbs of primarily body fat, again putting more stress on my joints. I would consider myself borderline “disabled” at this point with the need to use a cane from time-to-time depending on my joint condition on a particular day.
Now I am almost 55 and at that crossroads in my life my surgeon referred to nearly 20 years back. In talking to my physician I get the normal spiel – cortisone shots, Enbrel/Humira, etc. I really don’t like taking drugs but did agree to start taking blood pressure medicine (Losartin as my blood pressure has risen, probably primarily due to weight gain) and Cymbalta (which they felt may help my joint pain). The later of the two above, after research, seemed to be the least risky of all the drugs options they gave me. I have not yet done the cortisone shots or began to investigate joint replacement although these are part of the next steps I am considering. I would say the Cymbalta has done little to help my knees. I do take a regimen of Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM and have for a long time. I would say the supplements have probably helped slow the deterioration, but at this point they can’t help my lack of mobility.
OK so enough of the boring story (although I think it was needed for forum member to give advice/opinions)—why the heck am I here? Well I recently had an upper respiratory infection (jeez, it sounds like I’m such an unhealthy guy—I’m really not
) and as part of the treatment my doctor gave me Prednisone. It took a while to shake the infection so I received two rounds of this and an antibiotic. Well, I cannot tell you enough what Prednisone did for me with respect to my quality of life! Almost immediately my knee pain was gone—not lessened—GONE! I had forgot what it was like not to live in constant pain—nothing in my knees, hips, elbows, shoulders—no pain anywhere! Before you knew it I was walking without a limp, completely upright and balanced. Next I was hiking around on our property with my grandkids, climbing up in their treehouse, running around, lifting them with ease, etc. – nothing short of an immediate and complete change.
Well, I went back and asked my doctor about this “wonder drug” and of course the answer was “Oh, no, we can’t do that it will ruin your bones and cause your body damage, but we can give you a cortisone shot.” So, instead of getting back the merry-go-round, I decided to investigate this Prednisone. Well, my doctor is right, it is not an alternative for long-term use, but I then found that at least some people were using similar drugs with great results.
So here I am, as a complete newbie. In the six weeks of research though, I believe I am beginning to understand this world superficially, but still have tons of questions many due to the broad base of medical commentary, study results and expressed opinions/advice on this forum and others. Right now I am centering in on low dose usage of Nandrolone Phenylpropionate, Testosterone Propionate and Aromasin. There are many opinions on what are low dosages of the above, and of course, it depends on my particular body and joint condition. My desire is to use the least amount of enhancement needed to control my condition. I don’t want to bulk up, although I would like to loose some weight, which I think will naturally occur if/when I can control the joint pain and continue my normal exercise routine.
So where am I now? Clearly I am still in the research/info gather phase. I have ordered a blood profiling kit, which I thought might be a good idea to get a baseline before I do (if I do) anything. I have also found that the combination above, stack I believe you call it, is readily available and I have counted the cost of that. Things I really don’t understand are the long-term low-dosage use of such? Also, although I understand the benefit I receive while “on cycle,” I don’t understand being off cycle or coming off cycle and whether I have to or not with very low dosages? I am not afraid of needles (my dad was diabetic so I lived with them). It seems like oral usage is potentially worse for liver and other. There seems to be some benefit of a transdermal option as it bypasses the liver, albeit with the tradeoff of net efficiency.
So as you see, I have a lot of questions and a lot to learn. I ask that you be at least somewhat kind. I am a fast learner and will do my best not to waste your time. So at least to get started, what would be my first question? Hmmm… probably, am I even on the right track with the stack I am looking at, and can I achieve the long-term benefit I desire? Or am I just opening Pandora’s box and will get myself in a bigger mess?
Thanks in advance,
Tim
I am 53 years old. I have a sedentary job environment, but try to stay active with exercise, weekend sports, golf, etc. I am clearly not a body builder, but I have always been able to build muscle mass easily and my wife has always said I have a “nice butt.” I am a hair under 6’-2” and my “feel good” weight is 215 lbs. I know that still rates obese on the physician’s chart, but does not look obese on my frame. OK, now the problems…
At age 35 I started having trouble with my left knee locking up. An orthopedic surgeon suggested arthroscopic surgery to clean out the knee. When I woke up from the surgery the doctor greeted me with the statement “You may never walk again.” He then related that when he went in to do the surgery the cartilage simply “blew away” and fell from the bone. His prognosis was that I either inherited this condition through bad genes or potentially my mother took a series of antibiotics while pregnant that resulted in deterioration of bone structure in her offspring (me!). In short, the doctor said I had knees of a 70 year old and ordered me to stay on crutches for two months after the surgery. He also said that I would absolutely need a knee replacement (or two) in my lifetime but with then current technology, I couldn’t consider that until I was 55 so I would have to make my knees last 20 years.
So, fast forwarding, I did recover through therapy and a lot of swimming. I have been able to live with my joint condition and had even learned how to, and more importantly how not to, use my knees over the years even to the point I enjoyed activities like skiing (both snow and water) with my children as they were growing up. Saying that, two years ago I had kind of a freak injury during a hobby outing. I was stretching/extending my body and arm and lifting 50+lbs with my fingertips. I felt a snap and incurred a tear in my bicep at the lower tendon area. This injury took 6+ months to heal and during that time my exercise/activity level went down. With that lack of activity my knees (well most of my joints as I now have trouble with hips, shoulders, etc.) stiffened. Since then, when trying to get back to exercise it quickly led to injured/swollen knees—a vicious cycle. In the process over the two years I have gained 40lbs of primarily body fat, again putting more stress on my joints. I would consider myself borderline “disabled” at this point with the need to use a cane from time-to-time depending on my joint condition on a particular day.
Now I am almost 55 and at that crossroads in my life my surgeon referred to nearly 20 years back. In talking to my physician I get the normal spiel – cortisone shots, Enbrel/Humira, etc. I really don’t like taking drugs but did agree to start taking blood pressure medicine (Losartin as my blood pressure has risen, probably primarily due to weight gain) and Cymbalta (which they felt may help my joint pain). The later of the two above, after research, seemed to be the least risky of all the drugs options they gave me. I have not yet done the cortisone shots or began to investigate joint replacement although these are part of the next steps I am considering. I would say the Cymbalta has done little to help my knees. I do take a regimen of Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM and have for a long time. I would say the supplements have probably helped slow the deterioration, but at this point they can’t help my lack of mobility.
OK so enough of the boring story (although I think it was needed for forum member to give advice/opinions)—why the heck am I here? Well I recently had an upper respiratory infection (jeez, it sounds like I’m such an unhealthy guy—I’m really not
) and as part of the treatment my doctor gave me Prednisone. It took a while to shake the infection so I received two rounds of this and an antibiotic. Well, I cannot tell you enough what Prednisone did for me with respect to my quality of life! Almost immediately my knee pain was gone—not lessened—GONE! I had forgot what it was like not to live in constant pain—nothing in my knees, hips, elbows, shoulders—no pain anywhere! Before you knew it I was walking without a limp, completely upright and balanced. Next I was hiking around on our property with my grandkids, climbing up in their treehouse, running around, lifting them with ease, etc. – nothing short of an immediate and complete change.Well, I went back and asked my doctor about this “wonder drug” and of course the answer was “Oh, no, we can’t do that it will ruin your bones and cause your body damage, but we can give you a cortisone shot.” So, instead of getting back the merry-go-round, I decided to investigate this Prednisone. Well, my doctor is right, it is not an alternative for long-term use, but I then found that at least some people were using similar drugs with great results.
So here I am, as a complete newbie. In the six weeks of research though, I believe I am beginning to understand this world superficially, but still have tons of questions many due to the broad base of medical commentary, study results and expressed opinions/advice on this forum and others. Right now I am centering in on low dose usage of Nandrolone Phenylpropionate, Testosterone Propionate and Aromasin. There are many opinions on what are low dosages of the above, and of course, it depends on my particular body and joint condition. My desire is to use the least amount of enhancement needed to control my condition. I don’t want to bulk up, although I would like to loose some weight, which I think will naturally occur if/when I can control the joint pain and continue my normal exercise routine.
So where am I now? Clearly I am still in the research/info gather phase. I have ordered a blood profiling kit, which I thought might be a good idea to get a baseline before I do (if I do) anything. I have also found that the combination above, stack I believe you call it, is readily available and I have counted the cost of that. Things I really don’t understand are the long-term low-dosage use of such? Also, although I understand the benefit I receive while “on cycle,” I don’t understand being off cycle or coming off cycle and whether I have to or not with very low dosages? I am not afraid of needles (my dad was diabetic so I lived with them). It seems like oral usage is potentially worse for liver and other. There seems to be some benefit of a transdermal option as it bypasses the liver, albeit with the tradeoff of net efficiency.
So as you see, I have a lot of questions and a lot to learn. I ask that you be at least somewhat kind. I am a fast learner and will do my best not to waste your time. So at least to get started, what would be my first question? Hmmm… probably, am I even on the right track with the stack I am looking at, and can I achieve the long-term benefit I desire? Or am I just opening Pandora’s box and will get myself in a bigger mess?
Thanks in advance,
Tim
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