WHAT
HCG or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin is a hormone produced by the Placenta.
In males it is very similar to LH which is produced by the pituitary to stimulate testosterone production.
WHY
Steroid users should always take HCG, unless very short two or three week cycles are done. The reason for this is simple, please read on.
When you take AAS the hypothalamus senses an excess in androgen and stops producing GnRH and then the pituitary stops producing LH as a result. When this happens the testes get no LH signal from the pituitary and they stop producing testosterone. It doesn't take much AAS to shut the testes down.
Now when the testes are no longer working to produce testosterone they start to atrophy. Shrinkage starts quite soon and by 4 weeks there has already has been some shrinkage, even though you may not notice any. By week 8 the testes have definately shrunk and if you measured their size before the cycle you will certainly notice a difference.
Lets say you stop a cycle of test cyp after 8 weeks. You then wait for a couple weeks and start clomid. The testes are still small at this time and are having a hard time producing optimum levels of testosterone and you end up loosing a fair amount of the hard earned muscle from the cycle.
SO...if you PREVENT testicular shrinkage, or at least bring the boys back to size BEFORE the cycle ends, then they will be able to respond to LH well and produce decent amounts of testosterone post cycle with clomid therapy.
LET IT BE WELL KNOW THAT LH RECOVERS PRETTY RAPIDLY POST CYCLE IN MOST MEN, unless you have been "on" a very long time, BUT THE TESTES DO NOT, unless you have used HCG.
So if you want to keep more gain then be sure to use HCG.
HOW
HCG could be used every other day at 500iu's throughout a cycle to prevent testicular shrinkage.
HCG can be used at 500iu's per day during the two middle weeks of a cycle and then again during the last two weeks of a cycle or during the time one is waiting for the high hormone levels to clear, BEFORE clomid.
If you are cheap or poor and can't afford to use HCG as above then at least use it for two weeks at cycles end or during the last two weeks of the cycle itself.
HCG can be taken either IM in the muscle or sub Q in the fat. I like to take it sub q with a TB or slin syringe and a tiny pin.
Some people use HCH in larger doses spread out over a few weeks and with clomid. The probelm with this is HCG will raise testosterone production A LOT and estrogen also climbs as a result of aromatization so the high test and high estrogen can be inhibitory in itself and prolong recovery. It would be akin to lengthening the cycle with low dose test but with large testes. The proponents of this style of HCG usage do not use HCG during a cycle because they are afraid that the HCG will desensitize the testes to natural testosterone. This indeed can happen with HCG use but ONLY IF large doses are taken over many weeks and 500iu's per day IS NOT a large dose and does not result in desensitization. The proponents of this style are also in the minority by far.
NOTE: Always have Nolvadex or clomid on hand when taking HCG as both act as estrogen blockers at the breast and will prevent gyno form highish levels estrogen.
So use HCG...it's cheap and very effective. Clomid alone will do VERY LITTLE to help save hard earned muscle mass if your testes have shrunk to dime size after a long cycle.
RG
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