Comment by 93po | Hacker News Reader

Comment by 93po | Hacker News Reader

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I started taking steroids two weeks ago. 500mg/week testosterone. They haven't even really kicked in yet (takes about 3 weeks to get really testosterone levels up) but I'm feeling real good and I'm really excited with all the weight gain I've had so far this year. I started at around 155 in June and today I'm up to 180. A lot of it is water weight I'm sure but I'm excited to hit over 200 in the next 5 months of my first testosterone cycle. A fair bit of that will be fat but I really want to over-eat than under-eat. I'm really happy with how I look already and I've added 2.5 inches to my biceps since June.

Testosterone supplementation is a lot safer than some people think it is. It's still not the best thing for your body and it does put stress on it, but honestly I'd put it at about the level of moderate to heavy alcohol use (depending on how you define "heavy"). Except instead of destroying your liver to get drunk you're getting muscular af and looking great.

I do also want to get hired but I posted in there on a different account :)

Of all the ideas in this thread this one seems the most dettached from my preferences and tastes.

It's cool knowing completely different folks are out there. Goos luck!

thanks! i only mention it here because I do think it sort of falls under the hacker ethos. At least my motivations for it are similar

What was the biggest factor in contributing to your decision to start taking T supplements? You were already happy with how you looked, so I’m curious to hear why you decided to take them.

I’ve held this idea in the back of my mind that someday, at some point, when I plateau, or when my body starts to deteriorate, I’ll start taking T.

I'm happy relative to how I've looked in the past. On the whole I have a TON of room for improvement. I want to be jacked. I want people to look at me and be like oh shit he works out. So as to why: largely vanity. My fiance is very happy with my progress and her actions show that, which is nice too. But also because it's a challenge and quite different from anything I've done before. I'm also just curious what it's like and I like trying new things.

I would recommend going to get your T levels checked just in case they're low, especially if you have low T symptoms. My levels were fine for my age (early 30s) but could be better.

You mentioned liver health.

Have you looked at the state of your liver before starting the regime?

AST/ALT/Ferritin etc.

I didn't, partially because a liver panel is like $350 and I have no reason to think my liver is anything but healthy. I'm injecting the testosterone directly and not using orals. Injecting it doesn't really have a reputation of being hard on your liver - orals do though. I mean they both do have an effect on your liver but it's not really the focus of all the material I've read on injection (which does advise strongly against a lot of orals).

I will likely get one in a couple months mid-cycle and if it's fine then I won't get a follow for my liver speciically up at the end (but will do all the other common markers still)

I mentioned liver health only because I was comparing steroid use to drinking, not trying to imply injecting really messes with your liver.

What about transdermal cream?

I am interested in the domain too, but I never pulled the trigger on the exogenous T.

I am at 600 but that means nothing because there's also the SHBG value and the T/Estradiol ratio and the T/DHT ratio , but most importantly the density of the AR receptors in the muscle fibers.

So somebody can be golden with T at 300 , whereas somebody else might need 950.

In any event I wanted to try and improve my T number via winning physical fights.

The skin cream is fine if you're doing TRT. To do an actual "cycle" of high levels of test you'd be basically swimming in it. It's also crazy expensive compared to injections, and I've never seen it available "underground" and you won't find a doctor willing to prescribe you enough for anything other than TRT

>In any event I wanted to try and improve my T number via winning physical fights.

Is this a joke? lol

> Is this a joke? lol

no, google: "winner effect"

What made you decide to start with the steroids if you were already gaining? And had you tried in the past to add muscle without success?

Honestly mostly just curiosity. I like trying new things and having new hobbies, and it honestly seems relatively safe so I figured why not.

I am traditionally a really hard gainer. I'm currently the biggest I've ever been in my life but it's been from 6 days a week at the gym lifting weights consistently since June and eating a ton. It's been a shit load of work. I'm seeing progress but not as much as I'd like.

Water weight and glycogen retention. Hopefully you're taking an aromatase inhibitor as well with those T levels.

The common advice is to take AI as needed when high E2 symptoms show up. Too many people take it preemptively and crash their E2 for no reason and feel like shit as a result. But I do have some on hand along with a huge array of other drugs "just in case" including stuff for PCT.

Pre, during, and post blood work is also happening to help monitor things like E2 level.

How long have you been training pre-steroids?

Non-seriously my entire life. My starting weight of 155 is an indicator of that. But I was 175 when I hopped on 2 weeks ago and it's been 6 days a week for the past half year. I know it's earlier than a lot of people recommend.

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