Thread: What do you guys do/use to control cortisol during pct?

I make sure that I don't overtrain during my cycle. My first cycle I was full of steam and completely overtrained. As soon as the juice wore off, all of that cortisol brought my gains crashing down. Now, when I'm on cycle I give myself just as much rest as when I'm off. There is no magic answer to fighting the stress hormone other than getting enough rest and relaxation.

cel suppress-c
sns reduce xt
cel 11 sterone or 11-oxo

any one of those products should help a bit.

Originally Posted by crudadillamonkey

I make sure that I don't overtrain during my cycle. My first cycle I was full of steam and completely overtrained. As soon as the juice wore off, all of that cortisol brought my gains crashing down. Now, when I'm on cycle I give myself just as much rest as when I'm off. There is no magic answer to fighting the stress hormone other than getting enough rest and relaxation.

Same for me I beat the breaks off myself my very first cycle, lost a lot of gains even with proper PCT

Originally Posted by crudadillamonkey

I make sure that I don't overtrain during my cycle. My first cycle I was full of steam and completely overtrained. As soon as the juice wore off, all of that cortisol brought my gains crashing down. Now, when I'm on cycle I give myself just as much rest as when I'm off. There is no magic answer to fighting the stress hormone other than getting enough rest and relaxation.

Originally Posted by nyf1nest

Same for me I beat the breaks off myself my very first cycle, lost a lot of gains even with proper PCT

cortisol buildup is something that you don't really hear alot about (compared to everything else), but I will definitely be keeping this in mind for my upcoming run

Originally Posted by IronPotato

cel suppress-c
sns reduce xt
cel 11 sterone or 11-oxo

any one of those products should help a bit.

aren't these product hormonal though? meaning there use during pct may hinder recovery?

If you are worried about Cortisol. Get some blood work done after your cycle to see if this is an issue. If not don't worry about it.

Originally Posted by DaBeast25

aren't these product hormonal though? meaning there use during pct may hinder recovery?

11-oxo and clones are hormonal and can be suppressive in high doses. The other two he mentioned are great for PCT.

I read about one pct drug that is a cortisol suppressant. Let me look for it. I know there is one for sure. I havent seen it for sale anywhere tho.

Here
Cytadren

Aminoglutethimide

Cytadren (Aminoglutethimide) is one of the more interesting compounds found in the bodybuilders arsenal of Ancillaries. Its really not too popular today, but a decade or two ago, it was considered state of the art, and was prized by bodybuilders for many of its properties.

Lets first consider its primary use, which is that of an Anti-Estrogenic compound. is able to produce highly significant (almost total) estrogen suppression (1), and this is of course of interest to athletes who are using steroids which convert to estrogen. Unfortunately, this suppression of estrogen is not followed by an increase in any of the other hormones (testosterone, LH, FSH, etc... ) that many other anti-estrogenic compounds will cause. Thus, Cytadren is probably not going to be anyones first choice for use in Post-Cycle-Therapy.

The thing which, in my mind, sets it apart from other ancillary compounds currently in use today is its unique ability to inhibit the production of cortisol. Cortisol, as you recall, is a catabolic hormone, and breaks down muscle. Cytadren inhibits the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone (2) as well as having an aromatase inhibiting effect. Thus, Cytadren is quite unique in having both of these abilities, and certainly none of the AIs Ive seen thus far has anything resembling such an effect on cortisol.

Cytadren is used, medically, to fight breast cancer and/or hyperadrenocorticism, and it is the only drug currently available (to my knowledge) that can be used successfully for both purposes (1)(3). It may even have anti-depressive properties (4)(5). During a cycle, it may be used to both lower cortisol levels from intense training, and to lower estrogen levels. Sounds almost perfect, right? Its use would allow us to consider the use of Arimidex, Nolvadex, or a similar compound for strictly post cycle use, when an increase in test, LH, and FSH would be more necessary...

Well, its not quite perfect, as youll soon see. The first problem is that it (possibly) could reduce androgen levels. The best we could hope for is that it doesnt have much of an effect on circulating androgen levels (1).

The next problem is that eventually your body, smart cookie that it is, will start to figure out ways to compensate for the reduction in cortisol, by either producing more, or inhibiting the Cytadrens effects. Great... And while the cortisol isnt present in your body, your joints will be aching. Yeah, Ive actually used this stuff (the things I do in the name of science!), and it worked& made me look a bit "dryer" and more cut; but as I recall, it also made me sleepy. This could be due to its effects on the adrenal cortex, I dont really know, but thats a pretty good guess.

If you are thinking about using Cytadren for this purpose, Id have to tell you to forget it. Three grams of Vitamin C lowers your Cortisol around as much as 1,000mgs of Cytadren, from the literature Ive seen on both, and the Vitamin C doesnt do it at the expense of your adrenal responsiveness (7). A gram of Vitamin C lowered cortisol by 1/3rd in UltraMarathon Competitors (8) (these are the people who apparently dont have cars, so they feel compelled to run 90 kilometers at a time). I just cant justify taking Cytadren for an extended period of time to reduce cortisol, when Vitamin can do the same thing, more cheaply, and has other added benefits.

Next, we have to deal with Cytadrens liver toxicity (3). This stuff is pretty stressful on your liver. I guess we can use some milk thistle and such, but do we really want to risk it, when its effects on cortisol are short lived and it may reduce circulating androgen levels?

Maybe...

See you can use this stuff for (maybe) the last week or so while you are dieting for a bodybuilding contest, when your circulating androgens are being totally replaced by synthetic androgens, and you arent giving your adrenal-cortex much chance to shut down and make you lethargic, then I think it may be useful. Taking 500mgs/day for your last week of contest prep may help you to dry out that last little bit, and edge out that ever increasing specter of cortisol over production for long enough to do dial in for your contest. For athletes considering this compound in their cycles, I think this is not a viable option when you consider all of the other available options.

References:



Preservation of androgen secretion during estrogen suppression with aminoglutethimide in the treatment of metastatic breast carcinoma. J Clin Invest. 1980 March; 65(3): 602 612.
Adrenocortical steroidogenesis and aminoglutethimide I. Biomedical studies. Biomedicine. 1973 May;18(3):185-91.
Use of aminoglutethimide in the treatment of pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism in the dog. J Small Anim Pract. 2002 Mar;43(3):104-8.
Treatment of depression with antiglucocorticoid drugs.Psychosom Med. 1999 Sep-Oct;61(5):698-711.
Neuroendocrine responses to inhibitors of steroid biosynthesis in patients with major depression resistant to antidepressant therapy.Can J Psychiatry. 1998 Apr;43(3):279-86.
Treatment of metastatic breast cancer with aminoglutethimide.Cancer. 1981 Apr 15;47(8):1954-8.
A randomized controlled trial of high dose ascorbic acid for reduction of blood pressure, cortisol, and subjective responses to psychological stress. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2002 Jan;159(3):319-24. Epub 2001 Nov 20.
Attenuation of increase in circulating cortisol and enhancement of the acute phase protein response in vitamin C-supplemented ultramarathoners.Int J

I read somewhere that clen helps with cortisol. Not positive.

Originally Posted by Dolfan84

I read somewhere that clen helps with cortisol. Not positive.

Ive also read this somewhere lol I forget

Phosphatidylserine

Vitamin C

I have issues with elevated cortisol levels on or of a cycle, Yoga techniques really helped me, mind over matter, I calmed my self down. I came to terms that there isn't a pill to fix everything lol

Originally Posted by DaBeast25

aren't these product hormonal though? meaning there use during pct may hinder recovery?

good for a 3-4 week cruise into pct. sorry for not being clear.

I have tried all 3 for this purpose and all worked very well.

worth the shot imho

I get great results from Lean FX from Athletic Xtreme.

Lean FX | AX

Lean FX is a non-stimulating advanced leaning agent specifically designed to assist users is modulating counter productive cortisol levels.