It took me about 1 week to see a difference and by 2 weeks it was obvious.
Unlike Anadrol, which caues significant weight gains, M-Sten only added about half as much bodyweight. However, I believe the overall gains in muscle fiber were very similar. When using Anadrol, a large percentage of the bodyweright gained is attributable to increases in I.M. water retention...not muscle fiber growth. This is why we swell up so quikcly when using Anadrol...and also why we deflate so quiclly upon discontinuation, resulting in a rapid loss of bodyweight in less than a week. With M-sten, while the weight gains are significantly slower in comparison to Anadrol, I believe a much larger percentage of one's weight gains are attributable to actual muscle fiber growth.
The fact that one does not deflate like a baloon when discontinuing M-sten shows that a larger percentage of the weight gained is muscle, as muscle tissue takes alot longer to lose post-cycle compared to I.M water retention. As soon as a steroid like Drol is discontinued...it's effects on the 11-b-h enzyme immediately cease, causing the body to restore normal levels of I.M. water retention right away...within days. However, muscle tissue takes a lot longer to lose post-cycle, assuming caloric intake is maintained. When people talk about certain steroids being worse for gains retention than others, what they are actually referring to, whether they realize it or not, is the amount of I.M water they are losing post-cycle. Becaue I.M. water looks just like muscle, most users can't tell the difference betwen losing I.M. water and actual muscle fiber. In short, they confuse water weight with muscle fiber weight. All they see is themselves getting smaller after they stop using the steroid. For example, when someone stops using Anadrol, he sees thimself shrink up much faster than when stopping a steroid like Primobolan, so he automatically assumes it is much harder to maintain gains with Anadrol....but, unless that person defines gains as "water weight", there is no difference in the rate of gains retention between the various steroids. In reality, while "weight loss" can vary dramatically from steroid to steroid, all steroids result in basically the same rate of "muscle loss" post-cycle. There are no steroids which cause an individual to lose muscle fiber quicker post-cycle, than others. The only factor responsible in determing the differences in the rate of weight loss between the various steroids is water weight...NOT muscle fiber. As one final example, if someone uses Anadrol and gains 20 pounds of bodyweight, it is very likely that at least 10 pounds of that is due to increased water retention. Let's say the same person runs a cycle of Primo and gains 7 pounds. Very close to all 7 pounds will be muscle fiber, with only a small portion being attributable to water weight. In the end, because the person lost so much more weight when stopping the Anadrol compared to Primo, they believe the Primo is much better for keeping gains, but it wasn't. The 10 pounds of muscle gained from the Anadrol and the 6-7 pounds of muscle gained from the Primo with both be lost or maintained at the same rate. So, the primary variable responsible for determining the percentage of weight lost post-cycle, is water.
the point is that you should not expect to gain nearly as much weight, but most of the weight you do gain will be muscle. I have been off the M-sten a while now and have maintained ALL of my strength and nearly all of my weight gains (lost just a couple pounds). If I had a been using Anadrol, I would have lost a ton of weight by now...at least half of it...or more...and my strength would've dwindled just as quickly. M-sten is a very different drug than something like Anadrol...but for those who don't understand how the different steroids increase bodyweight, it is easy for someone to think that M-sten is half as potent as Anadrol for growth, while they are on cycle. However, if they do understand these differences, after the cycle ends, they will see how much muscle they are left with and can then more accurately compare it against Anadrol in terms of total muscle fiber acquired.