Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Bloodwork
3. Common Side Effects using Steroids or SARMs
4. On Cycle Therapy (OCT)
5. Post Cycle Therapy (PCT)
6. FAQ (Common questions)
7. Glossary (Definitions)
DISCLAIMER:
THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. EVERYTHING I MENTIONED IS BASED ON MY OWN RESEARCH AND CAN BE REFUTED AS THIS THREAD GETS OLDER. I DONT RECOMMEND ANYONE TO DO PEDs.
This does not cover every aspect and is not a guide to do anabolics. This is only for harm mitigation. Incase you choose to do anabolics, do your own research ontop of this thread
Introduction
Often, looksmaxxers choose to use enhancements like steroids or SARMs to achieve their physique goals faster and feel better about their bodies. Most people here likely understand the benefits of an aesthetic physique and how quickly it can be achieved with the help of PEDs. While many who research the subject are aware of the usual dangers associated with PED use, few truly understand how to manage the side effects and prevent the damage caused by anabolics.
This guide will cover the most dangerous and unpleasant side effects of anabolic and provide strategies to combat them effectively.
Bloodwork
This part of the guide covers why you should get bloodwork done and which panels you need.
You can definitly get away without doing bloodwork, when you are doing low dose SARM or Test only cycles, but its NEVER a good idea. Bloodwork indicates health issues and shows us what we need to fix on and off cycle. It also shows us if we are ready for doing PEDs or if we are ready for the next cycle. Especially before your first cycle, it is important to know where your baseline is so you have something to compare future bloods with. You can get home testing kit in most western countries and the united states but having a doctor do it is usually the better choice.
What panels to choose when doing a blood test suited for PED use:
Common Side Effects using Steroids or SARMs
This part of the guide will just name all the sides and what they are caused by.
1. Cholesterol - Anabolics have a bad impact on Lipids. Having bad Cholesterol is linked to cardiovascular disease (Ranging from elevated blood pressure to even heart attacks)
2. Hepatoxicity - Anabolics, especially orals and sarms, are liver toxic.
3. Hair loss - Anabolics, especially DHT derivates, cause hair loss in men.
4. Gyno (Man boobs) - Unbalanced Test to Estrogen levels can cause gyno. Especially if you have pubertal gyno
5. Kidney Damage - Anabolics can harm kidneys. Easy to combat
6. High blood pressure - Steroids (also SARMs but not as common) can cause high blood pressure, which can lead to heart attacks
7. Dry joints - Dry compounds such as Winstrol or S23 can cause dry joints which makes you prone to injuries
8. Easy to fix but still important side effects
9. MOST IMPORTANT FOR MOST MEN - Testosterone shutdown / suppression
On-Cycle Therapy
This part of the guide will cover how to combat side effects while being on cycle.
1. Cholesterol:
Keep your diet very healthy. Means avoid unhealthy fats and processed foods. Also do cardio no matter if bulking or not. You should do these things anyways even without PEDs. Take Omega 3 fatty acids. For example fish oil. Do up to 6 caps daily depending on your height and weight.
Optional supplements:
- COQ10 at up to 200mg/day
- Citrus Bergamot at up to 1000mg/day (split into two doses)
- Niacin at 500mg/day. DONT USE ON MK677
- Cadarine (GW0742) at 10 to 20mg daily. Research about risks carefully
2. Liver health / Hepatoxicity
Especially important on SARMs and other Oral PEDs (e.g. Anadrol).
Avoid alcohol and take supplements like NAC at 800-1200mg/day or Milk Thistle at 500-700mg/day. If you are injecting your PEDs anyways, use L-Glutathione which is the most powerful anti-oxidant you can use.
3. Hair loss / hair shedding
Especially important for people who are prone to it. Research risks of hair loss for your used compounds. SARM users can neglect this if not prone when not using Rad140, YK11 or S23 at high doses.
To combat this, use Ketoconazole shampoo as it acts as mild topical anti-androgen. Also consider using Finasteride. Start using 0.25mg/day Finasteride and if it doesnt help, raise this dose to 0.5mg/day. Research side effects caused by finasteride.
Another thing you can do is use RU58841. You might've heard about this compound on social media, promoted by degenerate gearheads but it can completely fix hair loss on cycle.
4. Gyno / Man boobs
If you are using injectable testosterone, you can use an AI like Arimistane at 25mg/day. Reasearche its own side effects. Dont use if only on SARMs.
Another option is using Tamoxifen or Raloxifene to block the development of breast tissue. Use either 10mg/day of Tamoxifen or 30mg/day of Raloxifene. Dont use both.
If you already have pubertal gyno or gyno from being fat before, get rid of it first before using any anabolic. Use 40-60mg/day of Raloxifene for 10 days and followed by 20-30mg/day. Use calcium D-Glucarate at 500mg/day for same amount of time.
5. Kidney Health
Drink a lot of water and consume enough electrolytes. You can take NAC (take for liver anyways) or kidney cleanse supplement complexes.
6. High blood pressure
Do daily cardio and take care of water retention if using wet compounds. If that doesnt help you can use L-Citrulline at 5-10g daily. Tadalafil (cialis) at 5mg EOD can also help a lot.
7. Dry joints
Dry joints limit strength and cause injuries. Causes especially by wet compounds. Use Fish or Krill oil (you should anyways for cholesterol) and MSM at 1000mg/day
8. Other sides
- Blood thickness: Donate blood
- Heart palpitations: Usually just anxiety but can also be caused by high BP
- Roid Rage: Can be fixed using CBD, Ashwaghanda or L-Theanine
- Acne: Cant do much abt it, eat clean, drink enough, dont do stupid cycles. If its severe ask doctor for accutane
- Water retention: drink more, more electrolytes
- Insomnia: USe melatonin to sleep, L-Theanine, CBD oil. Also consider magnesium
9. MOST IMPORTANT FOR MOST MEN: Testosterone suppression
If you are on a real cycle and use injectable testosterone as base, you can skip this.
Testosterone Suppression can come with a lot of sides. Some are dangerous, some are just making you feel like shit. For a healthy male, its important to have high enough test levels. EVERY anabolic causes this. No matter what people tell you, as long as its anabolic, it will cause test suppression to some extend. Being suppressed on cycle is one thing but we really dont want to be suppressed, or even shutdown, forever right? This is why we have to make sure to take care of it on and after cycle (after cycle, see PCT section).
We have multiple options to combat test suppression:
1. Injectable testosterone.
Most effective form. If you are ready to do this, do it. If you take SARMs only, but are ready to do this, drop your SARMs and just do a real test cycle. While using test as a base, 100-150mg weekly should be enough. Needs PCT
2. HCG
Most use this with PCT for steroid cycles. If using sarms, injecting HCG can be also used as a test base. Maybe even with oral steroids but I wouldnt recommend it. Use 500-750 IU 3 times a week. Requires mild pct. Also worth to take with injectable testosterone to keep gonads working
3. SERMs
If you are using SARMs, using a SERM as a test base might be a good option. Some people also used SERMs as Test Base for oral steroids like anavar
The best SERMs to use are Enclomiphene and Tamoxifen.
Tamoxifen: USe not more than 20mg daily. Taper on and off
Enclomiphene: Use 12.5mg daily. Taper on and off
Depending on how strong your sarm or oral steroid is, you will have to use the SERM earlier in the cycle.
4. Prohormones
I'm not the most knowledgable person with prohormones. Especially 4-andro is an option but do research on your own about this.
Post-Cycle Therapy
Post-Cycle Therapy is what you do after dropping your anabolics. Its how you restore your health markers and restore your natural testosterone production.
General health markers: Keep taking your support supplements for at least 4 weeks after your cycle.
Liver: Incase your OCT didnt prevent your liver entirely from taking damage, take TUDCA for 4 weeks after your cycle at 500mg/day
Lipids: Consider Cardarine
How to keep gains: To keep gains, stay in a caloric surplus, lift as intense as on cycle. Incase you were taking MK677 or GH elevating peptides, you can keep using them for 4 Weeks after the cycle to secure gains.
Testosterone Suppression. The most important part about PCT:
The average low dose SARM cycle might not require this, but its def recommended for people using steroids and or highly suppressive SARMs like S23.
For steroid users:
What to do depends on your Cycle. r/Steroids has great example PCT Protocols in their Wiki
For Sarm users:
At highly suppressive cycles, you can use HCG. Highly suppressive SARMs require two SERMs (e.g. Enclo and Tamoxifen)
Use Enclo at 12.5/12.5/12.5/6.25 and Tamoxifen at 20/20/20/10. Each number represents the amount of mg/day of the serm in that specific week. This covers stuff like S23, Yk11, LGD-3303. When taking enclo on cycle you can also get away with only using enclo.
For moderatly suppressive SARM cycles, you can do either enclo or tamoxifen at the above mentioned doses. Both together like above arent necessary. This means Rad140 or LGD-4033.
For mild suppressive SARM cycles, just split the doses mentioned for moderatly suppressive sarm cycles in half.
What you need, always depends on the dosage. For example 30mg of Ostarine suppresses more than 5mg of LGD4 so keep your doses and how you feel on cycle in mind.
FAQ
Will be added incase questions appear
Glossary
Will be added incase words are widely unknown
1. Introduction
2. Bloodwork
3. Common Side Effects using Steroids or SARMs
4. On Cycle Therapy (OCT)
5. Post Cycle Therapy (PCT)
6. FAQ (Common questions)
7. Glossary (Definitions)
DISCLAIMER:
THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. EVERYTHING I MENTIONED IS BASED ON MY OWN RESEARCH AND CAN BE REFUTED AS THIS THREAD GETS OLDER. I DONT RECOMMEND ANYONE TO DO PEDs.
This does not cover every aspect and is not a guide to do anabolics. This is only for harm mitigation. Incase you choose to do anabolics, do your own research ontop of this thread
Introduction
Often, looksmaxxers choose to use enhancements like steroids or SARMs to achieve their physique goals faster and feel better about their bodies. Most people here likely understand the benefits of an aesthetic physique and how quickly it can be achieved with the help of PEDs. While many who research the subject are aware of the usual dangers associated with PED use, few truly understand how to manage the side effects and prevent the damage caused by anabolics.
This guide will cover the most dangerous and unpleasant side effects of anabolic and provide strategies to combat them effectively.
Bloodwork
This part of the guide covers why you should get bloodwork done and which panels you need.
You can definitly get away without doing bloodwork, when you are doing low dose SARM or Test only cycles, but its NEVER a good idea. Bloodwork indicates health issues and shows us what we need to fix on and off cycle. It also shows us if we are ready for doing PEDs or if we are ready for the next cycle. Especially before your first cycle, it is important to know where your baseline is so you have something to compare future bloods with. You can get home testing kit in most western countries and the united states but having a doctor do it is usually the better choice.
What panels to choose when doing a blood test suited for PED use:
1. Hormonal Panel:
Testosterone: Primary male sex horomone, important for building muscle, mental health, physical health, sexual health etc. Ideal Range: 600-1100 ngl/dl
Free Testosterone: Amount of testosterone which is not bound to SHBG. Test that your body can use. Ideal range: 10-20 ngl/dl
SHBG: SHBG binds to androgens like test, the lower it is, the more free test you will have. Ideal range: 15-30 nmol/L
LH and FSH: LH and FSH are important for testosterone production. More is means more test so higher is better. Ideal range: 5-10 miU/ml
Estrogen: Estrogen is more important for men than most think. Ideal range: 20-30 pg/ml
2. Lipid Panel:
Total Cholesterol: Cholesterol is a precursor to steroid hormones and others. Ideal range: 120-200 mg/dl
HDL: Good cholesterol. Prevents cardiovascular diseases. Ideal Range: 40 mg/dl or higher
LDL: Bad cholesterol. Causes cardiovascular disease. Ideal range: Below 100mg/dl
Triglycerides: Causes cardiovascular disease if too high. Ideal range: Below 150mg/dl
3. CBC:
Red and white blood cell count: Obvious what it is. Ideal ranges: 4.35M-5.65M per μl for white blood cells, 4000-10000 per μl for white blood cells.
Hematocrit: Too much will cause thicker blood. Causes viscosity. Ideal Range: 40-50%
Hemolgobin: Part of red blood cells. Transports oxygen. Ideal range: 13-18 g/dl
Platelet Count: Cell fragments that form blood clots. Ideal range: 150000-450000 per μl
4. Metabolic Panel:
AST & ALT: AST and ALT are liver enzymes. Higher values mean higher strain on the liver. Ideal ranges: 40 u/l or lower for AST and 56u/l or lower for ALT
IMPORTANT FOR MK677 USERS! Glucose: The higher, the more insulin resistant you become. Many negative issues and risks diabetes. Ideal range: 80-90mg/dl
BUN & Creatinine: Reflects kidney health. Ideal range: 5-20mg/dl for BUN and 0.9-1.3mg/dl for Creatinine
Testosterone: Primary male sex horomone, important for building muscle, mental health, physical health, sexual health etc. Ideal Range: 600-1100 ngl/dl
Free Testosterone: Amount of testosterone which is not bound to SHBG. Test that your body can use. Ideal range: 10-20 ngl/dl
SHBG: SHBG binds to androgens like test, the lower it is, the more free test you will have. Ideal range: 15-30 nmol/L
LH and FSH: LH and FSH are important for testosterone production. More is means more test so higher is better. Ideal range: 5-10 miU/ml
Estrogen: Estrogen is more important for men than most think. Ideal range: 20-30 pg/ml
2. Lipid Panel:
Total Cholesterol: Cholesterol is a precursor to steroid hormones and others. Ideal range: 120-200 mg/dl
HDL: Good cholesterol. Prevents cardiovascular diseases. Ideal Range: 40 mg/dl or higher
LDL: Bad cholesterol. Causes cardiovascular disease. Ideal range: Below 100mg/dl
Triglycerides: Causes cardiovascular disease if too high. Ideal range: Below 150mg/dl
3. CBC:
Red and white blood cell count: Obvious what it is. Ideal ranges: 4.35M-5.65M per μl for white blood cells, 4000-10000 per μl for white blood cells.
Hematocrit: Too much will cause thicker blood. Causes viscosity. Ideal Range: 40-50%
Hemolgobin: Part of red blood cells. Transports oxygen. Ideal range: 13-18 g/dl
Platelet Count: Cell fragments that form blood clots. Ideal range: 150000-450000 per μl
4. Metabolic Panel:
AST & ALT: AST and ALT are liver enzymes. Higher values mean higher strain on the liver. Ideal ranges: 40 u/l or lower for AST and 56u/l or lower for ALT
IMPORTANT FOR MK677 USERS! Glucose: The higher, the more insulin resistant you become. Many negative issues and risks diabetes. Ideal range: 80-90mg/dl
BUN & Creatinine: Reflects kidney health. Ideal range: 5-20mg/dl for BUN and 0.9-1.3mg/dl for Creatinine
Common Side Effects using Steroids or SARMs
This part of the guide will just name all the sides and what they are caused by.
1. Cholesterol - Anabolics have a bad impact on Lipids. Having bad Cholesterol is linked to cardiovascular disease (Ranging from elevated blood pressure to even heart attacks)
2. Hepatoxicity - Anabolics, especially orals and sarms, are liver toxic.
3. Hair loss - Anabolics, especially DHT derivates, cause hair loss in men.
4. Gyno (Man boobs) - Unbalanced Test to Estrogen levels can cause gyno. Especially if you have pubertal gyno
5. Kidney Damage - Anabolics can harm kidneys. Easy to combat
6. High blood pressure - Steroids (also SARMs but not as common) can cause high blood pressure, which can lead to heart attacks
7. Dry joints - Dry compounds such as Winstrol or S23 can cause dry joints which makes you prone to injuries
8. Easy to fix but still important side effects
9. MOST IMPORTANT FOR MOST MEN - Testosterone shutdown / suppression
On-Cycle Therapy
This part of the guide will cover how to combat side effects while being on cycle.
1. Cholesterol:
Keep your diet very healthy. Means avoid unhealthy fats and processed foods. Also do cardio no matter if bulking or not. You should do these things anyways even without PEDs. Take Omega 3 fatty acids. For example fish oil. Do up to 6 caps daily depending on your height and weight.
Optional supplements:
- COQ10 at up to 200mg/day
- Citrus Bergamot at up to 1000mg/day (split into two doses)
- Niacin at 500mg/day. DONT USE ON MK677
- Cadarine (GW0742) at 10 to 20mg daily. Research about risks carefully
2. Liver health / Hepatoxicity
Especially important on SARMs and other Oral PEDs (e.g. Anadrol).
Avoid alcohol and take supplements like NAC at 800-1200mg/day or Milk Thistle at 500-700mg/day. If you are injecting your PEDs anyways, use L-Glutathione which is the most powerful anti-oxidant you can use.
3. Hair loss / hair shedding
Especially important for people who are prone to it. Research risks of hair loss for your used compounds. SARM users can neglect this if not prone when not using Rad140, YK11 or S23 at high doses.
To combat this, use Ketoconazole shampoo as it acts as mild topical anti-androgen. Also consider using Finasteride. Start using 0.25mg/day Finasteride and if it doesnt help, raise this dose to 0.5mg/day. Research side effects caused by finasteride.
Another thing you can do is use RU58841. You might've heard about this compound on social media, promoted by degenerate gearheads but it can completely fix hair loss on cycle.
4. Gyno / Man boobs
If you are using injectable testosterone, you can use an AI like Arimistane at 25mg/day. Reasearche its own side effects. Dont use if only on SARMs.
Another option is using Tamoxifen or Raloxifene to block the development of breast tissue. Use either 10mg/day of Tamoxifen or 30mg/day of Raloxifene. Dont use both.
If you already have pubertal gyno or gyno from being fat before, get rid of it first before using any anabolic. Use 40-60mg/day of Raloxifene for 10 days and followed by 20-30mg/day. Use calcium D-Glucarate at 500mg/day for same amount of time.
5. Kidney Health
Drink a lot of water and consume enough electrolytes. You can take NAC (take for liver anyways) or kidney cleanse supplement complexes.
6. High blood pressure
Do daily cardio and take care of water retention if using wet compounds. If that doesnt help you can use L-Citrulline at 5-10g daily. Tadalafil (cialis) at 5mg EOD can also help a lot.
7. Dry joints
Dry joints limit strength and cause injuries. Causes especially by wet compounds. Use Fish or Krill oil (you should anyways for cholesterol) and MSM at 1000mg/day
8. Other sides
- Blood thickness: Donate blood
- Heart palpitations: Usually just anxiety but can also be caused by high BP
- Roid Rage: Can be fixed using CBD, Ashwaghanda or L-Theanine
- Acne: Cant do much abt it, eat clean, drink enough, dont do stupid cycles. If its severe ask doctor for accutane
- Water retention: drink more, more electrolytes
- Insomnia: USe melatonin to sleep, L-Theanine, CBD oil. Also consider magnesium
9. MOST IMPORTANT FOR MOST MEN: Testosterone suppression
If you are on a real cycle and use injectable testosterone as base, you can skip this.
Testosterone Suppression can come with a lot of sides. Some are dangerous, some are just making you feel like shit. For a healthy male, its important to have high enough test levels. EVERY anabolic causes this. No matter what people tell you, as long as its anabolic, it will cause test suppression to some extend. Being suppressed on cycle is one thing but we really dont want to be suppressed, or even shutdown, forever right? This is why we have to make sure to take care of it on and after cycle (after cycle, see PCT section).
We have multiple options to combat test suppression:
1. Injectable testosterone.
Most effective form. If you are ready to do this, do it. If you take SARMs only, but are ready to do this, drop your SARMs and just do a real test cycle. While using test as a base, 100-150mg weekly should be enough. Needs PCT
2. HCG
Most use this with PCT for steroid cycles. If using sarms, injecting HCG can be also used as a test base. Maybe even with oral steroids but I wouldnt recommend it. Use 500-750 IU 3 times a week. Requires mild pct. Also worth to take with injectable testosterone to keep gonads working
3. SERMs
If you are using SARMs, using a SERM as a test base might be a good option. Some people also used SERMs as Test Base for oral steroids like anavar
The best SERMs to use are Enclomiphene and Tamoxifen.
Tamoxifen: USe not more than 20mg daily. Taper on and off
Enclomiphene: Use 12.5mg daily. Taper on and off
Depending on how strong your sarm or oral steroid is, you will have to use the SERM earlier in the cycle.
4. Prohormones
I'm not the most knowledgable person with prohormones. Especially 4-andro is an option but do research on your own about this.
Post-Cycle Therapy
Post-Cycle Therapy is what you do after dropping your anabolics. Its how you restore your health markers and restore your natural testosterone production.
General health markers: Keep taking your support supplements for at least 4 weeks after your cycle.
Liver: Incase your OCT didnt prevent your liver entirely from taking damage, take TUDCA for 4 weeks after your cycle at 500mg/day
Lipids: Consider Cardarine
How to keep gains: To keep gains, stay in a caloric surplus, lift as intense as on cycle. Incase you were taking MK677 or GH elevating peptides, you can keep using them for 4 Weeks after the cycle to secure gains.
Testosterone Suppression. The most important part about PCT:
The average low dose SARM cycle might not require this, but its def recommended for people using steroids and or highly suppressive SARMs like S23.
For steroid users:
What to do depends on your Cycle. r/Steroids has great example PCT Protocols in their Wiki
For Sarm users:
At highly suppressive cycles, you can use HCG. Highly suppressive SARMs require two SERMs (e.g. Enclo and Tamoxifen)
Use Enclo at 12.5/12.5/12.5/6.25 and Tamoxifen at 20/20/20/10. Each number represents the amount of mg/day of the serm in that specific week. This covers stuff like S23, Yk11, LGD-3303. When taking enclo on cycle you can also get away with only using enclo.
For moderatly suppressive SARM cycles, you can do either enclo or tamoxifen at the above mentioned doses. Both together like above arent necessary. This means Rad140 or LGD-4033.
For mild suppressive SARM cycles, just split the doses mentioned for moderatly suppressive sarm cycles in half.
What you need, always depends on the dosage. For example 30mg of Ostarine suppresses more than 5mg of LGD4 so keep your doses and how you feel on cycle in mind.
FAQ
Will be added incase questions appear
Glossary
Will be added incase words are widely unknown
Last edited:
