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Price HCG 5000 IU - $20
Chorionic
gonadotropin is a hormone found in the female body during the
early months of pregnancy (it is produced in the placenta). It
is in fact the pregnancy indicator looked at by the over the
counter pregnancy test kits, as due to its origin it is not
found in the body at any other time. Blood levels of this
hormone will become noticeable as early as seven days after
ovulation. The level will rise evenly, reaching a peak at
approximately two to three months into gestation. After this
point, the hormone level will drop gradually until the point of
birth. As a prescription drug, HCG offers us some interesting
benefits. In the United States, we have the two popular brands,
Pregnyl, made by Organon, and Profasi, made by Serono. These are
FDA approved for the treatment of undescended testicles in young
boys, hypogonadism (underproduction of testosterone) and as a
fertility drug used to aid in inducing ovulation in women. When
prepared as a medical item, this hormone comes from a human
origin. Although there is often a fear of biological origin
products, there is little research to be found regarding
pathogen or sterility problems with HCG. The problems seen with
human origin growth hormone are certainly not to be repeated
with HCG, as this compound is obtained in a much different way.
While HCG
offers the female no performance enhancing ability, it does
prove very useful to the male steroid user. The obvious use of
course being to stimulate the production of endogenous
testosterone. The activity of HCG in the male body is due to its
ability to mimic LH (luteinizing hormone), a pituitary hormone
that stimulates the Leydig's cells in the testes to manufacture
testosterone. Restoring endogenous testosterone production is a
special concern at the end of each steroid cycle, a time when a
subnormal androgen level (due to steroid induced suppression)
could be very costly. The main concern is the action of cortisol,
which in many ways is balanced out by the effect of androgens.
Cortisol sends the opposite message to the muscles than
testosterone, or to breakdown protein in the cell. Left
unchecked (by an extremely low testosterone level) in the body,
cortisol can quickly strip much of your new muscle mass away.
The main focus
with HCG is to restore the normal ability of the testes to
respond to endogenous luteinizing hormone. After a long period
of inactivity, this ability may have been seriously reduced. In
such a state testosterone levels may not reach a normal point,
even though the release of endogenous LH has been resumed. Many
who have suffered severe testicular shrinkage may be able to
relate, as it is often some time before normal testicle size and
feelings of virility are restored if ancillary drugs had not
been used. The excessive stimulation brought forth by
administration of HCG can likewise cause the testicles to
rapidly return to their normal size and level of activity. We
are not simply looking for it to fix the problem however, as the
resulting high testosterone level can itself trigger negative
feedback inhibition at the hypothalamus. Estrogen production is
also heightened with the use of HCG, due to its ability to
increase aromatase activity in the Leydig's cells'9. This is due
to the main action of HCG, namely the increase of cycIicAMP (a
secondary messenger that regulates cellular activity). When
stimulated by HCG, the ability of the testes to aromatize
androgens could potentially be heightened several times greater
than normal. This also may inhibit testosterone production, so
we therefore use HCG only as a quick shock to the testes.
The usual
protocol is to inject 1500-3000 I.U. every 4'" or 5t" day, for a
duration usually no longer than 2 or 3 weeks. If used for too
long or at too high a dose, the drug may actually function to
desensitize the Leydig's cells to luteinizing hormone, further
hindering a return to homeostasis. Timing the initial dose is
also very crucial. If your were coming off a cycle of Sustanon
for example, testosterone levels in your blood will likely stay
elevated for at least 3 to 4 weeks after your last injection.
Taking HCG on the day of your last shot would therefore be
useless. Instead one would want to calculate the last week in
which androgen levels are likely to be above normal, and begin
ancillary drug therapy at this point. In this case HCG would be
started around the third or fourth week. Likewise, after ending
a cycle of Dianabol (an oral) your blood levels will be sub
normal after the third day. Here you may want to begin HCG
therapy a few days before your last intake of tablets, giving it
a few days to take effect. One would also want to give some
thought to the level of suppression that the cycle might have
brought about. After an 8 week cycle of Equipoise for example,
1500-2500 I.U. would likely be a sufficient initial dosage. The
lower amount of hormonal suppression one associates with this
drug would probably not require much more. On the other hand,
750-1000mg of Sustanon per week might incline the user to inject
a much larger HCG dose, perhaps as much as 5000 I.U. for the
opening application. It may thereafter also be a good idea to
reduce the dosage on subsequent shots, so as to step down the
intake of HCG during the two or three weeks of intake.
As discussed
above, HCG acts only to mimic the action of LH. It is likewise
not the perfect hormone to combat testosterone suppression, and
for this reason it is used most often in conjunction with
estrogen antagonists such as Clomid, Nolvadex or cyclofenil.
These drugs have a different effect on the regulating system,
namely inhibiting estrogen-induced suppression at the
hypothalamus. This of course also helps to restore the release
of testosterone, although through a much different mechanism
than HCG. A combination of both drugs appears to be very
synergistic, HCG providing an immediate effect on the testes
(shocking them out of inactivity) while the antiestrogen helps
later to block inhibition on the hypothalamus and resume the
normal release of gonadotropins from the pituitary. The typical
procedure involves giving the Clomid, Nolvadex dose from the
start with HCG, but continuing it alone for a few weeks once HCG
has been discontinued. This practice should effectively raise
testosterone levels, which will hopefully remain stable once
Clomid, Nolvadex have been discontinued. While unfortunately
there is no way to retain all of the muscle gains produced by
anabolic steroids, using ancillaries to restore a balanced
hormonal state is the best way to minimize the loss felt with
ending a cycle.
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