AI on cycle or not? Personal experiences

[andrea311]

What are your experiences? Do you always use an AI during your cycle? Some studies show that it's sometimes counterproductive and should be taken only if necessary.
Some people report feeling rough starting from the very first weeks of cycle and after dropping the AI they started to feel great.

I understand that if you also inject HCG, HCG should always be used with an aromatase inhibitor. But let's say in a 500 mg/week Testosterone only cycle, do you still use an AI all along your cycle?

 

[brandontx]

High estrogen causes me serious emotional disturbances. 500 mg test with no ai would make me and everyone around me completely miserable. I would honestly end up in prison. It's that bad. I'm a very laid back person too.

 

[andrea311]

High estrogen causes me serious emotional disturbances. 500 mg test with no ai would make me and everyone around me completely miserable. I would honestly end up in prison. It's that bad. I'm a very laid back person too.

So in order to know that it means you once tried without an AI?

 

[dylangemelli]

i certainly never ran cycles without an ai... im estrogen prone, even on 250 mg of test however i would always have one on hand regardless of what your running because you just never know... i cant imagine not using an ai with 500 mg of test... to each their own... i get so tired of arguing about this that i only worry about myself or people that will listen about it... if a person thinks that its smart or wise to let yourself get estrogen issues and THEN use an AI then thats on them...

 

[awm1981]

What are your experiences? Do you always use an AI during your cycle? Some studies show that it's sometimes counterproductive and should be taken only if necessary.
Some people report feeling rough starting from the very first weeks of cycle and after dropping the AI they started to feel great.

I understand that if you also inject HCG, HCG should always be used with an aromatase inhibitor. But let's say in a 500 mg/week Testosterone only cycle, do you still use an AI all along your cycle?

Yes you would use an AI but its all contingent on blood work. Im sure there are dudes out there that can run 500mg/week of test with no AI and have no visible side effects (gyno, etc) but I would imagine that their high levels of estrogen which can result in high blood pressure and other issues are not helping their internal organs at all.

There is too much AI for sure which again is why blood work is so critical. Me personally id never run a cycle without AI. Now TRT thats a different case you want to not have to use AI but on cycle I always would.

 

[andrea311]

i certainly never ran cycles without an ai... im estrogen prone, even on 250 mg of test however i would always have one on hand regardless of what your running because you just never know... i cant imagine not using an ai with 500 mg of test... to each their own... i get so tired of arguing about this that i only worry about myself or people that will listen about it... if a person thinks that its smart or wise to let yourself get estrogen issues and THEN use an AI then thats on them...

Personally, I don't think it's smart.
I just asked because, as a newbie, I studied as much as possible (and still studying) before running my 1st cycle and still there's so much contradictory information online, even here on this forum. Someone says something then someone else says the exact opposite. Everyone has their own opinion and that's why I asked for 'personal experiences'.

Personally, I'm currently using an AI (started from day 2). Would you say I'm good with 0.25 mg Arimidex EOD if running 500 mg/week Testo Enanthate?

 

[dylangemelli]

Personally, I don't think it's smart.
I just asked because, as a newbie, I studied as much as possible (and still studying) before running my 1st cycle and still there's so much contradictory information online, even here on this forum. Someone says something then someone else says the exact opposite. Everyone has their own opinion and that's why I asked for 'personal experiences'.

Personally, I'm currently using an AI (started from day 2). Would you say I'm good with 0.25 mg Arimidex EOD if running 500 mg/week Testo Enanthate?

I wouldnt have the slightest idea. Only you would know based on your bloodwork. That wouldnt be close to enough for me but others it could be plenty

 

[Anonymous Alpha]

What are your experiences? Do you always use an AI during your cycle? Some studies show that it's sometimes counterproductive and should be taken only if necessary.
Some people report feeling rough starting from the very first weeks of cycle and after dropping the AI they started to feel great.

I understand that if you also inject HCG, HCG should always be used with an aromatase inhibitor. But let's say in a 500 mg/week Testosterone only cycle, do you still use an AI all along your cycle?

Yes you should totally use an AI if you gonna be running a cycle

 

[andrea311]

I wouldnt have the slightest idea. Only you would know based on your bloodwork. That wouldnt be close to enough for me but others it could be plenty

Got it. So would you recommend doing bloodwork mid-cycle (say week 4 or 6) in order to adjust accordingly? And how will I realize I need to increase/decrease the AI dosage? Since I can't just pop up at the doctor's and ask him...

Maybe there's a thread already explaining how to read bloodwork?
Thanks as usual!

 

[dylangemelli]

Got it. So would you recommend doing bloodwork mid-cycle (say week 4 or 6) in order to adjust accordingly? And how will I realize I need to increase/decrease the AI dosage? Since I can't just pop up at the doctor's and ask him...

Maybe there's a thread already explaining how to read bloodwork?
Thanks as usual!

Pre mid and post cycle bloodwork is needed and u can test estrogen whenever u want

 

[stevesmi]

when you are new to steroids you will have to play around with dosages to find your sweet spot

 

[brandontx]

So in order to know that it means you once tried without an AI?

I've always taken one but sometimes I wasn't taking enough and my estrogen got high.

 

[Super User 4]

What are your experiences? Do you always use an AI during your cycle? Some studies show that it's sometimes counterproductive and should be taken only if necessary.
Some people report feeling rough starting from the very first weeks of cycle and after dropping the AI they started to feel great.

I understand that if you also inject HCG, HCG should always be used with an aromatase inhibitor. But let's say in a 500 mg/week Testosterone only cycle, do you still use an AI all along your cycle?

I always run cycles with an AI since the beginning

 

[HighlyBaked]

Get bloodwork itll help guide your AI use. Everybody is different, I only have to take it mid to near the end of cycle but I dont have to take it every day either. Every other day is fine my end of cycle bloodwork shows that its in or near the normal range

 

[Super User 4]

Get bloodwork itll help guide your AI use. Everybody is different, I only have to take it mid to near the end of cycle but I dont have to take it every day either. Every other day is fine my end of cycle bloodwork shows that its in or near the normal range

Do you normally just get bloods done at the end of your cycles?

 

[Mobster]

The number of people who do not need an AI is very few. I ALWAYS use one.

 

[andrea311]

Get bloodwork itll help guide your AI use. Everybody is different, I only have to take it mid to near the end of cycle but I dont have to take it every day either. Every other day is fine my end of cycle bloodwork shows that its in or near the normal range

Yeah exactly, I need to get bloodwork but at this point I think I need to wait mid-cycle to see if anything is not in the normal range and then adjust accordingly. I have just completed week 1 and if I get bloodwork now I don't think it'll show much of a change...

For now I've been taking Arimidex 0.25 mg EOD to stay on the safe side.

 

[HighlyBaked]

Did you ever get baseline bloodwork or you just winging haha

 

[andrea311]

Did you ever get baseline bloodwork or you just winging haha

I didn't get bloodwork before starting the cycle cause I did some months ago for other reasons and everything was perfect.

 

[andrea311]

Did you ever get baseline bloodwork or you just winging haha

Besides, the recommendations are:
Pre-Cycle blood work: 2 weeks prior to cycle.
Mid-Cycle blood work: 7 to 8 weeks into (if running a 12 week cycle).
Post-Cycle blood work: 6 weeks after PCT.

So let's say your pre-cycle blood work shows everything is in range. Then you start injecting and taking an AI to be safe. There is no way you can tell whether you need to modify the dosage or not until you get your mid-cycle blood work!
Otherwise the only ohter option is to get blood work every week!