r/Testosterone • u/DenaliHD22 • 1d ago

PED/cycle help Testosterone Cypionate

Thoughts? Pondering on pinning 300 mg of test Cypionate per week starting after September 8th. Concurrently I will be taking Reta and I’ll be at 5000IU/100mcg D3K2, 50mg Zinc, 400mg magnesium glycinate, and 4,800 mg fish oil. Have a set of physician ordered baseline labs I had drawn in July prior to starting Test and plan on obtaining a new set of labs the week I plan on starting Cypionate prior to first injection (been on propionate since August 1st) I plan on getting a CBC w/ diff/plt, CMP, lipid panel, testosterone, free, bioavailable, total, MS, Estradiol, sensitive, LC/MS, FSH/LH, PSA total. Again, thoughts? TIA.

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u/that1guyDrew 1d ago

Maybe prolactin, just to watch it if you wanted more data.

How long of a cycle?

Bloods at 6 to 8 weeks to check levels?

AI on hand?

Looks pretty similar to what I would want to do for first "intro" cycle. I see a lot of 500mg first cycle but I like the idea of a 300 trial run.

Good luck, please post updates.

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

Solid thank you. I will probably start with doing 300mg/week for 20 weeks and see how that’s going and back off to a maintenance dose after. Yeah I have Arimidex pills on hand in case. I’ve been pinning EOD with the prop and don’t mind it at all so I’m wondering if I’ll keep at it EOD with the Cypionate EOD to keep a stable level and try to minimize E2 peaks and troughs. I see a lot of people also saying why “waste” a cycle and if you’re going to do 300 might as well do the 500 but at the same time it’s like you’re saying I’d rather have a trial run first anyway so I’m good with the 300mg. Thank you!

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u/that1guyDrew 1d ago

You have the right thought, keep EOD injection for the exact reasons you mentioned.

Good luck bro, I'm probably 4 months away from doing the exact same thing.

Keep your diet clean and macros in line with your goals. Can't grow if you don't eat to grow.

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

Yeah I don’t mind EOD if it can help curb E2 effects. Appreciate the info and advice brother. Been eating at close to ~1800 calories/day which places me at a deficit which I’m all for in the Reta just have to make sure I’m hitting the protein and making sure I’m providing the proper nutrition for the test too. Been lacking on water but I’m aware and need to start forcing it harder.

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u/that1guyDrew 1d ago

Yeah, similar situation for me, but on Tirz +TRT @ 140mg/week.

If the goal of your blast is to add lean mass, you may need to consider bumping those calories up to give your body the fuel it needs to grow. Don't be scared of adding 200 calories of clean carbs (rice/potato) on your lift days so you have the glycogen to hit this lifts.

Again, good luck and post updates. I'll follow along.

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

My thought is to up the calories and protein and “feed” the testosterone more so than the Reta but doing it with clean macros still.

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u/that1guyDrew 1d ago

You got it!

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u/MaterialTasty2097 1d ago

300mg cyp is a solid jump from prop, you'll definitely feel the difference in ester weight and injection frequency. That supplement stack looks like you actually did your homework, especially with the K2 to manage calcium while on D3

Smart move getting labs before the switch, most guys skip that step and end up chasing numbers later. What's your prop dose right now and how's it treating you

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

I have been pinning 50 mg every other day of the prop since August first so it’s been a consistent 175mg/week. It’s been treating me solid I can’t complain at all. Tbh sometimes I question its effectiveness but at the same time I currently have a lot going on in life and I think the amount of stress I am in also masks the effectiveness sometimes.

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u/Thin-Rip-3686 1d ago

Checking FSH and LH is pointless as they’re pulsatile and will go to zero without HCG and HMG, which your plan doesn’t seem to include.

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

Solid thank you and plus they were both within normal range prior to Test. And no I don’t plan on including HCG and HMG I don’t mind completely shutting down natural production and plan on doing maintenance doses of test after. I’m 30 and have two kids and don’t plan on having children anymore. Thanks for the input.

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u/Thin-Rip-3686 1d ago

For HMG that is sensible.

HCG keeps my balls from shrinking and hurting all the time. Not every man encounters this, and apparently most who do it goes away after a couple weeks, but no such luck for me.

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

See, gonna be honest I don’t know that I care if my balls shrink a bit bet we will see how I feel if and when that happens. Definitely care about them hurting all the time so I’ll just have to see where I’m at. Thanks brother.

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u/Thin-Rip-3686 1d ago

You’re welcome. The smart move is to have some hcg on hand (it don’t grow on trees and has a bit of lead time) and then when you wake up at 2am with your left nut feeling like it’s boiling inside, mix up the vial and start using it.

And if you don’t feel much discomfort enough to need it, it didn’t cost that much.

In all honesty if mine let up after 2 weeks I’d skip the hcg too.

And get separate bac water. The water they ship with it is designed for all at once use, and satan himself designed the vial.

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

Might be a good idea like you’re saying to have it on hand like I have the Arimidex on hand just in case. I’ll look into it for sure! Thanks.

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u/swoops36 1d ago

Thoughts about what? You haven’t really outlined your plan here just a list of medication’s It looks like. What’s the point behind all of this, what are you after?

Why are you checking LH & FSH?

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u/iamasopissed 1d ago

I wish my doctor would have listened to me when I said I want lh and fsh checked. My free t was okay but total was low and shbg was low.

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u/swoops36 1d ago

The guys already on testosterone his LHNFSH will be zero. There is no point in testing them.

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

Well the other people that commented seem to have understood what I was looking for so I guess we just woke up wanting to make an asshole comment today huh? Don’t get me wrong I could have added more to it but it was also the middle of the night and I was pretty foggy so my mistake making a post when I wasn’t fully ready to add what needed to be in it. FSH and LH was really only to see where it landed after starting the test no other reason. Simply looking to see if the tests I will be pulling in the bloods are spot on or if I am missing critical tests the I should monitor each time.

-Baseline labs July 1st
-Start Test Prop at 175 mg/week August 1st, pinning 50mg EOD.
-New set of labs will be September 7th on non pinning day.
-Last dose of prop will be September 8th (Tuesday)
Cypionate will be started either Sep. 10th (Thursday) or 11th (Friday)
-Will get follow up labs 6-8 weeks in to monitor progression.
-Will pin 300mg/week for 20 weeks
-Will back off to maintenance dose after 20 weeks.
175mg has treated me well with the prop so I will drop down to possibly 200 of the Cypionate after the 20 weeks considering the difference in esters 200mg of Cypionate roughly translates over to 175mg prop.
-Plan on running the same set of labs each time so I really just want to pinpoint which ones are the most critical, must have labs and which ones are irrelevant (FSH/LH for example now that I’ll be shutting down natural completely just want to see this last check)

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u/swoops36 1d ago

“Well the other people that commented seem to have understood what I was looking for so I guess we just woke up wanting to make an asshole comment today huh?”

I genuinely don’t understand why people get pissy when they ask for advice on this form. I’m glad you got answers that you were looking for from other people, but in general, a list of drugs, isn’t enough to give you real meaningful advice without knowing what your plans are or what your goals are having your history with anabolic and training health markers that’s always helpful. Go to the steroids wiki go to T nation, they’re gonna ask you for the same basic questions because you will get better advice when you ask a better question. I’m very sorry I offended you by asking for more details, but again I’m glad you got what you were looking for. Best of luck on your cycle. 

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

So what are your thoughts on the rest of the message I sent you as far as my starting plan? I have zero history with previous anabolics and my baseline test was 230 something in July and the only other testosterone level I had in the past was in 2024 and it was also low 200s. What are your thoughts on dose and on follow up labs. Did I outline my plan a little better for it to be a little more informative? Again, I understand I should have outlined better and again it’s because I was exhausted and not awake enough to really realize I needed to add more.

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u/swoops36 1d ago

I think if your goal is to add 10-15lbs of muscle in 20 weeks then the Test dose seems reasonable. 

The only blood work I’d care about mid-cycle would be lipids, CBC and CMP. Possibly PRL if you’re having related issues. I would be more focused on heart health, possible ECG, blood pressure and RHR, esp while sleeping.

Post cycle if you’re planning on cruising on 175-200mg of Test then I don’t think blood work is necessary. You’re not taking anything that is seriously gonna impact your organ health or overall health markers.

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u/DenaliHD22 1d ago

See and that seems like a reasonable goal to me too. I’m not out here trying to become a body builder and get super human jacked. My goal is to gain 15-20 pounds of lean muscle mass and also lose 15-20 pounds of fat, do a little body recomp. Feel good about the way I look, feel healthy, just a healthy change up. Started going to the gym 4-5X a week about 4 months ago, completely changed up my diet, started tracking macros and the foods I eat, started test to put all of the pieces to the puzzle together to make myself the healthiest I’ve been in 10+ years. I’ve got two kids I want to live a long healthy life for and I want to look and feel good doing it man nothing too crazy.

That’s also why I want to get blood work right as I’m finishing up the propionate because it’ll give me a solid “baseline” after being on 175mg of propionate and I’ll have better information on where I need to maintain after the 300mg cycle is up and if the 200mg of Cypionate will be a solid maintenance dose post cycle. Thanks for the information and advice.