My “oral-only” experiment, which actually worked + the transition to permanent testosterone-only (+my attempt to use EQ for E2 management)

[epicsteff]

Cycle Log - First 25 Weeks

Phase 1 - Oxandrolone + Enclomiphene

Duration: 12 weeks
Goal: Aggressive cutting phase while maintaining as much muscle and gym performance as possible.

This was my first experience with anabolic steroids. I wanted to run an oral-only cutting cycle and used Enclomiphene alongside Oxandrolone as my testosterone/estrogen base.

Oxandrolone
For the first two weeks, I used 20 mg per day, split into 10 mg in the morning and 10 mg pre-workout or later in the day.

Afterwards, I increased the dose to 40 mg per day. On training days, I took 10 mg in the morning and 30 mg pre-workout, while on rest days I split it into 20 mg in the morning and 20 mg in the evening.

The cut itself was very aggressive. At times I was running a deficit of around 1,000–1,350 calories per day, but despite that I was still able to maintain and even improve my gym performance. Taking Oxandrolone sublingually before training gave me a particularly noticeable performance boost.

The acute workout effect was noticeable almost immediately. After roughly three weeks, I also started looking significantly drier.

Despite the large calorie deficit, I did not notice any meaningful muscle loss. Based on my body-composition results, I actually gained approximately 1 kg of muscle over the 12 weeks while losing body fat.

I didn't notice any relevant side effects during the cycle.

Enclomiphene
Throughout all 12 weeks, I took 12.5 mg Enclomiphene every morning.

The purpose was to maintain my hormonal function while using Oxandrolone. My bloodwork showed that my LH, FSH and testosterone remained in a good range despite the suppressive effect of Oxandrolone.

One unexpected effect was a substantial improvement in my sleep. Before starting Enclomiphene, I was normally getting around 90 minutes of deep sleep per night. After starting it, this increased to approximately 120-150 minutes per night, and the change appeared almost immediately.

Overall, the combination worked considerably better than I initially expected for the purpose of an oral-only cutting cycle.

After completing the 12 weeks, I moved directly onto injectable testosterone rather than doing a conventional PCT.

Phase 2 - Testosterone

Duration so far: approximately 13 weeks

Goal: Transition away from the oral-only setup and slowly gain muscle while remaining relatively lean and athletic.

I initially started Testosterone Enanthate at 2 × 125 mg per week and gradually increased the dose. I eventually settled around 350–375 mg per week, generally split into three injections.

After around 3–4 weeks, the effects became very noticeable. My strength increased substantially, libido went up, and I generally felt more confident.

The biggest physical effect has been a strong recomp. Even while gaining muscle, I have been able to stay lean and lose some body fat at the same time.

Bloodwork taken during this phase showed a total testosterone level of 2105.74 ng/dL.

The testosterone itself has been very easy for me to tolerate. The main things I noticed were increased hunger and a small increase in blood pressure. Otherwise, I haven't experienced significant side effects.

I initially used Testosterone Enanthate and later switched to Testosterone Cypionate. Subjectively, I haven't noticed any meaningful difference between the two esters.

Short Boldenone Experiment
During the testosterone phase, I briefly experimented with low-dose Boldenone primarily to see whether it could help control my estradiol while also increasing vascularity.

While using approximately 375 mg testosterone per week, I added 125 mg Boldenone per week. I also used a small frontload by doubling the Boldenone dose during the first week.

I used it for approximately 6 weeks in total.

After around four weeks, I started noticing increased vascularity and more visible veins, particularly on my arms.

However, I turned out to be extremely sensitive to its E2-lowering effect. Even at only 125 mg per week, my estradiol dropped far too low.

Because of that, I discontinued Boldenone and focused on allowing my E2 to recover.

So I don't really consider this a Testosterone + Boldenone cycle. It was more of a short experiment during what is otherwise essentially a testosterone-only phase, and I learned pretty quickly that Boldenone is not something I can casually use for E2 management.

Support During the Testosterone Phase
More recently, I added 20 mg Telmisartan daily after noticing a small increase in blood pressure. Before starting it, my blood pressure was around 130/75, and after several days it settled around 124/70. I also noticed somewhat less testosterone-related water retention.

For hair-loss prevention, I use 0.5 mg Finasteride daily. Bloodwork showed that it lowered my DHT while I have continued to retain my hair, and I haven't noticed any side effects from it.

For cardio, I currently use Yohimbine before approximately four 60-minute sessions per week. I gradually worked up from 5 mg to 15 mg, which seems to be my sweet spot. I notice increased energy, mood and cardio performance from it.

I've also experimented with Tadalafil and noticed very pronounced pumps and vascularity, with the effects still being noticeable the following day.

Current Status
I'm now approximately 25 weeks into the overall progression:

Weeks 1-12: Oxandrolone + Enclomiphene
Weeks 13-25: Testosterone + (EQ for some time)

The first phase was primarily an aggressive cut and muscle-retention experiment. The second phase has been much simpler: testosterone as the anabolic base, with the goal of gradually adding muscle while remaining athletic.

The biggest lesson from the Boldenone experiment was how individually people can respond to compounds that affect estrogen. On paper, the dose was low, but for me it was still enough to push E2 much lower than intended. Bloodwork was what made the problem clear, and I stopped the Boldenone accordingly.

Overall, the transition from the oral phase to testosterone has gone very well, and testosterone has been both more straightforward and easier to manage for me long term.

Note: I used an AI and a translator to turn my notes into a clear and good structured text, because my english isn't that great

 

[Davy Tenebrae]

Cycle Log - First 25 Weeks

Phase 1 - Oxandrolone + Enclomiphene

Duration: 12 weeks
Goal: Aggressive cutting phase while maintaining as much muscle and gym performance as possible.

This was my first experience with anabolic steroids. I wanted to run an oral-only cutting cycle and used Enclomiphene alongside Oxandrolone as my testosterone/estrogen base.

Oxandrolone
For the first two weeks, I used 20 mg per day, split into 10 mg in the morning and 10 mg pre-workout or later in the day.

Afterwards, I increased the dose to 40 mg per day. On training days, I took 10 mg in the morning and 30 mg pre-workout, while on rest days I split it into 20 mg in the morning and 20 mg in the evening.

The cut itself was very aggressive. At times I was running a deficit of around 1,000–1,350 calories per day, but despite that I was still able to maintain and even improve my gym performance. Taking Oxandrolone sublingually before training gave me a particularly noticeable performance boost.

The acute workout effect was noticeable almost immediately. After roughly three weeks, I also started looking significantly drier.

Despite the large calorie deficit, I did not notice any meaningful muscle loss. Based on my body-composition results, I actually gained approximately 1 kg of muscle over the 12 weeks while losing body fat.

I didn't notice any relevant side effects during the cycle.

Enclomiphene
Throughout all 12 weeks, I took 12.5 mg Enclomiphene every morning.

The purpose was to maintain my hormonal function while using Oxandrolone. My bloodwork showed that my LH, FSH and testosterone remained in a good range despite the suppressive effect of Oxandrolone.

One unexpected effect was a substantial improvement in my sleep. Before starting Enclomiphene, I was normally getting around 90 minutes of deep sleep per night. After starting it, this increased to approximately 120-150 minutes per night, and the change appeared almost immediately.

Overall, the combination worked considerably better than I initially expected for the purpose of an oral-only cutting cycle.

After completing the 12 weeks, I moved directly onto injectable testosterone rather than doing a conventional PCT.

Phase 2 - Testosterone

Duration so far: approximately 13 weeks

Goal: Transition away from the oral-only setup and slowly gain muscle while remaining relatively lean and athletic.

I initially started Testosterone Enanthate at 2 × 125 mg per week and gradually increased the dose. I eventually settled around 350–375 mg per week, generally split into three injections.

After around 3–4 weeks, the effects became very noticeable. My strength increased substantially, libido went up, and I generally felt more confident.

The biggest physical effect has been a strong recomp. Even while gaining muscle, I have been able to stay lean and lose some body fat at the same time.

Bloodwork taken during this phase showed a total testosterone level of 2105.74 ng/dL.

The testosterone itself has been very easy for me to tolerate. The main things I noticed were increased hunger and a small increase in blood pressure. Otherwise, I haven't experienced significant side effects.

I initially used Testosterone Enanthate and later switched to Testosterone Cypionate. Subjectively, I haven't noticed any meaningful difference between the two esters.

Short Boldenone Experiment
During the testosterone phase, I briefly experimented with low-dose Boldenone primarily to see whether it could help control my estradiol while also increasing vascularity.

While using approximately 375 mg testosterone per week, I added 125 mg Boldenone per week. I also used a small frontload by doubling the Boldenone dose during the first week.

I used it for approximately 6 weeks in total.

After around four weeks, I started noticing increased vascularity and more visible veins, particularly on my arms.

However, I turned out to be extremely sensitive to its E2-lowering effect. Even at only 125 mg per week, my estradiol dropped far too low.

Because of that, I discontinued Boldenone and focused on allowing my E2 to recover.

So I don't really consider this a Testosterone + Boldenone cycle. It was more of a short experiment during what is otherwise essentially a testosterone-only phase, and I learned pretty quickly that Boldenone is not something I can casually use for E2 management.

Support During the Testosterone Phase
More recently, I added 20 mg Telmisartan daily after noticing a small increase in blood pressure. Before starting it, my blood pressure was around 130/75, and after several days it settled around 124/70. I also noticed somewhat less testosterone-related water retention.

For hair-loss prevention, I use 0.5 mg Finasteride daily. Bloodwork showed that it lowered my DHT while I have continued to retain my hair, and I haven't noticed any side effects from it.

For cardio, I currently use Yohimbine before approximately four 60-minute sessions per week. I gradually worked up from 5 mg to 15 mg, which seems to be my sweet spot. I notice increased energy, mood and cardio performance from it.

I've also experimented with Tadalafil and noticed very pronounced pumps and vascularity, with the effects still being noticeable the following day.

Current Status
I'm now approximately 25 weeks into the overall progression:

Weeks 1-12: Oxandrolone + Enclomiphene
Weeks 13-25: Testosterone + (EQ for some time)

The first phase was primarily an aggressive cut and muscle-retention experiment. The second phase has been much simpler: testosterone as the anabolic base, with the goal of gradually adding muscle while remaining athletic.

The biggest lesson from the Boldenone experiment was how individually people can respond to compounds that affect estrogen. On paper, the dose was low, but for me it was still enough to push E2 much lower than intended. Bloodwork was what made the problem clear, and I stopped the Boldenone accordingly.

Overall, the transition from the oral phase to testosterone has gone very well, and testosterone has been both more straightforward and easier to manage for me long term.

Note: I used an AI and a translator to turn my notes into a clear and good structured text, because my english isn't that great

Hey bro, really good log and I like how detailed you’ve kept it.
The EQ part is interesting here. Even at a low dose you saw how differently people can respond, and you actually used bloodwork to confirm it instead of guessing.
Good to see you making things simpler with Test now. Keep the updates coming bro, especially the bloodwork and progress over the next few months

 

[Donvitosharkone]

Cycle Log - First 25 Weeks

Phase 1 - Oxandrolone + Enclomiphene

Duration: 12 weeks
Goal: Aggressive cutting phase while maintaining as much muscle and gym performance as possible.

This was my first experience with anabolic steroids. I wanted to run an oral-only cutting cycle and used Enclomiphene alongside Oxandrolone as my testosterone/estrogen base.

Oxandrolone
For the first two weeks, I used 20 mg per day, split into 10 mg in the morning and 10 mg pre-workout or later in the day.

Afterwards, I increased the dose to 40 mg per day. On training days, I took 10 mg in the morning and 30 mg pre-workout, while on rest days I split it into 20 mg in the morning and 20 mg in the evening.

The cut itself was very aggressive. At times I was running a deficit of around 1,000–1,350 calories per day, but despite that I was still able to maintain and even improve my gym performance. Taking Oxandrolone sublingually before training gave me a particularly noticeable performance boost.

The acute workout effect was noticeable almost immediately. After roughly three weeks, I also started looking significantly drier.

Despite the large calorie deficit, I did not notice any meaningful muscle loss. Based on my body-composition results, I actually gained approximately 1 kg of muscle over the 12 weeks while losing body fat.

I didn't notice any relevant side effects during the cycle.

Enclomiphene
Throughout all 12 weeks, I took 12.5 mg Enclomiphene every morning.

The purpose was to maintain my hormonal function while using Oxandrolone. My bloodwork showed that my LH, FSH and testosterone remained in a good range despite the suppressive effect of Oxandrolone.

One unexpected effect was a substantial improvement in my sleep. Before starting Enclomiphene, I was normally getting around 90 minutes of deep sleep per night. After starting it, this increased to approximately 120-150 minutes per night, and the change appeared almost immediately.

Overall, the combination worked considerably better than I initially expected for the purpose of an oral-only cutting cycle.

After completing the 12 weeks, I moved directly onto injectable testosterone rather than doing a conventional PCT.

Phase 2 - Testosterone

Duration so far: approximately 13 weeks

Goal: Transition away from the oral-only setup and slowly gain muscle while remaining relatively lean and athletic.

I initially started Testosterone Enanthate at 2 × 125 mg per week and gradually increased the dose. I eventually settled around 350–375 mg per week, generally split into three injections.

After around 3–4 weeks, the effects became very noticeable. My strength increased substantially, libido went up, and I generally felt more confident.

The biggest physical effect has been a strong recomp. Even while gaining muscle, I have been able to stay lean and lose some body fat at the same time.

Bloodwork taken during this phase showed a total testosterone level of 2105.74 ng/dL.

The testosterone itself has been very easy for me to tolerate. The main things I noticed were increased hunger and a small increase in blood pressure. Otherwise, I haven't experienced significant side effects.

I initially used Testosterone Enanthate and later switched to Testosterone Cypionate. Subjectively, I haven't noticed any meaningful difference between the two esters.

Short Boldenone Experiment
During the testosterone phase, I briefly experimented with low-dose Boldenone primarily to see whether it could help control my estradiol while also increasing vascularity.

While using approximately 375 mg testosterone per week, I added 125 mg Boldenone per week. I also used a small frontload by doubling the Boldenone dose during the first week.

I used it for approximately 6 weeks in total.

After around four weeks, I started noticing increased vascularity and more visible veins, particularly on my arms.

However, I turned out to be extremely sensitive to its E2-lowering effect. Even at only 125 mg per week, my estradiol dropped far too low.

Because of that, I discontinued Boldenone and focused on allowing my E2 to recover.

So I don't really consider this a Testosterone + Boldenone cycle. It was more of a short experiment during what is otherwise essentially a testosterone-only phase, and I learned pretty quickly that Boldenone is not something I can casually use for E2 management.

Support During the Testosterone Phase
More recently, I added 20 mg Telmisartan daily after noticing a small increase in blood pressure. Before starting it, my blood pressure was around 130/75, and after several days it settled around 124/70. I also noticed somewhat less testosterone-related water retention.

For hair-loss prevention, I use 0.5 mg Finasteride daily. Bloodwork showed that it lowered my DHT while I have continued to retain my hair, and I haven't noticed any side effects from it.

For cardio, I currently use Yohimbine before approximately four 60-minute sessions per week. I gradually worked up from 5 mg to 15 mg, which seems to be my sweet spot. I notice increased energy, mood and cardio performance from it.

I've also experimented with Tadalafil and noticed very pronounced pumps and vascularity, with the effects still being noticeable the following day.

Current Status
I'm now approximately 25 weeks into the overall progression:

Weeks 1-12: Oxandrolone + Enclomiphene
Weeks 13-25: Testosterone + (EQ for some time)

The first phase was primarily an aggressive cut and muscle-retention experiment. The second phase has been much simpler: testosterone as the anabolic base, with the goal of gradually adding muscle while remaining athletic.

The biggest lesson from the Boldenone experiment was how individually people can respond to compounds that affect estrogen. On paper, the dose was low, but for me it was still enough to push E2 much lower than intended. Bloodwork was what made the problem clear, and I stopped the Boldenone accordingly.

Overall, the transition from the oral phase to testosterone has gone very well, and testosterone has been both more straightforward and easier to manage for me long term.

Note: I used an AI and a translator to turn my notes into a clear and good structured text, because my english isn't that great

Hi Epic!

Good write-up and useful experience, but I think you experimented with too many variables too early. Oral-only phase, aggressive deficit, then Test escalation, EQ to manipulate E2, telmisartan, yohimbine… it becomes difficult to know exactly what is producing what.

The biggest red flag for me is the 1,000–1,350 kcal deficit for 12 weeks. Maintaining performance doesn’t automatically mean the approach was optimal.

You clearly learned from the EQ/E2 episode, which is valuable. From here I’d simplify everything, establish a stable baseline and let bloodwork and actual progress guide changes rather than continuing to experiment.

Shark

 

[epicsteff]

Hi Epic!

Good write-up and useful experience, but I think you experimented with too many variables too early. Oral-only phase, aggressive deficit, then Test escalation, EQ to manipulate E2, telmisartan, yohimbine… it becomes difficult to know exactly what is producing what.

The biggest red flag for me is the 1,000–1,350 kcal deficit for 12 weeks. Maintaining performance doesn’t automatically mean the approach was optimal.

You clearly learned from the EQ/E2 episode, which is valuable. From here I’d simplify everything, establish a stable baseline and let bloodwork and actual progress guide changes rather than continuing to experiment.

Shark

I started with like 100 calories deficit and increased by 100 every week, that worked well for me, but I definitely agree with you, that a smaller deficit would probably have been enough. I am now planning to keep the 350/375mg Test for atleast 20 more weeks and will decide after that, where the journey continues...

 

[epicsteff]

Hey bro, really good log and I like how detailed you’ve kept it.
The EQ part is interesting here. Even at a low dose you saw how differently people can respond, and you actually used bloodwork to confirm it instead of guessing.
Good to see you making things simpler with Test now. Keep the updates coming bro, especially the bloodwork and progress over the next few months

thx

 

[Donvitosharkone]

thx

Hi Epic!

That sounds much more sensible, mate. How is the 350–375 mg Test phase going now? Any new bloodwork, BP, weight or physique updates since then? Curious to see what happened once you stopped changing variables and just let the basics work.

Shark

 

[epicsteff]

Hi Epic!

That sounds much more sensible, mate. How is the 350–375 mg Test phase going now? Any new bloodwork, BP, weight or physique updates since then? Curious to see what happened once you stopped changing variables and just let the basics work.

Shark

Hi Shark!

I’m afraid I have to disappoint you again, mate, but I actually changed things up one more time

Pretty soon after my last post here, around four weeks ago, I had a bit of a reality check. I realized that for my first proper bulking cycle with test, I really want to start from the cleanest possible position and be as lean as reasonably possible beforehand. Looking back, that little “boldenone detour” kind of messed with that plan.

So I decided to run another short cut first. I’m currently in week 5 (starts today) of a planned 8-week cut, so I should be finished in roughly another four weeks. The goal is to finish somewhere around 8% body fat and then transition into a controlled reverse diet before starting a proper lean bulk.

For the duration of the cut, I’ve basically put myself into a cruise phase at 150 mg Test. Right now, the only goal is to maintain as much muscle as possible while finishing the cut, and then move into the actual gaining phase on 375 mg Test.

I also added Clen from week 3 of the cut. I ran 20 mcg during weeks 3 and 4. Starting today, my plan was 40 mcg for two weeks, followed by 60 mcg for the final two weeks of the cut. After that, the Clen comes out and I’ll move into the reverse diet.

As for the EQ, I still have some left at home, but I’d only consider adding it if my E2 actually ends up being too high on 375 mg Test. I was thinking around 50 mg EQ, so roughly a 7.5:1 Test-to-EQ ratio. But that’s something I’d base on bloodwork rather than just throwing it in from the start.

The weight loss combined with the much lower Test dose has definitely had a positive effect on my BP as well. I’m currently sitting at a pretty consistent 110/60 without Telmisartan, I dropped that altogether.

Overall, I’m really happy with how the cut is going. I’ve genuinely never been this lean before and I really like the way I look at the moment. Even at just 150 mg Test, being this lean gives me some really nice vascularity.

So this time the plan is simply to finish the cut properly, reverse diet out of it, and then finally start a long and clean lean bulk with 375mg test, from a really solid starting point.