This is my first post to the CF forums. While I was growing up I never knew anyone else with CF. I have particular interest in this thread because I have years of experience with the usage / dosage of anabolic steroids, growth hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, DHT inhibitors / blockers and pharmaceutical grade vitamin supplementation. Let me also state this is not for everyone and extreme caution should be exercised before embarking on this type of adventure. Goals need to be assessed properly before even thinking about injecting yourself with hormones. The choice to use hormone replacement therapy is a life long commitment! Trust me, you do not want to do this short term. Bodybuilders cycle different anabolic and androgenic steroids on 10-16 week cycles allowing their receptors to take a break from constant bombardment of exogenous testosterone. We (CF patients) should not be following this type of protocol. Bodybuilders have inherently stronger immune systems and can deal with off cycle symptoms much easier than we can.
Back in 2001, I realized my health was on the decline. I was always coughing, always getting sick and was prescribed multiple antibiotics that only made me feel worse overall. I knew I had to do something. All the CF doctors wanted to do was chest therapy, put me in the hospital and load me up with antibiotics. I was only 26 years old! I had everything going in the right direction except for my health. I was desperate for help and the doctors seemed to have no idea how to help me so I turned to the Internet....BIG MISTAKE! I was on a couple of websites that were promoting androsteindione (basically a pre cursor for testosterone). At first I started to feel great taking the pills as directed on the bottle (this stuff was readily available OTC in any GNC or vitamin store), but after a couple of weeks my body felt weak again. Now I was really concerned. I'm not sure what possessed me to take the next step but I decided to see an Anti-Aging doctor in Manhattan. This would prove to be my best decision ever! He probably saved my life! The first thing he did was blood work with a full hormone panel / blood levels / cholesterol / liver enzymes, essentially anything that could be tested was tested. The test revealed the my liver enzymes were through the roof! I would have never known that to even be an issue from taking OTC pills (androsteindione was eventually pulled from GNC and other vitamin stores). My doctor advised me to stop taking the pills and eventually my liver enzymes went back to normal - THANK GOD! So, the moral of this story is never ever do anything without Doctor supervision. The Doctor eventually moved to Beverly Hills and we lost touch, but I did not forget all of the valuable lessons I learned from him.
Perfect health cannot be achieved with HRT alone. Everyday our body is exposed to external / internal stresses that negatively impact normal people. As a result we get sick, tired, become unmotivated and loose enthusiasm. Now add the additional stress of CF compounded with the stress of going to the gym and working out, you can just imagine how hard your body needs to work in order to repair and build muscles during the post workout process.
Diet, adequate sleep, correct balance of aerobic / cardiovascular / anaerobic exercise, quality vitamin supplementation, doctor supervision and regular blood work are essential components required to achieve perfect health.
Sorry if I seem cynical, but I want this post to encourage everyone who is interested in HRT to understand you need a solid foundation prior to doing any type of steroids or growth hormone. For the average person steroids will not do much except raise your testosterone, DHT and estrogen levels. Steroids work very well on well trained muscles. If you have not been in the gym consistently for at least 6 months don't bother using HRT or reading the rest of this post. You will be wasting your time and money. However, if you have been in the gym, sleeping and eating but not seeing any gains read on.
Another import lesson I've learned is that LESS is MORE! Before all the negative crap on steroids surfaced in MLB surfaced, you could easily LEGALLY get any anabolic or androgenic steroid you wanted with a prescription. Of course this was not cheap. But the allure of getting anything you wanted whenever you wanted it was very appealing. There was a point in my life when I was doing 1cc of steroids on a daily basis, you name it, I was taking it...Cypionate, Enanthate, Proprionate, Sustanon, Suspension, Nandrolone Deconate. I also used Halotestin (powerful oral androgenic steroid). Looking back now, I realize I made some mistakes. Yes, I put on a tremendous amount of muscle, my back broke out and I started to loose my hair. I started to look like a typical meat head. I was cycling steroids just like a body builder. I was impressed that I could shape my body into something I never even dreamed possible. Growing up in High School I was so skinny 165lbs at 6'1 and with a gain of almost 65lbs since then, no one recognized me. That wasn't my original goal, nor did I like what I had become. My cholesterol was through 250+, liver enzymes elevated again along with high blood pressure. At that point I was 230lbs at 6'1 in the gym everyday with my trainer. He encouraged me to do more cardio, but I didn't want to listen and instead continued the chest / arms / back / shoulder routines. Well eventually my drugs ran out and I couldn't buy them legally anymore because of all the negativity generated by MLB. I lost my motivation to train, stopped talking to my trainer, and basically started to physically fall apart and become really depressed! Most of the muscle gained while on steroids was lost.
I am now on a much more realistic program. It consists of .8cc's per week of Testosterone Cypionate, 150 IU's of HCG per week, 2 IU's of GH daily, .5mg's of anastrozole twice a week. I have been lifting with my trainer 6 days a week in the gym and cycling 30 to 40 miles 2-3 times per week. My diet consists of protein rich foods, next to no high fructose corn syrup, no carbonated beverages, lots of green vegetables, myoplex rtd shakes. I also use Life Extension vitamins...GLA/DHA, DHEA, CHRONOFORTE, SAW PALMETTO NETTLE ROOT, COQ10, SUPER MIRA FORTE, BCAA's, SUPER CARNOSINE, MITOCHONDRIAL OPTIMIZER WITH SODZYME.
Since I have been on the new program I have not been sick at all! I don't even cough! This is not for everyone, but for those of us who want to break through physical plateaus and be symptom free feel free to contact me. I live in the NY metro area and would be happy to do one on one consultations. No one should be a prisoner to CF. Please be advised I am not a doctor nor am I associated with any doctor or medical practice.
Please do not purchase any black market Internet drugs. You will not know what you are injecting! The best way to do this is Legally with a real doctor and a real pharmacy. It's not cheap, but you get what you pay for and when it comes to health money should not be a concern.