For the sake of the guys on the forum I will chime in on this one because I have to admit I have been asked a few times my thought process. Mind you I am not a doctor, nor an expert on Prostate Issues. I do have a solid medical background and worked in the field extensively, so I will give my theory on this topic just to show my version so people can make an educated decision in either direction for themselves. Here is my response from my FB page:
I intentionally did NOT run ACS or liver support with saw palmetto on purpose while taking EPI ANDRO. It is my opinion that the EPI ANDRO is more effective WITHOUT taking a saw palmetto product.
It is because I do believe that saw palmetto has been shown to inhibit and block DHT, which would then make the product Epi Andro "potentially" less effective. To get the full benefits of DHT to skeletal muscle and the body you would have to let it access the bloodstream. Saw Palmetto "might" block this from happening either partially or in full. The thought process for me is that I was only running the DHT compound for a month. That is not long enough to cause full blown growth or enlargement or even close IMO. It may slightly enlarge the prostate temporarily or not at all, its really individual based and tough to say.
On that note, the main side effect i believe one might see in a 30 day run is potential hair loss. Even if you ran saw palmetto it is not 100% likely to block all the DHT conversion, so you may potentially experience hair loss or thinning. Likewise Propecia or Finasteride would most likely do a much better job at this, but then again, if you took a DHT blocker, while taking a DHT product, it makes the purpose obsolete. The whole point of taking a DHT product is to get the hardening and androgenic effects of the product. It would be similar to injecting yourself with Estrogen..but then taking Nolvadex or Arimidex all the while. While some product may "slip through"...you are running in circles.
Epi Andro converts to Stanolone or pure DHT in theory. It is believed to be very mild on the liver to begin with. You could use pure milk thistle or nothing at all with this cycle. If you are running a DHT product with a ton of other PH's and AAS then of course it is in your best interest to have organ protectants.
If someone had an already enlarged Prostate or was prone to prostate issues I simply would not recommend the EPI ANDRO or anything similar, masteron,proviron, etc, etc...any DHT type product. At the same time, DHT products are used to treat Prostate issues. Believe it or not, medically speaking they can actually use DHT to treat Prostate issues that exist on a male..this makes it even that more confusing.
Prostate issues are usually a result of a decline in testosterone compared to an increase in estrogen. Then an enzyme called 5alpha reductase must also be present. So for enlargement alot of things have to fall just into place.
But even if they do, there are things that help reduce an enlarged prostate..exercise, a high protein low fat diet, and supplementing with Saw palmetto regularly will indeed help. So if you are in the business of running androgens year round it is a good idea to run something like ACS year round..however if you need to run a DHT compound, I personally would opt to eliminate saw palmetto and any other DHT blocker for the time frame I am using it. DHT products should be cycled for short periods of time anyways IMO.
Another dumb but truthful way to look at it is this..If you were a raging alcoholic for a 30 day period, but then took amazing care of your liver and body after that, the body will regenerate and return to normal health, most likely pretty quickly. If you are abusing alcohol year round and then go on a binge where you blast even more for 30 days, then you continue to drink regularly after the 30 day binge..you are inviting long term issues.
Likewise if you are running AAS/PH all year, not taking care of your body and internal organs and blast DHT for 30 days but then go back to abusing other PH/AAS I would imagine you are going to do long term permanent damage and are inviting issues such as Prostate Issues.
So in lamens terms. ACS is an amazing product. If I did 2 runs of Epi Andro for 30 days each in conjunction with AAS/HRT/PH's I would use an organ protectant minus saw palmetto or DHT products.
If i were running solely Epi ANdro by itself for 30-60 day runs, 1 to 2x per year, no other compounds in the mix..I would not feel it necessary to run any type of protectant though a liver/organ protectant CANNOT hurt.
