Some questions I can't find answers to in researching threads, etc.

[Piglet]

I'll try to keep this brief and factual as I tend to run on a bit when typing. I've never done prohormones, always used/expiremented with illegal, prescription AAS and some peptides, including GH (therapeutic doses). I decided for myself personally that I no longer wanted to mess around with AAS for various reasons, most of them relating to health, some to philosophy. When it comes to knowledge of human physiology, I am well educated, and when it comes to the most commonly used compounds by physique competitors, I know a lot. I do not compete but may in the near future. I have been bodybuilding specifically and consistently for over 2 1/2 years,(but training/nutrition in physique development for over 5 with some breaks/rebounds/inconsistency in there) with consistent nutrition, under the guidance of 2 very great coaches. I believe when you aim to do something well, you need the best knowledge and tools available, but bodybuilding is not my raison d'etre, academia is. However, I am a perfectionist with the mentality of balance and mindfulness in all things, so I do not ascribe to dietary or training extremes. In keeping with that mentality, I do not want to aquire long term health repercussions from the use of PED's, including stimulants, anti estrogens, the whole deal. That being said, I do want to minimally use compounds that are effective yet safe (although just because something is legal, does not mean it's safe) that can maybe add 5 lbs of quality, sustainable mass each time I use it, but without the virilization internally and externally that so many women seem to end up with. Over the past 5 or so years I've acquired enough of a voice change that I am hesitant to use anything stronger than Anavar, and have gotten permanent hair growth (it's not horrific, neither is my voice change, but it's annoying) and I only recently got my menses back but they didn't cease due to gear usage, it was an undiagnosed autoimmune disease and with that being addressed, it has returned, and I would like to maintain healthy sexual organs (my clitoris has grown minimally over the years of use, but has returned to a mostly normal state upon cessation). I have not had any changes to my facial structure/bone structure, to my skin, and not much change to my head hair. I see many women with very noticeable changes to bone structure facially, skin texture, hair texture, in addition to the very noticeable "teenage boy" voice. I do not judge nor condemn any woman or man who chooses to use PED's, it is their choice. For myself however, I do not want worsening of virilization, internally or externally, and nothing is worth a trophy at a physique competition or status within a subculture like bodybuilding.
All that said, I'm thinking of trying Halo Extreme (not the" for her") possibly combined with Osta Rx. There seems to be alot of new prohoromes out there available legally online, for a long time there were none, or they were banned, etc. and I never tried them due to that reason, or that the ones available had bad or worse sides than AAS from what I read and researched. There were never any SARM's available when I was buying things online.
With these 2 products either together or alone, I think from what I've read I can expect a disruption in menses and possibly some oilier/breakout prone skin. I always start with the lowest dose of something and increase. I also have bloods done every 2 months and discuss everything I take with my Nurse Practitioner.
Any recommendations, tips, questions for me, insight from those who have used these compounds, etc? As far as virilization, toxicity, would Halo Extreme be relatively safe/mild for someone like me who is experienced with anabolics?
I am 33 years old, around 5'8 tall and weigh about 178ish depending on the day, and on the scale. I'd like to drop some fat, gain a little more size, which I think is everyone's goal.
If someone could give an in depth response, not with the intent of selling these products but solely in an effort to help educate me. Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Piglet]

sorry, this wasn't succint. Oh well.

 

[heavyiron]

Halo Extreme is dosed for males. It's 25mg Halodrol per cap. H4H is dosed for females at 10mg per cap. However an experienced female may take 1 cap of Halo Extreme daily and still be within female dosing guidelines. Many females report a shortened period and some oily skin at that dose. Increasing the dose further may cause masculinizing effects so higher doses should be short in duration and immeditely stopped if unwanted sides present. Typically oral PH's will negatively effect lipids and liver enzymes like most oral steroids

SARM's are female friendly. Stacking Osta and Halo will produce excellent results if nutrition, training and recovery are dialed in.

 

[Piglet]

Halo Extreme is dosed for males. It's 25mg Halodrol per cap. H4H is dosed for females at 10mg per cap. However an experienced female may take 1 cap of Halo Extreme daily and still be within female dosing guidelines. Many females report a shortened period and some oily skin at that dose. Increasing the dose further may cause masculinizing effects so higher doses should be short in duration and immeditely stopped if unwanted sides present. Typically oral PH's will negatively effect lipids and liver enzymes like most oral steroids

SARM's are female friendly. Stacking Osta and Halo will produce excellent results if nutrition, training and recovery are dialed in.

Thanks for the fast reply, much appreciated. My lipids and enzymes have always been pretty normal whie on AAS, even the harsher stuff, but I would still continue to get bloods done regularly if trying the Halo. No matter how good my outsides look I do not want that to be at the expense of my innards. Probably wise to take good ol' Liv 52 while on it though?
What is the half life of Halo and how quickly does it leave the blood stream in case sides are too much/unwanted? If my bloods come back normal this week I may start it up. Thanks again.

 

[Adrenolin]

Thanks for the fast reply, much appreciated. My lipids and enzymes have always been pretty normal whie on AAS, even the harsher stuff, but I would still continue to get bloods done regularly if trying the Halo. No matter how good my outsides look I do not want that to be at the expense of my innards. Probably wise to take good ol' Liv 52 while on it though?
What is the half life of Halo and how quickly does it leave the blood stream in case sides are too much/unwanted? If my bloods come back normal this week I may start it up. Thanks again.

IIRC Halo's half life is approximately 12hrs.

Tbh I never became a fan of Liv 52, simply cause it was just for the liver - I'm always more concerned about the effects on the heart, kidneys and cardiovascular system, etc. The liver is as said by many, a very tough resilient organ. Our Advanced Cycle Support does cover all the bases. Or if you're just looking for liver support, I'd recommend NAC and TUDCA over the good ol' Liv 52. lol

 

[Piglet]

IIRC Halo's half life is approximately 12hrs.

Tbh I never became a fan of Liv 52, simply cause it was just for the liver - I'm always more concerned about the effects on the heart, kidneys and cardiovascular system, etc. The liver is as said by many, a very tough resilient organ. Our Advanced Cycle Support does cover all the bases. Or if you're just looking for liver support, I'd recommend NAC and TUDCA over the good ol' Liv 52. lol

I've been reading a lot today about Ph's, SARMS, that weren't available or if they were, were no good even just a couple years ago. I've been really out of the loop. Granted, just because it's legal and sold online doesn't mean it's quality, or effective, but it would appear that anabolic compounds are being used by many more "average" people these days, and they appear pretty effective with fewer sides than the old standards I came to know and use. So it will be interesting to see what the results are for myself. I am certainly no newbie or gullible and know that I am what I eat, (and train) so exogenous chemicals are 5-10% of total results. Reliance on anything besides nutrition and training just ain't good for anyone. I'm hoping more people have realized that since I've been out of the forum loop. It used to be "take everything and anything for all your gains no matter what the consequences!!!" and I guess it's still like that for some people.
Anyhoo I'm cheap, and most of the time I find supplements to just make my pee expensive. Best thing to do is keep ingesting micronutrients in food form, and unless my bloods indicate otherwise, not worry too much.

 

[heavyiron]

Thanks for the fast reply, much appreciated. My lipids and enzymes have always been pretty normal whie on AAS, even the harsher stuff, but I would still continue to get bloods done regularly if trying the Halo. No matter how good my outsides look I do not want that to be at the expense of my innards. Probably wise to take good ol' Liv 52 while on it though?
What is the half life of Halo and how quickly does it leave the blood stream in case sides are too much/unwanted? If my bloods come back normal this week I may start it up. Thanks again.

I have always been a fan of Liv 52 or Advanced Cycle Support. The antioxidants in both are good.

Around 12 hours is the reported half life of Halodrol as adrenolin stated.

My wife liked Halo for Her at 20mg daily but I would have no problem if a gal wanted to take up the 30mg daily.

 

[s2h]

I know several women that i have worked with that have used h4h...halo-e and osta rx....as for virilization....there was little to none on either h4h or halo-e...but that can and isnt the case with all women....mild voice cracking...oily skin/mild acne and.some clitoral enlargement can occur depending on person and dose....i havnt had any women complain of any sides from osta rx......if your concerned about sides then osta rx is the route to go...

 

[Piglet]

Thanks for the gracious and polite replies young men. Much appreciated. And the apology is much appreciated as well Biggiesmallz. I might do a thread on my results/experience with these 2 compounds should I start to run them, which would be next week if my blood work and a biopsy I'm having done come back pretty normal (I sound so much older than I am when I say that lol)

 

[Piglet]

Ya sorry Piglet, I was under the impression that all steroid use by women lead to masculinization, heavyiron helped me understand that it's not actually accurate. Also sorry for the false assumption on the weight issue, most of the girls I'm used to are 120-135 and 5'2''-5'6'', so 178lb seemed "overweight", but if you're as fit as you say then more power to you Twas a good lesson on assumptions and opinions, and I appreciate it. Good luck with your run!

My competition weight would be 155-160. I am 5'8 tall. I can't seem to attach pictures on here, just link and the only pics I have up are on my FB page which is private. A lot of the women my height who train in bodybuilding are easily 190 offseason. And we don't typically go by scale anyways because it's so very inaccurate as to actual composition of the body. And being too quantitative about things, i.e. numbers numbers numbers (math) is the language of many disordered behaviors (that you thought I might have). I do not condone or encourage disordered behaviors within any lifestyle but especially the subculture of physique competition. Weight is not density. Therefore, a scale would not tell me what my body is comprised of would it? A lb is a lb but a lb of muscle is denser than a lb of fat, which most people know.
As far as virilization in women, facially I have not gotten any, and many people comment that I am very "feminine" looking despite having quite a bit of muscle mass. I intend to remain looking feminine as for me personally I value that about myself but if it's someone's choice to look differently than what their sex commonly dictates, that's fine too.

 

[Piglet]

I uploaded a bad lit pic of me I took the other day as my profile pic. I'm not into posting pictures of myself anywhere (some schmoes got a hold of some off my FB page and posted them on a schmoe site without my permission) which angers me greatly.

 

[Piglet]

Props to you for admitting when you've assumed falsely and chalking it up to learning. Enlightenment is when the lightbulbs go on in your head and stay LIT!

 

[Piglet]

Fair enough sister, in the spirit of learning, maybe you can help me put the rest of the puzzle together.... If I do decide to help a girl out and pick up the H4H and Osta (was gonna run a different cycle myself down the road, but don't see why I gotta have all the fun) what would a PCT for the lady look like? My understanding is you girls still need to maintain your test levels just like we need a little bit of estrogen to keep proper joint function and weight, but I assume there would be a supplemental difference. Any thoughts would be highly appreciated, thanks!

Women never need PCT. Women who do any kind of PCT are likely wasting money and making their pee expensive. Especially super mild stuff like this, and a SARM wouldn't need PCT everrrrr. I'd say the effects of this stuff on women is similar to Anavar and PCT for something that mild is just silly. Orals only for dudes is tricky, and most "bro's" on most forums would say don't ever ever do an orals only cycle, but regardless men definitely need to stick close to a medical clinician while during PCT cuz stuff can go wrong, fast, and permanently if not safe/thorough. But women never need to do PCT. If a woman has issues esp with menstrual disorders, she should already be seeing an ob/gyn and if she is having issues after doing a cycle of anything, then she needs to get her bloods done and go over it with either a gyno or endocrinologist. Some of the compounds that can mess up a woman even more so are thyroid meds and stimulants like clen. Same goes for dudes on those puppies. All these compounds were originally created/intended for therapeutic purposes within the medical community and so nothing is ever side effect free and should be monitored by a physician you trust.

 

[Piglet]

See I thought that at first, given the girls monthly visitor, but then what are your thoughts on this: http://www.steroidology.com/forum/w...ion-forum/93119-post-cycle-therapy-women.html

Like I said, if a woman has noticeable changes after doing a cycle of something then she should see a doctor, not just do more supplements including anti estrogens or attempt to address Depression, because herbal remedies for this are very, very unlikely to work. If a woman thinks she needs assistance in bringing hormone levels back to normal I suggest she get full blood work done and discuss it with a medical professional. Bodybuilders and other physique minded people very often make blanket assumptions about physicians and avoid them like the plague. It is important to have a doctor or nurse you can talk to openly about anything, and have them be either educated on this stuff or willing to learn. That said, I still don't think PCT is anywhere near necessary for women. If there's a problem, see a professional. Don't self diagnose or self treat.

 

[heavyiron]

PCT is not needed for ladies. They don't need to recover testosterone levels.

 

[Piglet]

I see, well thanks... that clears that up Much appreciated on the input, the PCT post threw me for a loop

tip that I wish someone had told me years ago: when you get into learning about this stuff, don't read everything posted: stick to solid factual stuff. Don't join every forum, don't read every thread on every forum and certainly don't believe everything you read on every forum. Stick to the basics. Lots of broscience out there. Most is utter crap.

 

[PFEPerformance]

tip that I wish someone had told me years ago: when you get into learning about this stuff, don't read everything posted: stick to solid factual stuff. Don't join every forum, don't read every thread on every forum and certainly don't believe everything you read on every forum. Stick to the basics. Lots of broscience out there. Most is utter crap.

New here and read through your pst - so did you start with HaloE and OstaRX or what did you end up deciding? I've done both and a VERY HAPPY CAMPER! Curious what you decided on and how it is going?

 

[Piglet]

New here and read through your pst - so did you start with HaloE and OstaRX or what did you end up deciding? I've done both and a VERY HAPPY CAMPER! Curious what you decided on and how it is going?

hi! I haven't run anything yet because I had to go through some diagnostics and found I have a fixed hiatal hernia that needs surgery at some point, not sure when, but it's caused some pretty significant internal bleeding for well over a year now but that should be subsiding with some new medication. I also need to drop a bunch of fat, so I need to tighten up nutrition for a few months before I'd even see any results, I don't rely on anything to help me drop fat except some changes to nutrition and I don't use cardio as a fat loss tool at this point so it'll be awhile.

 

[PFEPerformance]

Sorry to hear of the health issue! Looks like you have a solid plan of aproach to your goals and getting yourself pointing the right direction prior to any additional supplement assist! Actually refreshing to read compared to many who want a "quick fix" or thinking a supp is gonna do the job for them!! Best of Luck to you!!

 

[s2h]

Hey PFEP.....good to see ya posting here....any ladies have questions about real world iml stuff...she is the oneness to.ask....

 

[PFEPerformance]

Hey PFEP.....good to see ya posting here....any ladies have questions about real world iml stuff...she is the oneness to.ask....

My Main Man! LOL - I'm here and will do my best to answer any questions girls!!

 

[PFEPerformance]

Hi there! Not sure on your experience, training, goals, nutrition...etc.... knowing those things are a better guage to what is right for you....but, that being said and to answer your question:

NO - you don't run the two together

I run a 30/30 cycle - so, 30 days of Halo followed by 30 days of OstaRX - repeat....

Dosage - was trial and patience for me to see at what point I felt I was getting the added benefit I was looking for...so, started LOW with H4H (followed the dosage on the bottle) for 30d.... didn't do Osta RX on that first round.

Round 2 after a 30d break - did 1 HaloE p/d for 30d followed by 1 OstaRX (which I increased to two at 15 days in) - ending with 2 p/d for the final 15days of the 30

Round 3 and my sweet spot - 1 HaloE p/d and 1 H4h p/d for 30d, followed by 2 OstaRX p/d for 30. THIS was my zone and where I found EVERYTHING felt optimal and results were solid (VERY comparable to Anavar Cycle if you are familiar) ----BUT --- I had NONE of the sides that often accompany a Anavar cycle.

Again - this is what worked for ME and my current weight, goals, nutrition, training, etc.... If you've never tried before - I suggest what I did - start LOW....test it out, see where you are in 30d, take your break... or OstaRX the next 30 and then assess where you are and tweak from there. ALWAYS better to start on the low end and find you respond quite well there or with little tweaks upwards vs going hardcore crazy and thinking more is better.

Our chemistries are so different from Men and can be quite fragile to change or hormonal fluxs and even more so if you are not familiar or have ever used "any" supplementation (legal or otherwise)..... you need to KNOW your body, KNOW your limits, and expect to be PATIENT as you try to see where you get the optimal results you want at the lowest dosage based on your goals.

Good Luck !

 

[PFEPerformance]

Welcome!! You are actually doing a very SMART thing - asking questions and doing research! Your goals, your nutrition, training plan, etc...and the fact that you are female.... ALL factor in to what is right for you.

If not already - I'd suggest keeping a log of your nutritional intake & training, ALONG with notations of your supplementation so you can see what is/is not working as well as have it as a point of referance for any necessary tweaks to any of the above!

Best to you!

 

[Piglet]

Hey all- I haven't run the Halo since last Fall, during a pretty sloppy diet (caloric surplus) and it had better results than var with less sides. I do think it added a few lbs of water retention, but that was fine for me as I wasn't "cutting". I am now doing a caloric deficit via a cyclical ketogenic diet (loving that approach btw) and my training is metabolic and VERY well structured. I decided to run 10 mgs of H4H during this process of dropping fat with the only goal of preserving lean mass (although my diet is far from overly restrictive/disordered). It's been the 4th day of 10 mgs and I've noticed quite a bit of water retention, most of it seems to have been "shunted" to my muscles as some of my measurements have already gone up, but the scale shows I'm holding about 3 or more lbs of water (it sure ain't fat or muscle in this short period of time) and my skin is already oilier/more break out prone (nothing massive, just a slight change there). I have no plans or needs to run more than 10 mgs of this, but can anyone help explain why I'd be holding so much water already esp when my diet is mostly ketogenic (no excess glycogen to be stored in muscle). I don't feel soft anywhere as of yet (except maybe boobs) and my waist and hip measurements are the same. No other noticeable sides or changes thus far, and the last time I ran this compound the sides were very minimal.
Oh- and my fluid intake is high, and typically I have been peeing twice an hour or so but since starting the H4H I am peeing quite a bit less although fluids are the same. I am getting blood work done tomorrow and do not expect anything to be abnormal, however I am wondering if I'm responding to this compound negatively this time around and my kidneys are somehow being affected?

 

[Piglet]

I just saw H4H has been discontinued, what was the reason/s? I used Halo Extreme the last time I ran Halo (one cap/day) so wondering what's up with the discontinuing?

 

[raindog]

Poor sales I think and it wasn't really needed vs any other Halo product.

 

[Piglet]

really, poor sales? It seemed like EVERY woman was trying it!!! hmmm, weird.

 

[heavyiron]

Halo Extreme is a better value at 1 cap daily.

Keep us posted girl!

 

[Piglet]

Halo Extreme is a better value at 1 cap daily.

Keep us posted girl!

Any ideas as to why I seem to be retaining water so fastly?
thanks bro!

 

[raindog]

Any ideas as to why I seem to be retaining water so fastly? thanks bro!

Are you eating a lot of salt? I don't know how it works for women, but its not supposed to be a "wet" hormone.