Anavar & Test gives high red blood cell count like EPO, but is bad for endurance...

osft

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Anavar & Test gives high red blood cell count like EPO, but is bad for endurance...

So I am 46, quite medically well informed, single and live beneath my means. This has allowed me the freedom to experiment with supplements/PED. Some for size/tone, some for longevity. Done a range of AAS oils- testE, tren E (too many side effects- hair loss, mental case, sweats, even at tiny doses), NPP, EQ . Always moderate- 380mg weekly was a once or twice peak a year ago, and typically more like 210-220- and that's for all, totalled.
I have a script for TRT for the Test E, and get free blood testing 1-2 times/y, and don't want results that blow my cover. That has taken some knowing what I am doing. *Wry smile* Call it forced PCT. Seriously, I do 8-10 month cycles and a 5-6 week PCT with low dose HCG on cycle and during PCT both, and novaldex as the primary PCT- clomid makes me a mental basket case- I'll take novaldex's joint stiffness anyday, not that it's much fun.

6ft and a half inch and 199 lbs - and 14-17% BF, so pretty decent for 46yo and for a desk guy who doesn't gym or play a sport at all. I will say my home morning routine is considered pretty serious, and I do fast walks to 240-step stairs at the local river valley which I do up 3x, this 6 days a week. Summer, I bicycle around 45km/week. My diet is obsessively good- there are no cheat days ever, and a lot of research, and no expense spared.


I will make a list of all what I've tried sometime in the hopefully near future, but for now I am seeking help with a specific problem:

- Taking Anavar 10 mg morning and evening=20mg/d now, was worse when I was taking 20 mg x twice a day, and my endurance is unbelievably bad. Short of breath at anything, and leg muscles getting tight- occasionally to the point of being a true cramp. Back muscles cramping (thought my kidneys were failing). Tried compression stockings- helped a great deal, including with posterior tibialus /longii tendonitis. Recently I tried some SARMS from a perhaps dubious source, plus the compression stockings, and very little else changed, and now my blood pressure is an issue. My ears are ringing this past 10 days. So up enough I have to change something- worst was 149/105, up from ~130/85 a year ago, and lower yet if I were not on " TRT+ " and OTC vitamins/minerals/herbs. One moderate cup of coffee with breakfast. No work out stuff with stims, no prescription or recreational stims. Low salt diet maybe to an extreme.

So, Taurine- started light because I was already on a couple Amino mixes (8+6 large caps AM and 7+5 caps PM), so 500mg+500mg, doubled that so 2g/d, still not great deal of help. Magnesium daily intake AM+PM: 150mg+150mg citrate, 200+200mg bisglycinate, and 150+150 aspartate in a ZMA compound. So 1g/d.

Now where it got interesting is some bro-sciencey post somewhere (plus my results on a routine blood test my MD saw), had me convinced to give blood and lower my extreme RBC count. Now that puts me in an ethical quandry b/c not all of my stuff taken is legal, so here in Canada they will not accept my blood donation if I answer truthfully. Nevertheless, I had a panel done of most all blood borne illnesses, and when it was clean I donated. No difference at all. Though it was notable I was not tired after whatsoever. And the finger prick prior to the donation the nurse doing it looked alarmed and said I had one of the highest readings she'd seen.

So I'd known not to use iron boosters on TRT- no red meat in my diet anyway, and since I had these results and felt I had a problem to solve I googled "red blood cell endurance performance" or somesuch. Of course it all came up as being Pro-performance, and reminded me that 1990's blood doping (probably still going on, idk) was doing this on purpose. And I got to read up on EPO.
Well I'd done what EPO is supposed to do, "accidentally" and had what can only be called a performance *loss*. What gives?

So, my question, mainly is what does Anavar do to muscle chemistry or physiology that is negative? And how do I counter that? Simple as chewing a small antacid every hour? ;)
Secondary part of question: what blood pressure med is preferred by "men like us"? Any of them offer some pluses performance-wise? I seem to remember Lance Armstrong was using Beta blockers. Not sure how that fit in his regimen. He's doing ultra running, now, and people are whining about how well he does.
I have to say I really like how I look on Anavar, and sides are solely what I discuss here. No mental effects, no other effects (liver enzymes a little elevated). I tried Proviron, and it was only 60% as good and my hair fell out like mad. I'd read a brosciencey post elsewhere that said Anavar and NPP would help tendons. Not really, but..maybe they'd be worse. Tight muscles put stress on tendons, so anavar's real benefit right now is doubtful. TB500 is helping. Never sprung for HGH, maybe tax refund will cover a low dose run of that.
 
Did some research. Took folic acid 400mg, ubiquinol (CoQ10), both of which were not in my routine. Looked at Potassium 195mg timed release, call that for tomorrow. Did take a small low dose generic viagra, and a quarter of a strong Cialis tablet (cracked in 4 with a knife).
Garlic is about the only thing left to try- I hate the stuff, and it hates me. Maybe they've actually got the previous "de scented" process to be remotely effective now.
And going to give blood in the morning.
So I am dealing with this.
But don't let that scare anyone off replying. :)

PS sucks b/c the best PED for endurance I have found is low dose pseudoephedrine. You can buy generic single compound still locally for cheap, if you are willing to register it under your prescription list and don't buy qty to "flag" it. It's another thing I cut with a knife and take a 1/4 tab, so no worries on that aspect. Point being I am sure that is something I will not be able to take again until I feel the blood pressure is fully resolved.
 
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What are your blood counts at?

Orals can definitely lower endurance for sports that require it, a lot of times having to do with how much blood is in the muscle from my experience.

Id up the taurine to 5-10g a day minimum and that?s almost always taken care of things for me.

Also add some sodium to your diet - low sodium diets arent great at all for athletes. Balance it with water intake and monitor BP.

If it were me Id add telmisartan at your age which will help with water balance, blood pressure, and kidney function and should really be a staple for everyone on gear IMO.

I am curious though - why use PEDs like that if you arent going to the gym? A little test for HRT and cardio makes sense to stay in shape but seems like a waste to me not to be lifting and using gear but thats just me.
 
for RBC count, we use (perhaps just for donations?, IDK) weight measure- grams per litre, works out to a 140 g/L to 180 g/L normal range for numbers. I know mine was at 218, but I think that was the most recent time. I believe there was a higher reading. I am willing to convert if you can tell me what units you like.

Orals lower endurance b/c of how much blood is in the muscle? Sorry could you elaborate?, just want to make sure I understand. Sounds like the tight look becomes uncomfortable which leads to failure? To me I have never worried about retaining water or a puffy look, thinking that just means the muscles are more buffered against lactic acid and the joints are more protected. I am not on enough gear for it to be a problem, only a plus. Or so I thought- this month makes me think there is more to it. As does your mention of control of water with the script mentioned.

I had never seen Taurine recommendations that high. Most boards Google found seem to think 2g is huge. Ok. It's cheap, relatively. Watch for foaming piss or anything else to watch as a sign of overdoing it? Back in the day I lot of PED guys were using urine strips. That still a thing?

As for sodium, well, it was -29 C the one night last week doing the stairs. Today it was the warmest day in over a month- sunny, windy and -17C. Permit me a little joke when I say I sweat a lot less than you might think. (Supposedly there's an HGH release to be had from cold exposure, too-haven't researched that.) and then also inside with forced air heat, the air taken from outside and heated, is now so dry in relative humidity, that sweat is very effective- it evaporates all but instantly. So there is not much sweating required inside either. Summer, yeah I struggle with. More than just sodium involved, though.

Telmisartin. OK, I'll try to figure out what name is used locally, say my male relatives have all had good luck with it, some pretty bad results with other meds...and see if I can subtly lead the conversation with the doc. I forgot to mention- I have a high resting heart rate, too. Like 80+... Though I am seldom completely resting. Not naturally a desk guy, tbh- I had a string of report cards mentioning that in diplomatic ways. lol

I wouldn't say I don't work out. Closer to say it's about solitude and minimal equipment- kind of an equipmentless, low impact, home HIIT. Completely fair to say I am not a BB (but I'd have to quadruple my doses). Its a hobby to look good with minimal time in (not necessarily minimal effort, tho) IDK if a pic or three would be awkward, but I look pretty special. My ex GF runs ultras and hands down I looked the fitter of us. And yeah, I am not the fitter of her and I, but why I am here is to close that gap a little, so a lil respect there mebbe? Look can be- when I am eating a lot, borderline non natty, now with more cardio, less subcutaneous side-ab-fat than a 20+ year younger co worker who is/was a pretty serious athlete. I basically can do anything and not get DOMS, at least after a couple goes at the activity. At work I do some supervision of a large warehouse area. When I need to I can go out there and do physical stuff a couple days in a row. Or I don't bother paging if I can just walk to the far end ask a question and walk back.
My father at 3 years younger than I am had varicose ulcers and saline based removal of some of his most troubled veins- due to obesity and pre-diabetes. So I am kind of proving a point.
 
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Im used to cells/mcL but either way the numbers are high so you could probably benefit from a double red donation.

As far as blood in the muscle, this is commonly referred to as pumps (muscle being pumped) and can hurt endurance.

Id check google again as 5g of taurine isnt high and is a typical standard scoop dose when you have powder. Ill frequently use 10-20g pre-shoot or pre contest (also infra workout sometimes) to fight off cramps and increase muscle hydration/volume.
 
Im used to cells/mcL but either way the numbers are high so you could probably benefit from a double red donation.

As far as blood in the muscle, this is commonly referred to as pumps (muscle being pumped) and can hurt endurance.

Id check google again as 5g of taurine isnt high and is a typical standard scoop dose when you have powder. Ill frequently use 10-20g pre-shoot or pre contest (also infra workout sometimes) to fight off cramps and increase muscle hydration/volume.

Pic or it never happened..!!!
 
So, my question, mainly is what does Anavar do to muscle chemistry or physiology that is negative? And how do I counter that? Simple as chewing a small antacid every hour? ;)
Secondary part of question: what blood pressure med is preferred by "men like us"? Any of them offer some pluses performance-wise? I seem to remember Lance Armstrong was using Beta blockers. Not sure how that fit in his regimen. He's doing ultra running, now, and people are whining about how well he does.

It's not necessarily to do with the specific compound you're using (though some really do destroy athletic performance more than others), but moreso your chronic high blood pressure and heart rate. This implies you're experiencing some difficulty getting blood around (stiffness in vessels) and probably have a poor ejection fraction (ie your heart is becoming an inefficient pump) and possibly also some deleterious enlargement of your heart. You may also be experiencing mild pulmonary hypertension (PAH), which is a possible cause of the kind of breathlessness many AAS users experience even just walking.

I agree with taking both telmisartan as standard (or any available ARB if you can't get that) and increasing taurine - even long-term high doses haven't been shown to cause harm, and it's one of the most abundant in the body along with glutamine. Supplemental raw unprocessed cacao (30-40g spread throughout the day) is also particularly good for cardiovascular health, relaxing blood vessels, boosting NOx, combating inflammation in capillaries and arteries.

You also need to make sure you either give blood or blood let frequently while on AAS to keep your Hb down if your levels get that high, to alleviate some of the potential heart harms you may already be experiencing. It can help almost immediately, and it's extremely hazardous to go around like that long-term (ie beyond a bodybuilding or athletic contest), and doubly so in older men. Tiny clots can also form, which could lead to atherosclerotic plaques, as well as increase your risk of strokes, DVTs and more serious clots. And the effort required to pump such thick blood around increases blood pressure, which further aggravates the atherosclerotic risk, clots, etc.

Regarding the anavar, did you actually get it tested and confirmed as anavar? Many people often find their var is anything but - usually something like winstrol but all kinds of other AAS have been found in lieu.
 
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