nolvadex Information for Beginners.

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Tweetnolvadex Information for Beginners. Anti Estrogen Nolvadex in Bodybuilding


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Nolvadex - Information


If you buy Nolvadex online it may sometimes be listed as its proper pharmaceutical name Tamoxifen Citrate. Initially it was used to prevent breast tumours in women.

Nolvadex is the most well known and widely used Anti Estrogen. There's a good reason, it's affordable and effective when estrogen is already bonded to the estrogen receptors.

Nolvadex - Nolvadex in Bodybuilding


Nolvadex is not actually an anti-estrogen like arimidex which stops estrogen dead in its tracks, with Nolvadex we can see the effect is via the mechanism of estrogen receptor blockade of breast tissue. It can also be beneficial to the immune system and cholesterol levels. Nolvadex is also very useful at the end of a steroid course as even just 20mg standard dose can raise testosterone levels by approximately 150% of the level it was at the time Nolvadex was administered. Like Clomid, the half life of Nolvadex is relatively long enabling the user to implement a single daily dosing schedule.

Nolvadex - About Nolvadex


Well its not a steroid so you would obviously use it along side strong testosterones, however some use Nolvadex along side other ancillary drugs such as Proviron which is an anti-estrogen. During a course of heavy Testosterones, Proviron would be used as an anti-estrogen, and also to lower SHBG to keep testosterone in free state. Aprroxinately 10-14 days after the last shot of long acting testosterone is administered many switch from Proviron to Nolvadex for a couple of weeks which as stated above a 20mg dose will help the immune system, cholesterol levels and raise natural testosterone in the fight against the catabolic effects when coming off the juice.

Nolvadex - Side Effects


There is a whole list of side effects in the insert from a box of Nolvadex, however just think of the list of side effects when opening a tub of ibuprofen. My point is rare cases and usually harsh side effects are from dangerously high doses which is irrelevant in bodybuilding considering 20mg is all you need per day. The only drawback for some bodybuilders is a link to reduced gains due to Nolvadex's ability to reduce IGF-1 (insulin-like-growth-factor) but this has never happened to me personally but some react different to others. There are some rare reports of vision problems. All in all Nolvadex is an asset to bodybuilding.

Average Dosage: 10-30 mg/day.

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TweetThis remedy is somewhat different from others since it is not an anabolic/androgenic steroid. For male and female bodybuilders, how-ever, it is a very useful and recommended compound which is con-firmed by its widespread use and mostly positive results. Nolvadex belongs to the group of sex hormones and is a so-called antiestrogen. The normal application of Nolvadex is in the treatment of certain forms of breast cancer in female patients. With Nolvadex it is pos-sible to reverse an existing growth process of deceased tissue and prevent further growth. The growth of certain tissues is stimulated by the body's own estrogen hormone. This is especially true for the breast glands in men and women since the body has a large number of estrogen receptors at these glands which can bond with the estro-gens present in the blood. If the body's own estrogen level is unusu-ally high an undesired growth of breast glands occurs. However, in healthy women and particularly in men this is not the case. Despite this, it is mostly male bodybuilders who use Nolvadex, and fewer women. At first sight this seems somewhat inconceivable but when taking a closer look, the reasons are clear. Bodybuilders who take Nolvadex also use anabolic steroids at the same time. Since most steroids aromatize more or less strongly, i.e. part of the substance is converted into estrogens, male bodybuilders can experience a sig-nificant elevation in the normally very low estrogen level. This can lead to feminization symptoms such as gynecomastia (growth of breast glands), increased fat deposits and higher water retention. The antiestrogen Nolvadex works against this by blocking the es-trogen receptors of the effected body tissue, thereby inhibiting a bonding of estrogens and receptor. It is, however, important to un-derstand that Nolvadex does not prevent the aromatization but only acts as an estrogen antagonist. This means that it does not prevent testosterone and its synthetic derivatives (steroids) from converting into estrogens but only fights with them in a sort of "competition" for the estrogen receptors. This characteristic has the disadvantage that after the discontinuance of Nolvadex a "rebound effect" can occur which means that the suddenly freed estrogen receptors are now able to absorb the estrogen present in the blood. For this reason the combined intake of Proviron is suggested (see Proviron.)

Nolvadex is also useful during a diet since it helps in the burning of fat. Al-though Nolvadex has no direct fatburning effect its antiestrogenic effect contributes to keeping the estrogen level as low as possible. Nolvadex should especially be taken together with the strong an-drogenic steroids Dianabol and Anadrol 50, and the various test-osterone compounds. Athletes who have a tendency to retain water and who have a mammary dysfunction should take Nolvadex as a prevention during every steroid intake. Since Nolvadex is very affective in most cases it is no wonder that several athletes can take Anadrol 50 and Dianabol until the day of a competition, and in combination with a diuretic still appear totally ripped in the. limelight. Those who already have a low body fat content will achieve a visibly improved muscle hardness with Nolvadex.

Several bodybuilders like to use Nolvadex at the end of a steroid cycle since it increases the body's own testosterone production -which will be discussed in more detail in the following-to counter-act the side effects caused by the estrogens. These can occur after the discontinuance of steroids when the androgen level in relationship to the estrogen concentration is too low and estrogen becomes the dominant hormone. A very rare but all the more serious problem of Nolvadex is that in some cases it does not lower the estrogen level but can increase it. Another disadvantage is that it can weaken the anabolic effect of some steroids. The reason is that Nolvadex, as we know, reduces the estrogen level. The fact is, however, that certain steroids - especially the various testosterone compounds-can only achieve their full effect if the estrogen level is sufficiently high. Those who are used to the intake of larger amounts of various steroids do not have to worry about this. Athletes however, who predominantly use mild steroids such as Primobolan, Winstrol, Oxandrolone, and Deca-Durabolin should carefully consider whether or not they should take Nolvadex since, due to the compound's already moderate ana-bolic effect, an additional loss of effect could take place, leading to unsatisfying results.

A rarely observed but welcome characteristic of Nolvadex is that it has a direct influence on the hypothalamus and thus, by an in-creased release of gonadotropine, it stimulates the testosterone pro-duction in the testes. This does not result in a tremendous but still a measurable increase of the body's own testosterone. This effect, however, is not sufficient to significantly increase the testosterone production reduced by anabolic/androgenic steroids.

The side effects of Nolvadex are usually low in dosages of up to 30 mg/day In rare cases nausea, vomiting, hot flashes, numbness, and blurred vision can occur. In women irregular menstrual cycles can occur which manifest themselves in weaker menstrual bleeding or even complete missing of a period. Women should also be careful not to get pregnant while taking Nolvadex. It is important for fe-male athletes that Nolvadex and the "pill" not be taken together since the antiestrogen Nolvadex and the estrogen-containing pill nega-tively counterfeit each other. The normal daily dosage taken by athletes corresponds more or less to the dosage indications of the manufacturer and is 10-30 mg/day To prevent estrogenic side ef-fects normally 10 mg/day are sufficient, a dosage which also keeps low the risk of reducing the effect of simultaneously-taken ste-roids. Often it is sufficient if the athlete begins this preventive intake of Nolvadex only three to four weeks after the intake of anabolics. Athletes who have tendencies toward gynecomastia, strong water retention, and increased fat deposits with steroids such as Dianabol, Testosterone, Anadrol 50, and Deca-Durabolin usually take 20-30 mg/day The combined application of Nolvadex 20-30 mg/day and Proviron 25-50 mg/day in these cases leads to excellent results. The same is true for athletes who are in competition, and for women. Women, however, should do without the intake of Proviron or at least reduce the dose to one 25 mg tablet per day. Unfortunately, in most cases, a very pronounced gynecomastia ("***** tits") cannot be reduced by taking Nolvadex so that often surgery is required, surgery which is not paid for by health insurance. First signs of a possible gynecomastia are light pain when touching the nipples. The tablets are usually taken 1-2x daily, swallowed whole without chewing, with some liquid during meals.

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TweetWe get an almost daily question which asks us what we suggest for PCT, and how the person in question has been told by everybody they must use a prescription breast cancer drug called Tamoxifen, to ensure they retain their muscle gains and prevent potential problems with gynecomastia. This article will go into some of the details on why Tamoxifen has been recommended for bodybuilders, as well as some side effects that most people fail to understand before embarking on the use of this compound.

What Does Tamoxifen Do?

Tamoxifen is classed as a specific estrogen receptor modulator or SERM. It acts as an estrogen antagonist in the brain and the breast area meaning it prevents estrogen from exerting its normal effect in those areas. With respect to its action in the brain it inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estrogen which during a cycle can mean that estrogen levels remain low. Although low estrogen is often considered advantageous by bodybuilders it should be noted that estrogen helps both with the accrual of muscle mass and also helps to boost libido on cycle. In fact, when bodybuilders use testosterone enhancing compounds and run tamoxifen alongside it, they often lose out on some of the muscle gains and enhanced libido that normally accompanies testosterone elevation.

Negatives Of Tamoxifen Use

Tamoxifen
Although classed as an estrogen antagonist it should be noted that in some parts of the body tamoxifen actually acts as an estrogen agonist meaning it actually acts in an estrogenic manner as opposed to how most think of it being which is an anti-estrogen. When it acts in an estrogenic fashion in the liver for instance, tamoxifen can increase levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHGB) which acts to bind to testosterone thus lowering free testosterone in the body. Free testosterone is the amount of unbound testosterone in the system and it is the level of free testosterone which is strongly correlated to the positive effects of high testosterone such as increased muscle mass, strength, and libido. By lowering free testosterone, tamoxifen has the potential to hurt our bodybuilding gains. This helps to explain why we never hear of people using tamoxifen on a standalone basis (similar to how a testosterone booster is used) and gaining any muscle mass despite the significant rise in testosterone it is capable of producing. Quite simply, a lot of the testosterone rise is cancelled out by the increase in SHGB.

Another negative of tamoxifen's action in the liver is its ability to suppress production of the peptide hormone IGF-1. IGF-1 is broken down from growth hormone and is considered to be more potent than growth hormone itself for the purposes of building muscle tissue. High IGF-1 levels make a big contribution to the process of building a better physique and the ability of tamoxifen to suppress IGF-1 levels is another reason why tamoxifen use tends to be disappointing for the purposes of building muscle mass. In fact, a recent study which showed a rise in total testosterone (they failed to measure free testosterone or levels of SHGB) and a reduction in IGF-1 levels after tamoxifen usage is a significant indicator as to why it can prove disappointing for the building or maintenance of muscle mass.(1,2)

The fact that tamoxifen is referred to as an anti-estrogen overlooks the fact that outside of certain tissues it promotes estrogenic effects. A study published in the Journal of Endocrinology(3) showed that long term tamoxifen use increased serum testosterone levels by 50% which is certainly a healthy increase. However, at the same time serum estrogen levels increased by a massive 341%. In fact, in the control group in this study, which only used tamoxifen for a week, estrogen rose after just four days. Considering that the subjects in this trial used tamoxifen at a lower dose of just 10mg it begs the question of what would happen if used at the higher dose typically seen in bodybuilding circles.

Estrogen Rebound After PCT

Tamoxifen is of course frequently used to suppress estrogenic action in breast tissue to prevent gynecomastia for which it can work rather well during cycle. It will not totally eliminate the possibility of gyno though especially with those steroids that act in a progesterogenic fashion for which something that lowers prolactin such as the supplement Vitex will be required.

Assuming though that your cycle went well and you ran a PCT and you battled through the suppressed sex drive, low IGF-1 levels and low free testosterone levels seen with tamoxifen usage. What happens when you remove tamoxifen?

If we consider the study above which shows a profound rise in estrogen in the body during tamoxifen use, its removal is going to create a situation where we now have high estrogen levels in the body and with nothing to stop this estrogen from causing gyno in male bodybuilders. This creates a recipe for the kind of rebound gyno that you often hear people complaining about on bodybuilding forums. Adding insult to injury, high estrogen levels are suppressive in their own right which can cause delayed progress in the gym when coming off tamoxifen use.

Other Health Effects

Carcinogenic action - Tamoxifen has been shown in several studies 4,5,6) to increase the risk of cancer and is listed as a known carcinogen by the American Cancer Society. A 2006 study in The Lancet showed it increased mortality rate in women using tamoxifen. Studies in rats (7) add further weight to the argument supporting tamoxifen's carcinogenic potential with up to 80% of animals developing malignant tumours.

Liver damage - Tamoxifen has been studied for its effects on liver for some time with it being linked to fatty liver in women (8) as well as showing an increased likelihood in the formation of liver cancer.

Cataracts - Tamoxifen is acutely toxic to the eyes with more than one report on a bodybuilding forum showing a user who irreversibly damaged their eyesight. Studies (9,10) support the notion that tamoxifen can contribute to increasing susceptibility to cataracts.

Blood Clots - Tamoxifen usage is recognised as increasing the risk of blood clotting which if it occurs in a major artery or cardiac tissue can potentially be life threatening. For bodybuilders whose blood pressure may be high it makes tamoxifen use doubly dangerous.

Low libido - As previously noted the negative impact on free testosterone levels of tamoxifen can cause users to fail to experience the effects associated with elevated testosterone including libido. Compared to other compounds which increase testosterone, tamoxifen users tend to report poorer libido. In addition, the adverse effect on blood clots means it can make erectile dysfunction more likely as well. It is for this reason that many users will employ a testosterone booster in PCT to help address these shortcomings of tamoxifen usage.

Mood swings - Perhaps the most common complaint of all from bodybuilders using tamoxifen or other SERM's during PCT is they cause unbearable mood swings with frequent reports of tearfulness, and depression occurring among bodybuilders. While not everyone gets this it is notable that these effects don't get reported to anywhere the same extent with other PCT products making it feasible that this occurs as a consequence of the rise in serum estrogen seen during tamoxifen use.

Conclusion

While many bodybuilders see tamoxifen as an essential hopefully this article helps to illustrate some of the potential negatives associated with its use. While it can be important in particular situations especially if used during cycles of aromatising compounds, it's overuse and usage in pct can cause a host of issues.

A more sensible strategy for prohormone or AAS users is to employ the use of an aromatase inhibitor to lower estrogen levels significantly, making an SERM less important, as well as addressing other aspects of PCT which are commonly overlooked and discussed in our article on post cycle therapy. Finally, the use of aromatising products should be limited and if these are going to be used an AI as opposed to an SERM is a much better solution for managing estrogen levels on cycle.

For those who insist on using tamoxifen during PCT it is important this is combined with an AI to help mitigate against the prospect of rebound gyno which could potentially occur with tamoxifen use. In addition the use of a testosterone booster to help combat the deleterious effects of tamoxifen on libido and mood is advisable with the use of a product such as Activate Xtreme a good tool to address both this aspect and also to boost free testosterone levels which are otherwise suppressed during tamoxifen use.

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TweetNolvadex (Tamoxifen Citrate)
Nolvadex and Gynocomastia
This drug is used as a first line defense against breast cancer. In the late 80s, Dan Duchaine speculated that it could also be used by bodybuilders to halt the development of another type of tumor in the mammary gland, Gynocomastia. He introduced this find to the Steroid-using-community in his "Contest Prep" issue of the Underground Steroid Handbook Update Newsletters (the contest prep-issue was actually 3 issues in one, for those who had a subscription to the newsletter).

Nolvadex is commonly referred to in quite a few ways: as a SERM (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator), as an anti-estrogen (that is actually incorrect, as we will later see), and finally as a triphenylethylene. I happen to stick with calling Nolvadex a SERM, because out of my three options, it happens to be correct (as we know that calling it an anti-estrogen is incorrect), and pronounceable (as we know that I have no idea how to say "triphenylethylene"). Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) act as either estrogen receptor agonists or antagonists in a tissue-selective manner, lets see what that means to us.

Nolvadex actually has quite a few applications for the steroid using athlete. First and foremost, its most common use is for the prevention of gynocomastia. Nolvadex does this by actually competing for the receptor site in breast tissue, and binding to it. Thus, we can safely say that the effect of tamoxifen is through estrogen receptor blockade of breast tissue (1), especially since total body estradiol increases with use of tamoxifen. Clearly, if you are on a cycle which includes steroids which convert to estrogen, you may want to consider nolvadex as a good choice to run along side them.

Nolvadex Cycle
Nolvadex, however, is not the most potent ancillary compound we can use on a cycle, but it is probably the safest considering it doesn't actually reduce estrogen in your body keeping some estrogen floating around could have many benefits on muscle growth, as well. Estrogen is also important for a properly functioning immune system, and not only that, but your lipid profile (both HDL and LDL) should also show marked improvement with administration of tamoxifen (4). Many bodybuilders actually use this stuff during their cycle for the health benefits provided by it. If, however, you are preparing for a bodybuilding contest, you need to use something which will suck most (if not all) of the estrogen out of your body. I am speculating that you may be able to use Nolvadex for the majority of a contest prep cycle, to keep yourself relatively healthy, and then switch over to Letrozole for the last 8 weeks.

Testosterone Treatment only $199/month All-IncludedNolvadex also has some important features for the steroid using athlete. In hypogonadic and infertile men given nolvadex, increases in the serum levels of LH, FSH, and most importantly, testosterone were all observed (2)(3). The best (rough) estimate I can give you from my research is that 20mgs of Nolvadex will raise your testosterone levels about 150% (5)...and this would of course greatly aid post-cycle-recovery. What this means to us is that if you take Nolvadex after a cycle, when you are trying to raise your levels of testosterone, LH, and FSH back to normal, it will greatly aid recovery. In fact, if I were limited to just one compound to aid me in post-cycle-recovery, Nolvadex would be my choice. If you want a comparison, it would require 150mgs of Clomid to accomplish that type of elevation in testosterone, but nolvadex also significantly increased the LH (Leutenizing Hormone) response to LHRL (5), after 6 weeks.

Some of the more harsh ancillary compounds available today will give you a more "dry" look that nolvadex cant, but nolvadex is simply safer to use in long (over 16 week) cycles.

Nolvadex Side Effects
Unfortunately, Nolvadex isn't perfect. Anecdotally, it has been linked to reduced gains in some bodybuilders. This isn't due, as previously thought, to its reducing estrogen levels (which it doesn't), but rather to its ability to possibly reduce IGF (Insulin-like-Growth-Factor) levels, which are important for muscle growth.

To Buy Nolvadex Online
Personally, I've had many successful cycles with Nolvadex as well as without, but I can certainly testify to its effectiveness in preventing gynocomastia. Back in the late 90s I purchased 30 tabs of 10mg Nolvadex for $30, and recently I have found it for much less on various internet sites. Its well worth the money.

Nolvadex References:
Klin Padiatr. 1987 Nov-Dec;199(6):389-91.
Stimulation of calcitonin secretory capacity by increased serum levels of testosterone in men treated with tamoxifen. Int J Androl. 1987 Dec;10(6):747-51.
Hormonal changes in tamoxifen treated men with idiopathic oligozoospermia Exp Clin Endocrinol. 1988 Dec;92(2):211-6.
2 Bruning PF, Bronfer JMG, Hart AAM, Jong-Bakker M, tamoxifen, serum lipoproteins and cardiovascular risk, Br. J. Cancer 1988 Oct, 58 (4) 497-9
Fertil Steril. 1978 Mar;29(3):320-7.