Just got back. First, your comments on Peter are interesting and although we may disagree on his findings, I tend to agree with you that not everything he says is accurate. But we're not talking about him right now so I'll move on...
Deca is supposed to be more anabolic than test (less androgenic) but I've read conflicting studies. One such study had a group of healthy males (I think 10 per group) given only test at 400mgs and nandrolone at 400mgs, once a week for I believe 10 weeks. None of the subjects knew what they were taking. At the end of the study strength increased in both groups but only the test group showed increased muscle size around the neck, chest and biceps. All subjects showed some increase in strength. The nandrolone group showed growth around the mid section and thighs, but not remarkable. I cite this study because it tends to support my experience as well as that of a doctor who used to be heavy into AAS and is now a TRT specialist. Peter's theory seemed to add some credence to this as well. And I am aware that there are other studies that seem to support the opposite. I could conduct an experiment with a couple of subjects to see what happens, using only deca and only using test, but the sample size would be so small that the findings would lack credibility.
You shouldn't stack deca with tren, but many, many do. I'm not suggesting it's a good stacking, but it's like saying no one drinks and drives; they just do.
I don't think prolactin is the issue, or the only issue running deca. There are guys who run deca and report no noticeable sides, although I believe the sides just weren't as severe. So those guys may run a TRT dose of test and feel that the trt dose was enough to control the sides, whereas it really didn't do anything because they weren't as sensitive to deca as others are. We know that deca has a very strong estrogenic effect that cannot be explained by the typical aromatization. Estren seems to be the culprit, a synthetic SERM introduced by nandrolone. The best study I could find on estren indicates that: "The recently described extranuclear mode of action of estren in bone has led to the definition of a novel class of mechanism-specific substances called ANGELS (Activator of NonGenotropic Estrogen-Like Signaling) (
Manolagas et al., 2002). However, the present study indicates that estren rather, in a wider perspective, is a SERM with transcriptional activity." Also, it concludes that, "The effects of estren on bone and uterus are mediated via ERs, and the AR cannot replace the ERs for these effects. Furthermore, it is clear that estren has the capacity to exert genomic effects mediated via ERs." Granted, the study looked at the weight of the uterus and thymus, but the effects of estren compared to E2 were very well compared and estren does seem to have E2 sides. Of interest is that deca seems to produce estren with very little binding to the AR! So estren is being introduced not by the conventional aromatizing effect--which can be mediated--but by other means. Thus, I believe that deca produced estren is not adequately mediated by AIs or SERMs. Peter identified this but further research does give that theory credence. At least all of this supports my belief so I'm using it!
I agree that if you take any AAS you are shutting yourself down. Totally agree. The problem with deca (besides the long ester of deconate) is the estren and it's longer lasting effect. A guy in this site, Morey I believe, starting out with NP and was shut down hard. So even the shorter ester didn't help.
Having said all that, everyone reacts differently to AAS, especially when it comes to aromatization. I will always caution anyone to be careful before using nandralone or equip. Do I take my own advice? I pop Anadrol quite often, abuse tren, play with cheque drops and experiment with bolasterone. I'm no model to follow that's for sure. I just enjoy researching this stuff and playing around to see what happens. If proven wrong, which I have been, I will back off and not try to win for the sake of winning a point. You've made some good points and actually caused me to reaffirm my memory of studies by digging into my notes.
Stay around, I enjoy your opposing views, even if I may not agree.
Best advice you can get - do your research in multiple places not just this site and especially not this thread - here are a few ridiculous comments from this thread:
1) Deca is weak - Deca has been a cornerstone of bodybuilding for 50 years, and it still works - plus it has been scientifically proven to be more anabolic than testosterone - stronger per mg
2) Most of the gains people see on deca is while they are on test/tren - deca is rarely stacked with tren
3 Deca sides can't be controlled- keep the test dose at trt level and deca will have very little/zero sides at 600mg per week in most people - it aromatizes at about 1/4 the rate of testosterone and when testosterone is kept in normal trt ranges prolactin is typically not an issue.
4) Don't do Deca because it is highly suppressive - every AAS cycle of 8+ weeks is going to put your natural production to ZERO and deca doesn't give you negative levels so a 12 week test cycle is the same thing. (deca ester is longer though)
5) Do and 8 week deca or EQ cycle - right when it kicks in you will be coming off the cycle - it's dumb