What potential risks/side effects would drinking pose?

[DuiLee]

I'm currently in my 3rd week of PCT after a 4 week SD cycle and up to this point I've done everything by the book. I'm currently taking 1ml(20mg) of nolva each day and I've been happy with my progess. However, after 7 weeks of abstaining from the bottle I'm at my breaking point. I've passed up on numerous trips to the beach because I didn't want to subject myself to 3 or 4 days of debauchery, inevitable considering the people I would've been with. However, tomorrow I'm going tubing for the 4th and I've decided that I want to booze it up for just 1 day. What I'm wondering is, what kind of damage am I going to be inflicting on myself by doing this? Obviously drinking and BBing don't mix, even when you're lifting naturally, but how will this effect my body during PCT? The first thing that comes into consideration for me is increased estrogen levels. Since I'm taking Nolva, shouldn't this counter the rise in estrogen to a certain extent or is this something I should I really be worried about? I'm not really that concerned with liver health just because, from everything I've read and heard so far, an SD cycle isn't that toxic to the liver and one day of drinking in excess isn't going to cause a catastrophic damage. Anybody have some thoughts on this or suggestions on what I should do pre/post drinking to minimize any unwanted side-effects?

 

[kwyckemynd00]

Nolva is toxic to the liver, and alcohol sucks for making gains, let alone keeping gains that your body made in a short period of time and is not acclimated to.

IMHO, I'd suggest not drinking at all, but if you go out and have a beer, it's not THAT huge of a deal if its occassional and you're trying to score or something Maybe use hard liquor, too....the carbonation in beer has its own set of probs...

 

[LakeMountD]

http://anabolicminds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30649

 

[DuiLee]

I know that alcohol is detrimental to gains because it 1) increases your estrogen and thus decreases testoserone and 2)dehydrates you , but how much of an effect would one day really make? I find it hard to believe that one afternoon of drinking in excess would hinder gains for more than maybe 1 or 2 sessions in the gym, especially when the only thing I'm taking is an estrogen blocker. For the sake of argument (liver issues aside) wouldn't nolva be benificial in this circumstance because it counters the increase in estrogen, atleast to a certain extent? I, in no way, think that drinking will benefit me physically but from psychological standpoint I feel this would be beneficial because, like any other cheat, I'll come back to the gym with more focus and determination.

The reason I'm not overly concerned with the liver is this is a one time thing. I'm not going to develp liver sclerosis because of one isolated incident. If I drank one a regular basis it would be a different story but that's not the case.

Also, I strongly have to disagree with the idea of drinking hard liquor instead of beer. The idea of pounding down Crown and Cokes for 5 hours in the sun seems like suicide, even if I was lifting natural. If I start off with hard liquor all bets are off. After not drinking for almost 2 months I'd probably end up floating face down in the river or in jail.

 

[DuiLee]

That's a good article LakeMountD. Although it definitely shows that alcohol is detrimental to gains, it does point out that the occasional night out isn't going to kill you. I do find it humorous that the author suggests taking GHB or GBL while drinking though. The sickest I've ever been was when I would drink a cap or two of GHB/GBL and then had a couple drinks on top of that. Thats actually how most GHB deaths occur, when you mix it with alcohol. To be honest though, I wish it was still legal because that would solve my problem right there.

 

[lifted]

Having a day out on the 4th will not kill you. Just try and get some good clean calories in you throughout the day. I usually drink (to get drunk) about 2-3 times/month while not cycling....when on cycle I don't do it at all....but when I do it off cycle, I still get in my meals for the day and honestly, I've never seen a negative impact on my gains from it....to tell you the truth, the best gains of my life came when I was boozin' it up. Cutting though, might be a whole different ballgame of course.

Just don't let it get the best of you and have one night of boozing turn into every weekend. As long as you follow these general guidelines, IMHO, you will be fine.

BTW, kwyck, I keep seeing you post that nolva is toxic to the liver....can you please post some proof? I've never seen this before, and if anything, I've seen studies claiming hte exact opposite...it actually improves liver function.... don't take this the wrong way, I've just never seen this before, any help?

 

[DuiLee]

Thought I'd do a follow up on this topic. I threw caution to the wind on Monday and got tanked on the river. I'm not even going to bother guessing how much I drank but I'll say it wasn't pretty. I took Tuesday off to recover and lifted on Wednesday. To my amazement I went up on almost every lift. I actually broke a plateau on DB bench press that I'd been stuck on for over a month. I won't go as far as crediting alcohol for my progess in the gym but the extra days of rest definitely helped and I'm more focused now on lifting so overall I'd say I'm glad that I did this. As for my liver, who knows. I guess I'll find out in 20 years.