yeah. who likes to be seen as a schill or a gullible placebo-driven believer? the libido seems to have near unanimous concurrence. i've had that. i'm glad to see the stomach problems, not that i'm looking forward to gastric upset, but that it helps to explain my own stomach's "ready for action" response to Tribulus. there are some amino acids that increase the insulin response, such as arginine and taurine and leucine (as insulinogenics or potentiators). something like leucine is seen as directly involved in protein synthesis, so that is a good explanation. but i've found Trib to get my stomach ready for more, sooner. great for a hardcore ectomorph. so there is psychosexual, right there in the brain, and digestive applicability. but i wonder...
perhaps there is an individual variance in anabolic/performance response to Tribulus? because i could swear that my recuperation goes up from strenuous exercise, as well as increased stamina. it definently has an effect on mood and libido, so maybe it isn't so much hormonal as it is neurophysiological in nature? other than its local effects in the stomach, of course.
if it can be said to increase gyno in some men, would that be increasing estrogen levels? directly? i know that regular testosterone in the male is converted into estrogen, which explains why into the estrogen-blocking/aromatase-inhibiting cycles there is a decrease in libido with the possibility of rebound gyno from the ATD PCT alone! (the theory i've seen posited on this quality forum being that with prolonged lowered estrogen levels the estrogen receptors are hypersensitive and when circulating estrogen returns...)
Tribulus causing an increase in testosterone (by raising LH) would contribute to an increase in estrogen, different from the estrogen blocking aromatase inhibiting ATDs. well, there is individual variance in their response to these compounds, natural or synthetic. i for one am an ecto, and i feel i'm low-test unless i work my body. when i'm conditioned, which i usually am, my body doesn't elevate test levels much because there isn't much need to, other than during and immediately after weight training (yes, i do know what high natural test levels feels like, and Trib does bring this on fairly reliably, psychologically speaking). but during my regular low-test (by feel, compared to during & after strenuous exercise and these here androgenic compounds and the PCTs) i am probably also a little bit low-estrogen, just the way my body is. only alcohol and what is to me very hypercaloric intake can my body store any visible increase in body fat. my joints can ache easily on the non-aromatizable AAS/PHs and estrogen-blocking/aromatase-inhibiting compounds.
which is why i wish i had bought a ton of 19-nordiol-4 before January 20th of 2005. it pisses me off. quite literally, the banned and controlled substances would be better for my joints than any of these new legals. not that i'm complaining too much, i don't have a job that requires heavy lifting and i'm certainly not dependent on my physique to get anything from the females. it's just that with my need for strenuous exercise and my avocation in these here health supplements and now the anabolic compounds i really wish i had access to the stuff that makes heavier than normal full body lifts safer, not more dangerous. i know the CNS enhancing benefits of the more androgenic compounds can help, but the weight on the joints and cartilage is still a strain on structural integrity, and i could use the enhanced lubrication. when i hear of someone getting gyno on high doses of Tribulus, i'm not just thinking: "hey, higher levels of test?" i'm thinking: "hey, more test converting into more estrogen, without the estrogen blocking of the PCT compounds..." hmmm.. that's a big selling point to an ecto with small joints.
whatever. i seem to make faster progress within my previous max lifts when i'm taking Tribulus than when i'm not. even if it only helps with mental aspects and recuperation, the stuff works. that and the libido raising effects, which can also be seen as mental in nature. it's in the old texts, like the "Kama Sutra", for a reason.
"i've used the above mentioned stack & will also continue to use it again. puts me in a great mood & energy levels are constant, even after a workout.
i got mine from B.N. & capped it myself into "00"s
i also added Avena Sativa & Green Tea to that & on low energy days a 150-200mg of caffeine."
-Jag
Do you mean the thread's title plus your Avena Sativa & Camilla Sinensis? yeah, that would work.
So there is this SHBG lowering stuff and the LH raising stuff. by this thread it would seem that Tongkat Ali* (haven't seen much "real" scientific studies supporting the SHBG lowering properties but..) and Avena Sativa raise test, that or "Activate" or Protein Factory's "Unleashed" ("Activate" from Designer Supplements has more logs and support from the bodybuilding community), "Unleashed" which is stinging nettle (urtica dioica) and avena sativa, which is an (hopefullly) extract of oats.
*Eurycoma Longifolia
and now Maca raises LH? what about FenugreeK? how legit is that? i'm curious how the NHA stacks of the "Activate" (SHBG decreaser) + ATD or 6-OXO or whatever would rate against a scientifically proven herbal LH raiser + SHBG decreaser. Pinnacle's "AnabolX Plus" works really good for me, from what i can tell. i was thinking of stacking "Unleashed" or "Activate" with it. now i'm wondering if that would be a waste of my money on the SHBG-decreasing supps. maybe i should just stick with the novedexes and the 6-OXO for a NHA cycle?
Hey Wordz_Worf: purely within this thread it looks like Maca could be your LH-raiser. anything that raises LH would likely restore your testicles endogenous production of sex hormones.
i wouldn't worry too much about placebo effect on the herbs. if the herb is mostly mental in effect, by placebo/psychology or neurophysiological activity, it gets you out there doing it. the physical activity alone is almost invariably going to stimulate a home-made (endogenous) hormonal response, shifting your metabolism, your hormonal profile, your psychology into a positive direction.
the thing about increasing endogenous production of these sex steroids is your body is making the stuff, without enough of the minerals necessary for producing it you're not going to have adequate results. if you have successful sex steroid production and you've elevated it significantly than could it be that you may unnaturally deplete your body of those minerals? could that be the hypothetical cause of anhedonia and apathy, the post-cycle downtime from an herbal cycle? using the AASes means your body no longer produces its own, over time. the advantage is your body probably isn't depleted of the sex hormone production, just depleted of everything it took for your body to make the new muscle mass from the cycle. which may happen if it is significant LBM gains without a mineral rich hypercaloric diet. but that's just conjecture on my part.
