SuperCissus Rx: Here's Hoping (Log)

intheflesh

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Hey everyone, after asking you all a good amount of questions and reading a lot about Cissus Quadrangularis, I'm ready to give a little bit back: I'm finally starting to take my SuperCissus Rx today, and I'm going to keep a bit of a running log of it.

The back story: in June 2009 and the months preceding it, I had been playing high school rugby pretty intensely, doing gymnastics, and doing more or less basic powerlifting. On approx. June 10, 2009 I tendonitis'ed the hell out of both knees during an important rugby game (and managed to twist my ankle pretty badly just after). The end result: lingering tendonitis in both knees, more severe in the left, and losing the ability to squat pain-free, do most floor gymnastics, and even really run properly.

Today, the tendonitis is still here. The right knee is more or less healed, but the left is as angry as ever, and thus far my attempts to kill it (the tendonitis) off have been unsuccessful.

What's been tried:
-Physiotherapy (7-8 sessions at ~$45 each, including ultrasound, taping, and some form of electric current therapy - electrodes placed about the knee and set to pulse)
-The exercises prescribed by the physiotherapist - basic hamstring, adductor, abductor band workouts and various stretches for the entire posterior chain, mine being insanely tight for whatever reason.
-NSAIDS: countless Ibuprofens as well as two Naproxen prescriptions did all of nothing in the long run, although helping with pain in the short-term.
-Orthotics, $490 worth of foot inserts that have thus far failed to cure the problem.

Total: ~$800 of money not yet proven to be useful. If my $30 bottle of SuperCissus can make even a slight difference to this infuriating knee problem, then it's well worth the money.

The plan: I'm planning on dosing this bottle at 2-2-2 morning-afternoon-evening each day, giving me 20 days on this bottle. I'll unfortunately have to decide around day 10 whether I'm going to order more or not -- living in Canada and having high costs and long waits in shipping is a bit of a pain. Hopefully I'll see some results by day 10, however.

Workout/Rehab: I'm currently on a four day split, mon/tues/thurs/fri. Mondays are essentially leg day, tuesdays shoulders/lats/traps, thursdays lower back/extra hamstrings (in an attempt to catch them up to my relatively overdeveloped quads) in deadlifts, rows, hamstring curls and probably biceps curls, for lack of a better time to do em, and fridays are more or less for chest/triceps. I will be continuing my stretching/physiotherapy while I follow this workout plan -- I'll be skipping squats on next Monday to make sure my knees get a chance to heal a bit, but I'll be doing daily testing on bodyweight squats to measure the pain caused by it.

Current Other Supplements:
-Fish oil
-Whey protein
-Vitamins (B-100 complex, C, multivitamin)
-Sporadic use of Melatonin for sleeping

Supplements I'll Be Taking Soon:
-Jack3d
-ZMA
-E-stane by CEL (and all on-cycle/PCT supps that go with it - can list if anyone is interested)


I should be able to update every day or at least every second day, so keep me honest by yelling at me if I miss a day. Off we go.
 
intheflesh

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Day 1: January 20, 2010
Started this morning, dosing 2 caps upon waking. Will take 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening.
Current feeling: left knee hurts moderately when I squat more than 1/3 of the way down, right knee is less painful; barely noticeably sore on squatting. Unfortunately this seems to be a real problem, because it's causing me to shift more of my weight to the right leg as I squat. Let's aim for not causing huge muscle imbalance and extra stress on the right leg, body. :D

Current Stats: 160 pounds, approx 13-14% BF - upper abs are visible flexed, height of 5'10"
 
intheflesh

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Day 2
2-2-2 dosage again, did my back workout this morning, looked something like this:
Deadlift: 135x10 225x5 295x2 325x1 (PR) 225x5
Bent-Over Rows: 135x5, 145x5, 155x5, 155x5, 155x5
Power Clean: 135x5, 155x1 (power cleans weren't really included in the workout but I felt the urge to do a few)
Pull-ups: 5-5-5-5-5 (not weighted, going for acceleration out of the bottom. weighted ones were on tuesday)

Took my first dose of Jack3d for this workout. It was a pretty good workout - I wouldn't otherwise have expected to set a PR in deadlifts on 5.5 hours of sleep. Can't say I really felt amazingly energetic, but I also didn't run OUT of energy during the workout, so maybe the Jack3d was doing its job. I only used one scoop, though, so I might try 1.5-2 tomorrow and see how it goes.

Knees feel about the same as yesterday. Left is bad, right is okay.
 
oufinny

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Progress slowly with your dosing on Jack3d, most people rarely need more than 2 scoops and by that I mean 2 level scoops. It is quite potent but if you were sleep deprived I would say it did quite well for you considering the PR. I will say this about SCRx, if you are already injured and you keep working out hard on the injured joint, Cissus may keep the pain from getting worse but don't expect it to instantly get better. I had bad forearm pains and some in my elbows as well, until I stopped doing those exercises that bothered them and then brought it back slowly it never went away. All the time I was high dosing SCRx (bulk powder). It is an amazing product but remember that any injury, especially tendon/ligament related needs to have the load reduced or eliminated to heel. Cissus will surely speed that process up but don't have unrealistic expectations for the expected results. You chose a great product, give it a chance to work and know you will surely need to be on it for 6-12 weeks before you are totally heeled.
 
intheflesh

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Thanks for the input oufinny, I took it into account for today's workout (chest/tris) and only took one scoop of Jack3d.

Day 3
2-2-2 dose, knees feel decent today, but I can't attribute it to the Cissus yet.

Workout:
Bench Press: Barx10 95x10 135x5 155x5 165x5 135x5
Dips: BWx5 BWx5 BW+15x5 BW+25x1 BWx5 (Dips being my weak point, all things considered)
Triceps Pushdown: Note: weights aren't listed on the machine, so it just goes by level. For logging purposes, though, I'll still list the 'level' The machine goes up to level 22. '8'x10 '10'x8 '10'x8 '11'x5 '11'x5 '8'x10

Triceps were amazingly pumped, but I wasn't happy with my bench this week. Gonna have to crush it next time. :) Energy levels were high and fairly smooth throughout the workout, which means that I'm pretty happy with the combination of Jack3d and last night's 8.5 hour (very long for my standards) sleep.
 
intheflesh

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Day 4
2-2-2 dose, left knee feels like **** today for whatever reason, probably overexertion yesterday at volleyball. No workout today... gotta love the weekend.
 

Superbeast74

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I started to use it last may due to knee and shin pain after about 2 weeks started to notice a little after the 1st month I have not been getting the pains anymore. Good luck.
 
intheflesh

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Day 5
2-2-2, sunday being an off day for sure, didn't do a whole lot. no noticeable differences in knees.

Day 6
2-2-2, did a leg workout today, which will be the last of my heavy leg workouts until my knee is 100%. definite soreness and inflammation after the workout, but I iced it three times today, so we'll see how tomorrow is...

Leg Press: 180x10, 270x5, 360x5, 450x5, 450x5, 270x10
Hamstring Curl: 45x10, 60x10, 75x5, 90x5, 105x5, 105x5, 90x5
Calf Raise: not entirely sure, but it looked something like: 150x20, 250x10, 120x20, 290x6, 150x20. whatever it was, my calves are sore as hell... a good sign for them.

felt amazing during this workout despite the knee pain, was very concentrated and focused, and my hamstring curls felt particularly smooth. thanks Jack3d!

knee pain, again, not yet improved. fingers crossed...
 
intheflesh

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Day 7
Woke up today with my knee feeling relatively amazing, especially considering that yesterday was leg day. I don't know whether to thank the Cissus or the 3 icings I gave the knee yesterday, but either way I'm quite happy, and only a week in! If this keeps up, I'm very happy with SuperCissus Rx indeed.
2-2-2 dose again

Today is shoulder day and I should mention for anyone that reads this, that my shoulders are woefully underbuilt. :p

Shoulder Press: 95x5, 105x5, 105x5, 105x5, 95x5
Lateral Raise: 10x10, 10x10, 10x10, 10x10, 10x8
Pull-ups: (these are basically explosive pullups, essentially the first half of a muscle up.) 6 sets of 5 max power reps
Shrugs: 135x10, 185x10, 185x10, 185x10

Smooth energy throughout. A good day, it seems!
 
intheflesh

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Day 8
Rest day. 2-2-2 dose.
Knees are somewhat better, but still clearly have pain and less than par mobility.
 
intheflesh

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Day 9
Today's workout was intense. Possibly my most intense workout in a long time. Felt strong, fluid and energetic from the 1.5 scoop of Jack3d. Taking my 2-2-2 dose again, and my knees feel great today. Still in pain, but my mobility is gradually increasing, even now, just an hour after doing my deadlifts. This is exciting news! :)

Deadlifts: 135x10, 225x5, 275x5, 285x5, 285x2 (grip failed, went and got chalk and finished the set 285x3), 285x5, 285x5. Tried to cool down with 225x5 and only got to 3, my CNS being completely burnt out, haha.
Bent-Over Rows: 135x5, 155x5, 165x5 (at which point I asked a gym buddy to help me with form, and dropped the weight a little to maintain good form.), 155x5 (still a bit too heavy for my newbie rowing self), 135x5, 135x5.
Pull-ups: did 3 and was too wasted to do any more
Hamstring Curls: 60x5, 75x5, 90x5, 105x4, 90x5, 90x5
Abs: Did a set of 8-ish leg lifts, then did a set of that game where your partner pushes your legs in all directions. I'm out of practice at it, so that was all my abs needed.

I'm exhausted as hell but happy. This is not only muscular progress, gentlemen, but my knees are improving as well. A good day. Now... to ice my knee and pass out.
 
intheflesh

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Day 10
Decent day; in continuing with the 2-2-2 dose, I'm going to have to order again soon. My bottle should be half empty at the end of today, and so far it's been working well enough to encourage reordering :)

I have a question for anyone who reads this: will a day of activity on my knee set me back horribly? The knees are feeling better than ever at this point, but are obviously not yet healed, much less stable. I'm entered in a volleyball tournament tomorrow which would involve a lot of movement. The smart thing to do would be to drop out, but I'd like opinions on just how much damage participating would do. If it's going to hinder me horribly, then I'll have to duck out, but if it only sets me back a day or two I might go with it.

Today's workout:
Bench Press: 115x10, 135x5, 155x5, 165x5, 170x5, 170x3 (fail), 155x4, 135x3 (burnt out.)
Dips: essentially 5x5. for whatever reason my progression on dips is very slow indeed.
Tricep Pushdown: '6'x10, '9'x7, '10'x7, '11'x5, '11'x5, '11'x5, '6'x15
Abs: Essentially the same as yesterday; leg lifts -> pushing game
 
intheflesh

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Day 11/12
Standard days, regular dosing. Regular knee pain, worsened slightly by volleyball. Might have to take this week very lightly, I want to see some real improvement. Here's hoping all is well; I ordered some bulk Cissus powder and should be receiving it next week. Is capping it mandatory?
 

endymion88

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Day 11/12
Standard days, regular dosing. Regular knee pain, worsened slightly by volleyball. Might have to take this week very lightly, I want to see some real improvement. Here's hoping all is well; I ordered some bulk Cissus powder and should be receiving it next week. Is capping it mandatory?
i mix my cissus with my protein shakes. or you can parachute it in toilet paper.
 
intheflesh

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Day 13
Leg day. 2-2-2 dosing, felt crappy and slow today. Workout reflected it... I didn't take Jack3d because I reasoned that my only compound movement of the day was light due to the knees... so it wasn't worth using. Bleah. Bad day in general.

Leg Press: 2 plates (135?) x10, 4platesx5, 6platesx5,6platesx20 (widowmaker set..), 6platesx5
Hamstring curls: 60x10, 90x5, 105x5, 105x5, 105x4, 90x4
Calf raises: disappointing, the standing machine was stuck on 300 pounds, so I did this: 300x8, 300x6, 300x5, 300x4, 300x4
 
intheflesh

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UGH FRUSTRATING my post didn't send because 'the token has expired' and it was erased.
Day 14
Knees felt regular, kinda lousy. 2-2-2 dose.

Shoulder Press: 95x5, 105x5s, 115x5, 115x5, 115x3
Pull-ups: BWx5, BW+15x5, BW+25x5, BWx5, BW+15x5
Lateral Raise: 15x10, 15x10, 15x9
Shrugs: 135x10, 185x8, 185x7, 185x7, 135x10

Day 15
2-2-2 dose again, today is an off day. Knees feel stronger today, as if there's some basic healing happening, but they are still far from healed. Hopefully this is a good omen. I'm planning on taking the next 2.5 weeks easy - no more volleyball until Feb 21, and I think I'm taking a week off just before that; feb 15 -> feb 19 I won't be working out much because I'm heading home for a bit, which makes things tricky. I'll keep dosing the Cissus obviously but don't expect much in terms of workouts. Won't kill me to take a week off anyways. Hopefully the knees will be good after that... praying! :p
 
intheflesh

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Day 16
2-2-2 dosing it. Today's workout felt amazing until the very end -- I took 1.5 scoops of Jack3d and like I said... VERY happy with today. Knees felt very good on waking, and though they are a little sore due to deadlifts, I notice a MARKED increase in mobility, with less pain. The SuperCissus Rx is working, suffice to say. Question: when I get the bulk cissus, should I dose it the same way; i.e. ~1.6g 3 times a day? Would taking 5g at once be worse?

The workout!!
Deadlift: 135x10, 225x5, 295x4 (grip was baadddd today, so I started using baseball grip from here on in), 295x5 (easy), 305x5 PR, 305x5, 305x3, 295x1
BO Rows: 135x5, 145x5, 155x4, 145x4, 135x5. pretty strict form here
Pull-ups: ~6x5. explosive, muscle up style
Hamstring Curl: 60x5, 75x5, 90x5, 90x5, 90x5. My hams felt very weak here.. probably thanks to the deadlifts. Regardless, gotta work em!

You might notice that my 5RM has increased 20 pounds from just last week. And I did 2 sets of 305x5, which means I could probably pull 315x5 for one set. This makes me want to test my absolute max again.. last time I tested it, probably at the beginning of January, it was 325, which I'm confident I could blow away now. I don't know what's causing the ridiculous strength increases in my back, but I'm loving it. Good day!
 
intheflesh

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Day 17
2-2-2 dose. Knees felt good on waking, I'm pretty stoked for this healing! Little sore now, but it happens. The order should arrive any day, and I'll switch to using bulk powder once this stuff runs out.

Bench Press: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5 PR, 175x5 PR, 175x3, 155x1
Dips: 5x5. it may be because I always bench first, but my dips blow and aren't improving, haha.
Triceps Pushdown: '9'x8, '11'x8, '12'x5, '9'x8, '11'x5, '6'x25 for the pump :p

Pretty happy with bench press, but still disappointed with dips. Meh, as long as the big lift is improving, I'm happy!
 
intheflesh

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Days 18/19
Both were rest days. I think I missed a dose at some point over the weekend, because I have 9 caps left in the bottle today (on day 20, where I should have finished it). Oh well. Hopefully the bulk cissus arrives today - it still hasn't. Did some dancing this weekend and knees were perfectly okay with it... they are definitely feeling better than they have in months. I'm so excited. Will post again later today.
 
intheflesh

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Day 20
Knees feel pretty solid -- I can do a full squat without much pain now. I think if I play my cards right, taking next week off and really relaxing, then my tendonitis will be completely gone by March. The Cissus seems to have been amazingly effective, although I don't know exactly how much recovery I can attribute to it. Regardless, the combination of stretching, orthotics and SuperCissus Rx seems to have had the effect I was looking for!

Workout
Power Cleans: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x1, 155x2, 155x1, 155x1. Went with cleans today to avoid having to squat or leg press -- we want to be 100% I'm healed before jumping back into those.
Hamstring Curls: 75x5, 90x5, 105x5, 105x5, 105x5
Standing Calf Raise: 175x10, 225x10, 300x10, 300x10, 325x10, 175x25. Calves are pretty sore.
Abs: one basic set of leg lifts. wasn't really feeling the abs today.

This log is essentially over now; I plan on continuing use of Cissus but aside from casual posting will not be logging about my knee. When I come back from reading week on ~the 21st, you can expect an E-stane log in the appropriate section with pics. Thanks to anyone who stopped by, even if you didn't post.

I would probably advise anyone in my situation to try SuperCissus Rx FIRST -- before spending insane amounts of money on something else (see opening post). So it's definitely worth trying, even if it doesn't completely fix the issue, I can vouch for it being a solid supplement.

Review:
Price Paid: $29.99 from bodybuilding.com for a 120 cap bottle of SuperCissus Rx
Taste: n/a. capped.
Speed/Effects: Looking back -- by the end of week 1 I had improved from little/no painless ROM to "feeling amazing the day after a leg workout". Week 2 yielded no special results, likely because I was still exerting too much and not giving my knee a chance to heal. By today, my knees feel perhaps 85% healed; I can do squats with no weight essentially painlessly, an AMAZING improvement over day 1, but I can still feel that I need another week or two to fully heal. I'm quite happy.
Cost-Effectiveness: Likely quite biased due to the large amount of money I spent and seeing no results, but I found the cost-effectiveness to be just fine. I was paying essentially $1.50 a day to stay on 6 caps a day for 20 days (30$ total). When drastic healing is no longer required and the cost can be lowered to a dollar or even fifty cents a day, the cost effectiveness can be considered excellent. This cost can be further lowered by investing in bulk powder rather than caps, which I've done for my next time around on Cissus.
Overall Rating:9/10. Cissus is a fantastic product that I would recommend to anyone with chronic tendonitis. A big thank you to USPLabs for making this product... expect referrals! ;)
 
Mjolnir

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Cool! Good info bro. I just picked up some bulk from Nutra. I have sore joints overall, and a slightly busted rotator cuff. We will see how it works for me.
 
seunim

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Cool! Good info bro. I just picked up some bulk from Nutra. I have sore joints overall, and a slightly busted rotator cuff. We will see how it works for me.
I had issues with my left rotator cuff, nothing major but quite a bit of soreness. I dosed three caps three times a day for four weeks and have backed off to two caps twice a day as maintenance. No soreness at all at this point and full mobility restored. This stuff rocks.
 
borobulker

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Day 20
Knees feel pretty solid -- I can do a full squat without much pain now. I think if I play my cards right, taking next week off and really relaxing, then my tendonitis will be completely gone by March. The Cissus seems to have been amazingly effective, although I don't know exactly how much recovery I can attribute to it. Regardless, the combination of stretching, orthotics and SuperCissus Rx seems to have had the effect I was looking for!

Workout
Power Cleans: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x1, 155x2, 155x1, 155x1. Went with cleans today to avoid having to squat or leg press -- we want to be 100% I'm healed before jumping back into those.
Hamstring Curls: 75x5, 90x5, 105x5, 105x5, 105x5
Standing Calf Raise: 175x10, 225x10, 300x10, 300x10, 325x10, 175x25. Calves are pretty sore.
Abs: one basic set of leg lifts. wasn't really feeling the abs today.

This log is essentially over now; I plan on continuing use of Cissus but aside from casual posting will not be logging about my knee. When I come back from reading week on ~the 21st, you can expect an E-stane log in the appropriate section with pics. Thanks to anyone who stopped by, even if you didn't post.

I would probably advise anyone in my situation to try SuperCissus Rx FIRST -- before spending insane amounts of money on something else (see opening post). So it's definitely worth trying, even if it doesn't completely fix the issue, I can vouch for it being a solid supplement.

Review:
Price Paid: $29.99 from bodybuilding.com for a 120 cap bottle of SuperCissus Rx
Taste: n/a. capped.
Speed/Effects: Looking back -- by the end of week 1 I had improved from little/no painless ROM to "feeling amazing the day after a leg workout". Week 2 yielded no special results, likely because I was still exerting too much and not giving my knee a chance to heal. By today, my knees feel perhaps 85% healed; I can do squats with no weight essentially painlessly, an AMAZING improvement over day 1, but I can still feel that I need another week or two to fully heal. I'm quite happy.
Cost-Effectiveness: Likely quite biased due to the large amount of money I spent and seeing no results, but I found the cost-effectiveness to be just fine. I was paying essentially $1.50 a day to stay on 6 caps a day for 20 days (30$ total). When drastic healing is no longer required and the cost can be lowered to a dollar or even fifty cents a day, the cost effectiveness can be considered excellent. This cost can be further lowered by investing in bulk powder rather than caps, which I've done for my next time around on Cissus.
Overall Rating:9/10. Cissus is a fantastic product that I would recommend to anyone with chronic tendonitis. A big thank you to USPLabs for making this product... expect referrals! ;)
We truly appreciate the time you took to run this log. The feedback is noticed.

I wish you luck in the upcoming days; stay healthy!
 

giorgio1117

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wow this stuff sounds pretty awesome i just had surgery on my shoulder, and I've also been having knee problems forever, definitly going to give it a try now thanks
 
intheflesh

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I'm just posting to update - I got Primaforce's bulk Cissus powder instead of the USPLabs version, and I think I'm regretting it. It tastes like ass, and I'm not getting as much, if any, of the relief effects. You can read my (short) review of it here. http://reviews.bodybuilding.com/PrimaForce/Cissus_Powder/GuitarHeroZeke/219036
I'd recommend SuperCissus Rx (capped, as I haven't tried the USPLabs bulk powder yet) for sure at this point.
 

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