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SofaGeorge
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Carao and SHBG - floating a theory
Nelson Montana started a thread here where he discussed proviron and avena sativa as substances that would affect Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG.) SHBG is that sticky stuff that bonds testosterone to carrier proteins and makes it useless.
I'm sure many of you have experienced doing a high dose test cycle and seen minimal gains. I've addressed many issues bacause of this. Was I getting enough protein? Was I training hard enough? Etc...
What I find interesting about Nelson's comment on SHBG and how it could affect a test cycle is its simplicity and its sensibility. It makes sense. It makes plain and simple sense.
It also, possbily, is beginning to explain some of the aspects of carao that have remained a mystery to me. There has been much comparing of notes between carao users via email, but little posted about what we call carao's "Secret Side Effect." Stated simply: everybody is getting erections and horny as hell. This isn't surprising. In Costa Rica this is actually what carao is famous for. It has long been known as the aphrodisiac of Central America.
For the most part I dismissed this idea early on. I attributed the "aphrodisiac" claims simply to improved health and well being in a third world environment where nutrition is poor. Then, I started to notice the phenomena called "spontaneous erections" myself, morning always. This isn't unusual for someone who is 17, but I'm 43 and had those years long behind me.
One of the early users of carao was 44 (he can identify himself if he wants.) He wrote to me that he had the same observations, along with the improved lifts and endurance he was getting frequent spontaneous erections and "morning wood."
Then I started getting more emails, including two from women who say that for them the increased libido is very noticable.
Okay, now my eyes are open. The phenomena is very real and being experienced by many people - but why is it happening? (It also seemed to coincide with the feeling that my nuts came back online without clomid or HCG after my last cycle... and several other carao users pointed out that they came back online much more easily. What could cause this?)
Then I read Nelson Montana's thread where he discussed proviron, avena sativa, and SHBG. A light bulb went on.
Could carao possibly affect SHBG?
I had already attributed the increased vascularity form carao to enhanced RBC and had assumed the same increased RBC might explain the improved endurance (like blood doping or EPO) but I still had never been able to explain the sexual sides. Simply stated, I always felt like I was on test when I used carao, but I wasn't getting any estrogenic sides. It just felt like good clean test.
This would be the effect of increased free testosterone. When testosterone becomes bonded to a carrier protein it becomes useless. You have to have free testosterone to have sexual interest, sexual function, and in the case of AAS improved strength and muscle mass. Free testosterone does not create more testosterone in the body (leading to estrogen.) It simply makes more testosterone available for use.
I am currently on 2,000mg test wk/100mg winstrol ED. I was taking 2,000mg test wk/400mg deca wk/50mg d-bol ED. For the first 8 weeks of this cycle I was also taking about one tablespoon of carao ED or EOD. About two to three weeks ago my carao supply began to dwindle... then I ran out.
I've got to back up here and give some background information: as I said earlier I am 43 years old. I am currently 6'4" and 240lbs. I have been juicing for almost 20 years, and by this time I know my body and cycles extremely well. I had plateued years ago in strength and size gains. I'd go up. I'd go down. But I would never really exceed the strength gains I had made in the past.
Until this year...
This year, about 3-4 weeks after finishing a fina/whinny/test cycle I noticed my strength going up to all time PR highs. These gains continued until I started my current cycle in mid-October and were continuing until about two weeks ago. Then I ran out of carao and at about the same time my gains stopped. (I've just ordered 4 more bottles... so I will have a clear picture in January if my gains kick back in. And YES, to the observant, I do very long cycles.)
My question now is:
Does carao affect SHBG and does this explain why and how I made some of the gains I experienced - most importantly does this explain why I continued to grow well on 2,000 mg of test when I had previously peaked out?
If carao affects SHBG this would explain why so many of us carao users have been walking around for the last many months like horn dogs ready to hump wood. The sexual enhancement aspects of carao are definite and noticable, maybe to the point of distraction. (But that is fun for some.) Its just very interesting to me that Nelson's theory might explain why I woke up this morning with a woody.
Can anyone offer any suggestions for practical tests to determine this? I would be very interested in any comments or ideas.
Nelson Montana started a thread here where he discussed proviron and avena sativa as substances that would affect Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG.) SHBG is that sticky stuff that bonds testosterone to carrier proteins and makes it useless.
I'm sure many of you have experienced doing a high dose test cycle and seen minimal gains. I've addressed many issues bacause of this. Was I getting enough protein? Was I training hard enough? Etc...
What I find interesting about Nelson's comment on SHBG and how it could affect a test cycle is its simplicity and its sensibility. It makes sense. It makes plain and simple sense.
It also, possbily, is beginning to explain some of the aspects of carao that have remained a mystery to me. There has been much comparing of notes between carao users via email, but little posted about what we call carao's "Secret Side Effect." Stated simply: everybody is getting erections and horny as hell. This isn't surprising. In Costa Rica this is actually what carao is famous for. It has long been known as the aphrodisiac of Central America.
For the most part I dismissed this idea early on. I attributed the "aphrodisiac" claims simply to improved health and well being in a third world environment where nutrition is poor. Then, I started to notice the phenomena called "spontaneous erections" myself, morning always. This isn't unusual for someone who is 17, but I'm 43 and had those years long behind me.
One of the early users of carao was 44 (he can identify himself if he wants.) He wrote to me that he had the same observations, along with the improved lifts and endurance he was getting frequent spontaneous erections and "morning wood."
Then I started getting more emails, including two from women who say that for them the increased libido is very noticable.
Okay, now my eyes are open. The phenomena is very real and being experienced by many people - but why is it happening? (It also seemed to coincide with the feeling that my nuts came back online without clomid or HCG after my last cycle... and several other carao users pointed out that they came back online much more easily. What could cause this?)
Then I read Nelson Montana's thread where he discussed proviron, avena sativa, and SHBG. A light bulb went on.
Could carao possibly affect SHBG?
I had already attributed the increased vascularity form carao to enhanced RBC and had assumed the same increased RBC might explain the improved endurance (like blood doping or EPO) but I still had never been able to explain the sexual sides. Simply stated, I always felt like I was on test when I used carao, but I wasn't getting any estrogenic sides. It just felt like good clean test.
This would be the effect of increased free testosterone. When testosterone becomes bonded to a carrier protein it becomes useless. You have to have free testosterone to have sexual interest, sexual function, and in the case of AAS improved strength and muscle mass. Free testosterone does not create more testosterone in the body (leading to estrogen.) It simply makes more testosterone available for use.
I am currently on 2,000mg test wk/100mg winstrol ED. I was taking 2,000mg test wk/400mg deca wk/50mg d-bol ED. For the first 8 weeks of this cycle I was also taking about one tablespoon of carao ED or EOD. About two to three weeks ago my carao supply began to dwindle... then I ran out.
I've got to back up here and give some background information: as I said earlier I am 43 years old. I am currently 6'4" and 240lbs. I have been juicing for almost 20 years, and by this time I know my body and cycles extremely well. I had plateued years ago in strength and size gains. I'd go up. I'd go down. But I would never really exceed the strength gains I had made in the past.
Until this year...
This year, about 3-4 weeks after finishing a fina/whinny/test cycle I noticed my strength going up to all time PR highs. These gains continued until I started my current cycle in mid-October and were continuing until about two weeks ago. Then I ran out of carao and at about the same time my gains stopped. (I've just ordered 4 more bottles... so I will have a clear picture in January if my gains kick back in. And YES, to the observant, I do very long cycles.)
My question now is:
Does carao affect SHBG and does this explain why and how I made some of the gains I experienced - most importantly does this explain why I continued to grow well on 2,000 mg of test when I had previously peaked out?
If carao affects SHBG this would explain why so many of us carao users have been walking around for the last many months like horn dogs ready to hump wood. The sexual enhancement aspects of carao are definite and noticable, maybe to the point of distraction. (But that is fun for some.) Its just very interesting to me that Nelson's theory might explain why I woke up this morning with a woody.
Can anyone offer any suggestions for practical tests to determine this? I would be very interested in any comments or ideas.
