4 week bloods test/boldenone/HGH cycle, high hs-CRP

[level3]

Meso,

I started my first cycle in ~6 years a little over 4 weeks ago. I'm a mid 30's male, 5'10" 195 lbs. My hs-CRP score came out quite high (5.17) and I'm hoping to get some possible explanations. I have some of my own guesses, too. It's really annoying that its such a nonspecific marker. I think the rest of the bloodwork is fine, but I'd appreciate comments on it.

First, here's my stack. I'll spare you the explanation for the change in protocol, its in my cycle thread.

Drugs:
- I started off at 400 Test C/300 Bold C, but after 2 weeks switched to 250 Test C/400 Bold C
- 5iu HGH (had been running 4 for months)
- 2mg Reta every 5 days
- Using TNE preworkout in Migloyl 840 1-2x per week
- Anavar 20mg for the first 10 days until I decided kickstarts were stupid. Was taking 1g TUDCA/day with it.

Ancillaries:
- Combination of aromasin, HCG, and low dose dbol as I figured out what bold did to my E2 (never ran it before). Started on E2 Cyp now.
- Telm 40/Ciln 10
- pitavastatin 2mg, 10 mg Ezet/180mg bemp
- cialis 5 mg, minoxidil 2.5 mg
- 600mg glutathione EOD
- accutane 80mg-120mg (been taking for several months)
- Ivabradine 10mg
- Fish oil, taurine, magnesium, potassium, creatine, collagen, psyllium husk, cissus quandrangularis, berberine, astragalus root

Bloods were taken ~72 hours after last workout (though I did 30 mins LISS a couple hours beforehand).

My best guess is the elevated hs-CRP is related to the TNE. I think it was slightly crashed the first few times I injected it, with pretty bad PIP in my leg on one of them that lasted 5-6 days with the limb stiff, only getting better like 5 or so days before blood was drawn. I had a lesser amount of PIP for other ones. Maybe it could have had a subq leak, too. Subsequently I heated it up in a baby wipe warmer and made sure to inject deep, and I haven't had any issues, so I don't think I'm allergic to Migloyl 840.

I refilter all my oils into ALK vials. I always wipe the stoppers before drawing, though I'll admit I never use an alcohol wipe on the injection site. Seems worth mentioning? Could improper technique here raise hs-CRP? Unfortunately this is one blood marker I never got done in any of my previous cycles, so I have nothing to compare it to.

My previous hs-CRP taken the day the cycle started was also elevated, at 4.28. At that point I had already tried the TNE a few times and experienced PIP. Which leads me to believe this is the most likely culprit.

BP has been around 110/65 in the morning and 120/70 in the evening.

Fasting blood glucose has been mostly in the 80's, with a few in the 90's and once over 100.

I guess the next mildly concerning one is Cystatin-C, at 1.02. Puts me at a eGFR of 83. But if I put my height+weight into eGFR Calculator it gives me a eGFR of around 100. I've had Cystatin-C run at this level while just on TRT, though its usually closer to 0.9, so I figure its fine. My BP is great. I upped my astragalus root dose to ~20g/day anyways (didn't realize it needed to be run so high) and will test it again in a few weeks.

IGF-1 of 411 is too high. I was aiming for a Z-score between 2.5 and 3. I was at a Z-score of 2.0 running 4iu of the exact same HGH, so I guess something about the changed hormone profile made 5iu explode my IGF-1. Think I'll go back to 4iu and see where that lands me. Not worried about this one but would like to better understand the biology.

Obvious missing things: testosterone, E1, E2, SHBG. Since I switched my AAS doses weeks in it didn't seem relevant yet, but this morning after a few days of low E2 symptoms while piling on HCG and Dbol I was absolutely convinced I had low E2 so I got them taken, hopefully have numbers in the next week.

Anyways, I appreciate y'all for taking the time to read this and go through my bloods. I'm making several other changes to my habits that I suspect might be contributing. Once I'm off cycle I've been thinking about doing a long and annoying elimination experiment to try to get my hs-CRP below 1.

 

[level3]

Actually looking at the dates again, the previous blood test was the week before I started my cycle, not the same day.

 

[Elektrobot]

Had you us

Actually looking at the dates again, the previous blood test was the week before I started my cycle, not the same day.

Had you used the TNE before that date?

That's a pretty high number for hs-crp

Have you ever had any cardiac imaging done? Did you have elevated LDL before starting pita, or did you start it as an ancillary for your cycle?

 

[level3]

Yeah, I had tried it at least 3x beforehand and know I had some PIP from it.

Never had cardiac imagining done before - just the standard EKGs throughout the years, never been abnormal.

LDL and the rest of my cholesterol had been low going into the cycle, but I had been in the 90's-110's-ish range for most of my adult life.

 

[Smokeythabear]

Do you normally test your hs-CRP? I did the first time deep into my cut and mine was 4.6. Retested after my return to TRT and it went down to 1.3. Same as you, cholesterol was under control and ancillaries in place for a while. Hopefully it’s just the TNE or a combo of your body being a bit fussy with all the injectables (gluta, hCG, and peptides can add here as well). When do you plan to pull another set of full labs?

 

[level3]

I only started getting hs-CRP tested late last year. Haven't really had any good (<1.0) results. I have been going ham on peptides, HGH, and TRT all year though. The 2.94 on 10/07 was right after having mild covid, though.

c

 

[Smokeythabear]

If I’m reading this correctly. Immediately post Covid your levels were lowest. Then right before you started this cycle they were elevated, and now still climbing. I’d be curious to see results after 3 days of rest (no gym) and 7-8 hours of quality sleep for 3 nights. That’s where I’d personally start. Unless you have some oral abscess you aren’t telling us about or an infection you’re fighting somewhere. How long is the planned cycle? You are pretty early into it but could go down to TRT until it drops back into the 1s, if you are that concerned. It’s just such a mystery and non-specific potential red flag marker

 

[level3]

Do you normally test your hs-CRP? I did the first time deep into my cut and mine was 4.6. Retested after my return to TRT and it went down to 1.3. Same as you, cholesterol was under control and ancillaries in place for a while. Hopefully it’s just the TNE or a combo of your body being a bit fussy with all the injectables (gluta, hCG, and peptides can add here as well). When do you plan to pull another set of full labs?

Probably get another full set of labs in 3-4 weeks.

I do kinda have an ongoing issue with what I thought was my ventroglutes (that started probably like 4-5 months ago). I was jabbing the muscle that comes up when you're standing and raise one leg on an almost daily basis for months - it was where I was doing all my HGH injections. Eventually I noticed that an almost kind of watery firmish shelf had appeared there, at the top of my ass. Since then I've realized that that's not the VG, but it is close enough to the correct glute injection site, and I still use that. Even then its still kinda never fully come down. I probably need to not pin my glutes for a few months instead of a couple weeks here and there like I've been doing. When I stretch that area, it is generally pretty tender.

So that might be another good place to start. No glute or VG injections until my next hs-CRP test.

Cycle is planned to run another 12 weeks.

 

[level3]

I don't feel overly concerned since it was elevated before I even started. And besides IGF-1 being too high and eGFR being less than optimal but still an ordinary, TRT level reading for me, I wasn't worried about it enough to change my protocol yet. But I'm still trying to understand all the common mechanisms that can raise this marker.

 

[buck]

It seems on or off cycle you have high/elevated amounts of inflammation. That would point to life style or a medical condition. I would start with life style. keeping physical, emotional stress down. And rests several weeks(at least) after your cycle.

 

[niqTM]

What carrier oil is in all of your gear? I see miglyol840. I know my CRP jumps when I have tried to use that in the past. My body does not like that what so ever.

 

[level3]

What carrier oil is in all of your gear? I see miglyol840. I know my CRP jumps when I have tried to use that in the past. My body does not like that what so ever.

Yeah the Migloyl 840 is in the TNE and injectable dbol I've been taking low dose. Man I hope that isn't it lol, I bought so much of it. But I guess it has to at least partially be due to something I was taking before the cycle, and right before my first high score was when I started using gear in M840. The rest of my gear is in MCT which I tolerate fine.

Nobody asked yet, but no I do not drink or consume nicotine in any form. I smoke a lot of weed though. Often sketchy stuff from the gas station (not in a legal state so stupid shit like Delta-9). I'm cutting that out now. I only touch other drugs infrequently, ketamine being the only thing I've taken in the last few months.

 

[level3]

What carrier oil is in all of your gear? I see miglyol840. I know my CRP jumps when I have tried to use that in the past. My body does not like that what so ever.

I do very much appreciate the anecdote that CRP jumped for you from Mig840. Exactly the kind of info I was hoping to learn. I don't want to cut it out yet, first try other lifestyle modifications, but if it turns out that my body doesn't like it that's the way the cookie crumbles.

 

[niqTM]

I do very much appreciate the anecdote that CRP jumped for you from Mig840. Exactly the kind of info I was hoping to learn. I don't want to cut it out yet, first try other lifestyle modifications, but if it turns out that my body doesn't like it that's the way the cookie crumbles.

You're welcome. Thats what we are here for.

I feel you and don't blame you for wanting to hang on to it. I bought a gallon of it and brewed up a bunch of test in it just to find out it doesn't work for me. Huge waste.