I posted what I thought was a pretty simple question, and have been met with a lot of vitriol and insults. That's strange, so I thought if I told my story, perhaps people would be a little more understanding.
I began lifting in 1978 when I was 22 and skinny as a stick - 6'1" 150 lbs. I force-fed myself for a year and lifted heavy. By age 25 I had put on 30lbs. of muscle. My dream was to hit 200 at least, but I was stuck at 180 for years, no matter how hard I tried.
I moved to NYC in 1987 at the age of 31 and was on gear within three months. I got Deca from the gym owner, who also gave me the shots. The result was spectacular: 15 lbs of quality muscle in three months, with no side effects, either symptomatically or in my blood work. My balls did shrink of course, but HCG brought them back within a couple of weeks. (I'll say right here that this was over 30 years ago so I don't remember doses, other than to say I did the standard dose that everyone I knew was doing at the time.)
For various reasons, I had to wait 6 months for my second cycle, which I did through my doctor this time. He knew nothing about steroids, so he prescribed what I asked for, which was deca and primo. I was bummed that I had lost just about everything from my first cycle, so I was starting from 180 again. I had more good results and no side effects, except that I was now doing Tagamet for acid reflux, which led to a lot of bloating.
For my third cycle, I did test cyp, and the result was a disaster. I experienced extreme aggression (I got into the first physical fight of my life), followed by severe depression. I had crying jags out of the blue. I was big but felt awful. And my hair began thinning - badly.
While I can't recall doses, I will say that they were reasonable - ones that the users I knew were doing.
At 67, I have no interest in gear - but my friend (not in the US) has also been stuck for years and wants to finally start. I told him about my positive experience with Deca, so it's strange to hear all the Deca-bashing. Have people here really had bad personal experiences with it? It was so popular in the 90s.
It's also strange to hear people say that all forms of test are the same - that's not what the users I know have said. Again, my experience with cyp was horrible, and I'd hate to think that he risks that with any form of test.