New Member Intro

[fike]

What's up, y'all. Fike here. Im 35 from MS and I'm new to posting anything in forums. I left the military in 2013 after being medically retired and was lost as shit until around 4 years ago. I decided to put on my big boy panties and get my shit together starting with psychology and weight training. I started seriously training around four years ago and it has been a God send to my life. Lot's of old school psychology and accepting the mental and physical suffering with training my mind and body saved my life. I got myself straight, looking decent, and got my confidence up enough to get out there and start dating again. I actually met the love of my life at work for the USPS and we have been happily married for two years now. I have three great kids and a good life today and it's all due to suffering and sacrifice.

Unfortunately, I have lupus and multiple spine injuries, but I am still able to train hard, although I do have my bad days. They are more manageable now, though, since I started taking care of myself physically. There's way more good days than bad now. I'm currently on HRT and do a blast every now and again because I like it and it makes me feel good. I'm currently 185 lbs at 6 feet tall, and, at the moment, 12-15 % body fat. I'm doing a bulk right now with 500 mg Test E, 250 Deca, and 300 Eq. I've only been running it three week, so I'm eager to see how I come out at the end.

I'm not too interested in bodybuilding at the moment, but I thoroughly enjoy power lifting and getting strong. I'm going to cut down when summer rolls around, because I like to look good with no clothes on like everyone else, although I'm only worried about what me or my wife thinks. I hope I can get some wisdom from y'all and get some laughs in the process. Hope to get to know some of y'all better.
The pictures are where I'm at now. They were for my wife so I didn't have any leg shots. I don't photograph myself much. I’ve got some bulking to do. Go easy on me if you have negative criticism

Glad to be here with y’all!

 

[Millard]

Welcome! The weights are very therapeutic for me too and often given me direction during chaotic times.

Lupus, as well as other autoimmune conditions, can make serious training challenges. How do you manage fatigue, pain, recovery? Maybe consider starting a thread on the topic because I'm sure there may be others who could find it useful.

 

[MindlessWork]

Looking good man, and welcome to Meso. There's a lot of people here who are dealing with conditions like yours and hopefully some will chime in to offer you advice to help you get the most out of training with minimal aggravation.

 

[T&H]

What's up, y'all. Fike here. Im 35 from MS and I'm new to posting anything in forums. I left the military in 2013 after being medically retired and was lost as shit until around 4 years ago. I decided to put on my big boy panties and get my shit together starting with psychology and weight training. I started seriously training around four years ago and it has been a God send to my life. Lot's of old school psychology and accepting the mental and physical suffering with training my mind and body saved my life. I got myself straight, looking decent, and got my confidence up enough to get out there and start dating again. I actually met the love of my life at work for the USPS and we have been happily married for two years now. I have three great kids and a good life today and it's all due to suffering and sacrifice.

Unfortunately, I have lupus and multiple spine injuries, but I am still able to train hard, although I do have my bad days. They are more manageable now, though, since I started taking care of myself physically. There's way more good days than bad now. I'm currently on HRT and do a blast every now and again because I like it and it makes me feel good. I'm currently 185 lbs at 6 feet tall, and, at the moment, 12-15 % body fat. I'm doing a bulk right now with 500 mg Test E, 250 Deca, and 300 Eq. I've only been running it three week, so I'm eager to see how I come out at the end.

I'm not too interested in bodybuilding at the moment, but I thoroughly enjoy power lifting and getting strong. I'm going to cut down when summer rolls around, because I like to look good with no clothes on like everyone else, although I'm only worried about what me or my wife thinks. I hope I can get some wisdom from y'all and get some laughs in the process. Hope to get to know some of y'all better.
The pictures are where I'm at now. They were for my wife so I didn't have any leg shots. I don't photograph myself much. I’ve got some bulking to do. Go easy on me if you have negative criticism

Glad to be here with y’all!

I could have sworn I already posted here, but it's gone. Not sure what happened but welcome and glad you joined!

 

[fike]

Welcome! The weights are very therapeutic for me too and often given me direction during chaotic times.

Lupus, as well as other autoimmune conditions, can make serious training challenges. How do you manage fatigue, pain, recovery? Maybe consider starting a thread on the topic because I'm sure there may be others who could find it useful.

Thanks, bro. I appreciate the welcome. That would be a good topic to put up for discussion. Thanks for the suggestion.

Fatigue is my worst enemy regarding lupus. It is definitely my most pronounced symptom. Some days i sit and look at my shoes for 30 minutes before i can make myself put them on, but once i get out there and start training, it really seems to get better. Maybe it’s the endorphins or something, but lifting actually seems to help.

As far as the pain, i, unfortunately have to use a low 5mg dose of methadone around once a day. The number of pain pills i was using has went down drastically since my doctor prescribed me 100 mg of nandrolone per week. I had never used it before that, but my arthritic joints feel so much better since i started. It took around a month to really take effect, but it works great for me and i didn’t experience any noticeable negative sides.

Recovery can take a little longer than someone that doesn’t have inflammatory problems sometimes. I don’t like to, but sometimes i have to take an unscheduled day off if my CNS has been pushed hard. Is what it is, though. I’m not competing or anything. I train for my family and me, as a stress relief tool, mental and emotional therapy, etc., so it’s no big deal if i need an extra recovery day. i just can’t be hard on myself about it,

 

[fike]

Looking good man, and welcome to Meso. There's a lot of people here who are dealing with conditions like yours and hopefully some will chime in to offer you advice to help you get the most out of training with minimal aggravation.

I appreciate it, brother. It seems like there’s a great group of guys on this forum and majority give solid advice. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of trolling, arguing, lady-behavior on here compared to some of the other forums. I’m really interested to see what some of the others will have to say when it comes to training with autoimmune issues. It can be really shitty sometimes.

 

[fike]

I could have sworn I already posted here, but it's gone. Not sure what happened but welcome and glad you joined!

haha. Remember when i told you i posted and it didn’t show up? This must be the intro that didn’t show up.

 

[Millard]

Thanks, bro. I appreciate the welcome. That would be a good topic to put up for discussion. Thanks for the suggestion.

Fatigue is my worst enemy regarding lupus. It is definitely my most pronounced symptom. Some days i sit and look at my shoes for 30 minutes before i can make myself put them on, but once i get out there and start training, it really seems to get better. Maybe it’s the endorphins or something, but lifting actually seems to help.

As far as the pain, i, unfortunately have to use a low 5mg dose of methadone around once a day. The number of pain pills i was using has went down drastically since my doctor prescribed me 100 mg of nandrolone per week. I had never used it before that, but my arthritic joints feel so much better since i started. It took around a month to really take effect, but it works great for me and i didn’t experience any noticeable negative sides.

Recovery can take a little longer than someone that doesn’t have inflammatory problems sometimes. I don’t like to, but sometimes i have to take an unscheduled day off if my CNS has been pushed hard. Is what it is, though. I’m not competing or anything. I train for my family and me, as a stress relief tool, mental and emotional therapy, etc., so it’s no big deal if i need an extra recovery day. i just can’t be hard on myself about it,

I really like the balance and perspective of your approach to managing lupus. The pain and fatigue often discourages many to even explore serious training. But rather than a contraindication, sounds like it is a useful management tool for you! Awesome!

 

[cave*man]

Glad to see you here, meso can really be a great place to learn. Always good and bad folks everywhere.

 

[fike]

Glad to see you here, meso can really be a great place to learn. Always good and bad folks everywhere.

Thanks, bro. I have enjoyed the forum. Lot of interesting characters and information on here.

 

[jonathan.achibald@icloud.]

Glad to see you here. Using physical conditioning to overcome mental issues, I can relate to that. You are looking good bro. How long have you been using Test, Deca, and Eq in conjunction? What type of Test are you using C or E?

 

[fike]

Glad to see you here. Using physical conditioning to overcome mental issues, I can relate to that. You are looking good bro. How long have you been using Test, Deca, and Eq in conjunction? What type of Test are you using C or E?

Thanks, brother. Good to see you here as well. I’m off the EQ. I ran it at 300 mg per week for 16 weeks to help increase appetite during my bulk. I’ll attach a couple pictures of end result. The pics were first thing in the morning without having eaten or moving around and no pump, so go easy on me. Haha. I didn’t get any lower body shots, but I feel like I’m proportional seeing as how I’m natural very skinny. I’ve got a different cycle going on now and leaning out nicely.

I’ve been using Test for 3 years, though. I’ve incorporated low dose deca for around 8 or 9 months I think. I keep it at 100 mg per week for joint support. It’s helped a lot in that regard.

Edit: I’m 5’11” and I think I was around 197 in the pics