This is the medical post-cycle guide most NZ men can't get from their GP. We're not going to lecture about whether to cycle in the first place — by the time you're reading this, that's done. The question is: how do you come off in a way that minimises damage and gives your body the best chance to recover.
This is harm reduction. It assumes good faith and asks for the same in return.
What's actually happened to your body on cycle
Exogenous androgens (testosterone esters, nandrolone, trenbolone, oral 17-α-alkylated agents) suppress your hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular (HPT) axis. The chain looks like this:
- Brain stops releasing GnRH
- Pituitary stops releasing LH and FSH
- Testicles stop producing testosterone and stop spermatogenesis
- Testicles atrophy (shrink) — usually visible at 6+ weeks of cycling
When you stop the exogenous testosterone, your body has been on holiday from making it. It doesn't restart on day one — sometimes it takes weeks, sometimes months, occasionally never. The longer you cycled, the harder the restart.
The acute phase: clearing the esters
Your timing for starting recovery (post-cycle therapy or PCT) depends on what ester you used:
- Testosterone propionate / acetate (short ester): clears in 1–2 weeks. Start PCT around day 7–10 after last shot.
- Testosterone enanthate / cypionate: clears in 3–4 weeks. Start PCT at 2 weeks after last shot.
- Testosterone undecanoate / Reandron: 10–12 weeks half-life. Start PCT at 6+ weeks after last shot.
- Nandrolone decanoate (Deca-Durabolin): notoriously long-acting. PCT may need to wait 4+ weeks.
- Trenbolone: short ester, fast clearance.
- Orals (oxandrolone, oxymetholone, methandrostenolone, stanozolol): days, not weeks.
Starting PCT too early — while you still have suppressive esters circulating — wastes the SERM signal and delays the actual restart.
Standard PCT regimens
There's no single "right" PCT. Common approaches in NZ men's-health clinics:
Option 1 — Tamoxifen-based:
- Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) 20 mg daily × 4–6 weeks
- Optional: hCG 250–500 IU twice weekly for the first 2–3 weeks (only if testicular atrophy is significant)
Option 2 — Clomiphene-based:
- Clomifene (Clomid) 25–50 mg daily × 4–6 weeks
- Same hCG option
Option 3 — Combination:
- Tamoxifen 20 mg daily + clomifene 25 mg daily × 4–6 weeks
- More aggressive restart. Reserved for longer cycles or men who didn't recover well last time.
All three are off-label and unfunded in NZ. The drugs are available — tamoxifen and clomifene are PHARMAC-funded for cancer / fertility indications respectively, so any pharmacy stocks them — but no GP can write the prescription for PCT under public funding. Private men's-health clinics handle this.
What to monitor
Bloods to repeat at 4–6 weeks into PCT:
- Total testosterone (morning, fasted)
- LH, FSH (these tell you whether the hypothalamus and pituitary have woken up)
- Estradiol (E2)
- Full blood count + haematocrit
- LFTs, lipids
Bloods to repeat at 12 weeks post-PCT:
- Same panel, plus semen analysis if fertility matters
Key markers of recovery:
- LH and FSH rising back toward your historical baseline
- Testosterone climbing — should be in the lower-normal range by 12 weeks for most men
- Mood, libido, energy returning
When recovery isn't happening
Some men don't restart. Risk factors:
- Cycle duration > 6 months
- Multiple compounds, especially 19-nor steroids (nandrolone, trenbolone)
- Age (older men recover slower)
- Multiple prior cycles
- Pre-existing low testosterone before the first cycle
If at 12 weeks post-PCT your testosterone is still under 8 nmol/L with low LH and FSH, this is functional hypogonadism. The body has not switched the factory back on.
Options at that point:
- Extend PCT for another 6–12 weeks (sometimes the signal eventually catches)
- Switch to TRT — accept that the endogenous system isn't coming back and replace exogenously
- Refer to endocrinology for full workup if anything else looks off (pituitary imaging, prolactin, full hormonal panel)
This is one of the most common reasons NZ men end up on lifelong TRT — a cycle in their 30s didn't recover and the body never restarted.
What you can do alongside PCT
Don't underestimate the basics. They're the largest single contributor to a successful restart:
- Sleep: 8 hours nightly, prioritised. Testosterone is made in REM. Five hours of sleep kills your restart.
- Diet: sufficient calories. PCT is not the time for a cut. Some men come off a cycle while also cutting fat — recipe for a complete restart failure.
- Training: keep training, but reduce volume slightly. Don't push high-intensity training into a body that's hormonally underfuelled.
- Alcohol: minimise. Alcohol acutely suppresses testosterone production and you need every gram of endogenous production right now.
- Stress: the obvious one. Chronic cortisol suppresses HPT axis recovery. If you can take time off, take it.
Things that don't work (despite the hype)
- Tribulus terrestris, fenugreek, ashwagandha — no significant evidence for HPT axis restart in men coming off cycle.
- Black mamba / "test boosters" — the supplement aisle stuff. Marketing.
- Ketogenic diets specifically for PCT — no evidence; standard balanced nutrition wins.
- Cold plunges, sauna stacks — interesting for general health, no documented effect on recovery time.
The honest conversation
You will likely feel rough for 4–8 weeks during the restart. Fatigue, low mood, low libido, training going backwards. Most men describe it as worse than feeling low T at baseline — because they remember being on cycle and the contrast is brutal.
That's normal. It's not a sign that PCT isn't working — it's a sign that the exogenous androgens are gone and the endogenous system is slowly catching up.
If it's more than "rough" — actively depressed, suicidal ideation, severe insomnia, persistent anxiety — that's not normal-rough. That's needing help. Reach out to a GP, mental-health line, or a men's-health clinic that can support you through it. It almost always passes; getting through it well matters.
When to consider not cycling again
The honest answer for most NZ men: probably now. Each cycle adds risk of permanent suppression. Each recovery is harder than the last. The men who stay enhanced indefinitely are usually on continuous TRT-style protocols rather than cycle-on/cycle-off, because the recovery side gets harder over time.
But this is a personal decision and we're not here to make it for you. What we ask is that if you do continue, you do it under medical oversight — bloods every cycle, harm-reduction protocols, no cycling unmonitored. The men who get into trouble are the ones doing it solo.
Sources cited:
- BPAC NZ — Prescribing testosterone in ageing males (Nov 2024)
- Endocrine Society of Australia — Position Statement on Male Hypogonadism (MJA 2016)
- European Academy of Andrology — Andrology 2020
- Endocrine Connections — Recovery from anabolic steroid-induced hypogonadism scoping review (2023)
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you've used anabolic steroids and are coming off, work with a medical professional. The risks are real and manageable with oversight.