FoidMolester65
Iron
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2026
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I've been on testosterone-e for 4 weeks, starting at 300mg/w until this week increasing to 450mg/d. I'll be adding dianabol to this cycle and have noticed from the test and GH beginning to bloat me.
I anticipated this and want to make sure that other people don't suffer without doing anything to mitigate this.
WHY?
- The bloating will happen due to the aromatization of the exogenous test which will raise the circulating estrogen levels.
- As estrogen increases renal sodium retention, the sodium will pull water into the bloodstream which leads to extracellular fluid expansion.
- Therefore, you get that puffier face.
- Don't forget that its not purely due to the estrogen, testosterone will bind androgen receptors, it will then activate them and change the gene expression within the kidney's, this directly influences the sodium handling in your body.
HOW TO MITIGATE?
- I made the stupidest mistake, while starvemaxxing i thought to supplement electrolytes so started taking sodium chloride, i was retarded as i just bloated even more, ensure that your sodium intake is low to minimise the water retention.
- Taking an ARB (Androgen Receptor Blocker) will decrease aldosterone which leads to lower sodium retention, i would recommend telmisartan and thought it worked better than losartan.
- As the main driver of the bloat is through the aromatization of test, then using an aromatase inhibitor will work wonders on lowering the aromatase activity and stop that estrogen-driven bloating/puffiness. Positively, they don't affect the glycogen and intracellular water which shows muscle fullness. The main AI's that are used are exemestane and anastrozole: the key differences are exe will have irreversible inhibition which means that the body must make new aromatase enzyme where as anastrozole conducts reversible inhibition so the estrogen will come back once they have cleared.
Typical doses of the AI's for exemestane is 12.5mg-25mg but i dont want to completely tank my estrogen so i take 25mg 3x a week and it does the job but this make be different for different people. Anastrozole: 0.125-0.5mg 1-3x per week.
Complete regular bloods to watch your estrogen levels, I find my libido and metabolism is best at 15-30pg/mL but this will vary.
I'm relatively new so any advice is welcome, anything i've missed, post in comments.
I anticipated this and want to make sure that other people don't suffer without doing anything to mitigate this.
WHY?
- The bloating will happen due to the aromatization of the exogenous test which will raise the circulating estrogen levels.
- As estrogen increases renal sodium retention, the sodium will pull water into the bloodstream which leads to extracellular fluid expansion.
- Therefore, you get that puffier face.
- Don't forget that its not purely due to the estrogen, testosterone will bind androgen receptors, it will then activate them and change the gene expression within the kidney's, this directly influences the sodium handling in your body.
HOW TO MITIGATE?
- I made the stupidest mistake, while starvemaxxing i thought to supplement electrolytes so started taking sodium chloride, i was retarded as i just bloated even more, ensure that your sodium intake is low to minimise the water retention.
- Taking an ARB (Androgen Receptor Blocker) will decrease aldosterone which leads to lower sodium retention, i would recommend telmisartan and thought it worked better than losartan.
- As the main driver of the bloat is through the aromatization of test, then using an aromatase inhibitor will work wonders on lowering the aromatase activity and stop that estrogen-driven bloating/puffiness. Positively, they don't affect the glycogen and intracellular water which shows muscle fullness. The main AI's that are used are exemestane and anastrozole: the key differences are exe will have irreversible inhibition which means that the body must make new aromatase enzyme where as anastrozole conducts reversible inhibition so the estrogen will come back once they have cleared.
Typical doses of the AI's for exemestane is 12.5mg-25mg but i dont want to completely tank my estrogen so i take 25mg 3x a week and it does the job but this make be different for different people. Anastrozole: 0.125-0.5mg 1-3x per week.
Complete regular bloods to watch your estrogen levels, I find my libido and metabolism is best at 15-30pg/mL but this will vary.
I'm relatively new so any advice is welcome, anything i've missed, post in comments.
