Hey Nelson, I enjoyed your book "Built To Survive".

I'm suffering a classic hiv slow decline in muscle/fat ratio over the years (my muscle is gradually turning into fat despite disciplined bodybuilding program and precise bodybuilder's diet). VL has been undetectable for 5 years, but testosterone is usually between 200-400.

When I take testosterone, I get bloated. When I take testosterone with deca, I feel it's too much on my system. When I take deca alone, I feel it burns too much soft muscle up, and I wind up looking smaller after the cycle is over. I just want something that will help me keep my size without bloating me and without making me too thin.

I'm afraid to take RHgh because I fear it might spike my VL or possibly stimulate some dormant cancer my immune system is just barely keeping in check.

Do you think HCG would make sense for me? I have heard some people use it with success as far as it helping them keep fat off and maintain their lean body mass. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and have a wonderful day.

I am not sure what to tell you. There may be so many factors involved in what you are describing.

If you are feeling bloated on testosterone you may be retaining a lot of water, which could be caused by too much estrogen conversion (which could be fixed with estrogen blockers like Armidex). Are you using injections? If so, switch to a gel and see what happens. Also, total testosterone from 200 to 400 nanograms is usually not enough to maintain healthy sexual function and lean tissue. You need to go up to 500- 800 or so. But if you are converting a lot of testosterone to estrogen, may be your total testosterone will be low even at normal dosing levels. Have your doctor check estradiol levels just in case.

You may be working out too much, eating too little for your activity level, having malabsorption issues (sometimes related to diarrhea, etc), or not dosing nandrolone and testosterone right.

Human growth hormone on its own mostly makes you put on intracellular water that you eventually lose. It has been shown to work well to decrease visceral and subcutaneous fat but with side effects like increased blood sugar, joint pains, and carpal tunnel syndrome. It costs around $4000 a month for 6 mg.day, which is a huge dose pushed by its manufacturer Serono. I would not waste my time with this drug since most insurers are not paying for it and most doctors are not prescribing it anymore.

Try to eat more calorie/nutrient rich foods and may be decrease your cardiovascular work outs if you are not holding on to muscle mass.

Let me know how it goes and if my assumptions are correct.

Nelson