Francis "Frank" Castle

@Jetpilot Just got back from dropping off a pint. Hematocrit is 14.1 so basically as perfect as it can get. BP is exactly where it should be given the little elevation from the one med I take. pretty happy about that. Just about to start week 7 of the Test E at just under 300mg/week. No sides at all. Going by how I feel my Estradiol is either bang on or close but we'll see when I get my bloodwork done late next month. My DHT was getting a bit up judging from my skin when I was at 300mg so I dialed back and bit and that cleared right up. All in all I have to say I'm pretty damned happy about things!

Ya, thats the plan here as well. My BP is a little up anyway, not from the TRT, but from one of the meds I take. Nothing serious just a bit so doing everything I can to manage that. My doc, who wwouldn't give me Test, is real quick to try and shove anti-hypertensives at me for being just a little high so I told her that I would start doing a few things different and to give me 6 months and if it wasnt down to normal then we'd talk about the meds again but the point is it's stupid. Tiny bit high throw meds at it, Test levels in the toilet do nothing...sheesh

So tomorrow the wife and I are scheduled to drop by the Canadian Blood Services here and drop a pint off. I'm still about a month away from my first bloodwork since starting on the Test E so will be interesting to see where my hematocrit is at. I've have 0 indication of any issue with it and the other day I opened up my arm pretty good just being careless while I was grinding on my ebike frame to make some room for a new part that is too thick to clear without a bit of a mod. Anyway my blood is nice and bright and no apparent change in the viscosity so we'll see.

I had read on Canadian Medical Supplies that there was actually a worldwide shortage of Bac Water. Then through the course of some other business I was chatting with one of the suppliers I deal with that also happens to sell the stuff and they said nope, they got all kinds so dunno! In any case a shortage would make exactly 0 sense as the simplicity of making the stuff is beyond stupid. There are exactly 2 ingredients, one of which I would say is pretty abundant lol, and the other, benzyl alcohol, is not in any kind of shortage either. Even if by soem miracle of modern insanity, benzyl alcohol suddenly vanished, you know that liter containers of shyte you put in your eye wash stations and humidifiers/dehumidifiers, I don't see any reason why you couldnt use that as its just ethyl alcohol and in the concentration used there wouldnt be enuf difference to matter. They make Bac Water sound like some mysterious grail of a substance lol but really thats just silly...hehehehe

Me as well except I take Krill Oil. Fish Oil vs Krill Oil, both are excellent but there is some study research suggesting our bodies can make easier/more efficient use of the Krill Oil over standard Fish Oils so why not right.

Great link!. I love watching Dave's videos. I can't help but be thinking when I see him though about when the movie "Honey, I shrunk the Dave" will come out, lol...Obviously retired he's not going to stay huge but man it's such a difference when you look at photos from when he was competing. No surprise just hard not to marvel at what can be done with the human body!

***SUPER*** Thanks for letting us know. Glad it worked out without any further issue!

Indeed. I also have a custom orthotic brace that I wear when I ride my e-bike. Sounds a bit funny something as tame as an e-bike lol but my ebike was clocked on radar at 110 km/h and there was throttle left lol. I dunno how fast it actually goes as I had to put it up until my back is in better shape again lol. The cop asked me if I was "F'ing nuts" and he was surprised he could get a good radar profile on a bicycle hahahahahaha...

Exactly! If you aren't running an actual fever then I wouldn't say it's any sort of infection. it's sounding more and more like the bursa is involved as I thought. Keep icing it and taking anti-inflams ( I like naproxen for this sort of thing). If you get any sort of pustule come to the surface, or if it starts to "streak" redness out from the area, or you start to run a fever, then it's right off to the doc or ER for you, no delay but again from the sound of it I think you'll be fine with ice and anti-inflams. Take your temp though and rule out a fever just to be sure! You need to be concerned with manifesting "systemic" vs "local" issues. When systemic happen thats when you need a doc's attention.

I have disc issues, boy do I have disc issues. The tech for my last mri asked me about that time I seem to have swallowed a hand grenade lol...The worst of it is at L5/S1. The best way I have been able to find relief is to sit on a hard chair,, bring my ankle across the opposite knee (I guess it would have to be the opposite knee lol) and then bend forward at the waist and try to touch my forehead to my knee and then alternate sides doing this. I do about 5 reps per side trying to stretch a little more each time. The key though is core strength, The stronger everything around the discs is the less trouble they give you out of just incidental rubbish like not paying attention to your limits or chucking 200lb drunks out of the bar you're working far to often for someone your age lol...

I forgot to mention that I found a super YT channel the other day and this guy has a lot of content regarding everything from PIP, to hormone balancing, a real soup to nuts of content. His YT name is hilarious as well. The Lifting Dermatologist

I've noticed some chatter around regarding the fact that the oils have gotten so thin that it's sometimes hard to be patient and people end up pushing the Test in too fast which can lead to a delayed bruising and a bit of a bump/lump a couple days later. As well what @Jetpilot said about being careful not to move the needle angle at all. What's on the inside isn't nearly so tough as what's on the outside and it's pretty easy to cause a minor hematoma if you happen to nik or bother a blood vessel. I know I will get a trickle of blood, the odd time, when I pin in my delt but it's only ever the right one, dunno why. The pain moving the shoulder sounds almost like you might have pinned too high and gotten into the bursa? The deltoid and the bursa overlap a little from what i recall of what the inside there looks like and it doesn't take a whole lot to aggravate the bursa, that I know from previous personal experience, not pinning just general bursitis stuff. Taking it easy and some ice & anti-inflammatory should fix that right up if that's what it is.

Welcome aboard. You won't find a nicer bunch of folks anywhere. Lots to read/learn and many helpful people to reach out to with questions. All the best.

@Guardian Dispensaries Thanks mate. The wife and I have started getting up extra early so we can put in a good power walk before breakfast and also with everything I read regarding pinning fasted I figured it would be a good habit to get into anyway. Now that I'm feeling a lot more my old self, still being a bit cautious not to overdo it as I've already put myself on the bench for a day once by pushing things too hard. But hey, how do you find the boundaries to break later anyway right lol... @Nissan Ya that's definitely a huge issue as is obvious with even the tiniest bit of research. No matter what source that you see mentioned out in the wild, if you look deeply enough, you'll find people with neg reviews about getting bunk product. Makes it hard for sure. Thanks for taking the time to contribute your thoughts friends, it is much appreciated.

So just like the title says I'm looking for advice on results HGH Frag vs Ipamorelin/MOD GRF Stack For Weight Loss. Both the wife and I need to take off a few. She's already in WeightWatchers as she likes their system and the weekly weigh-ins as incentive but she's come up against a bit of a wall and although she is maintaining she's not losing. For me I am already losing/redistributing since starting on Test E 4.5 weeks ago but I want to speed the process up a bit if I can. So I'm looking for advice from anyone experienced hands on with the Peptides on which of these will be more successful or even another stack that you can suggest. I've read up a ton, and watched endless video content but info from someone here that has hands on would really help put my mind at ease about which way to go. I know that adding IGF1-LR3 into the Ipamorelin/Mod GRF stack is the cat's ass but damn that stuff is expensive for quality product and I could only afford a short run of it so going without it for the time being. Anyway, any help/advice will be sincerely appreciated.

Great question... Its a little confusing indeed. I've watched Dave Palumbo say eod is the best/his fav, then turn right around and contradict himself in another video say once per week was the way to go with Test E or Cyp.. I've watched some of Doucette's vids, mostly about peptides, and he's kinda funny in addition to whatever info you can get from the content. For my part, and obviously no pro or expert, I think a lot of it comes down to convenience in so far as you can combine convenience with a schedule that is often enough to avoid unnecessary peaks and troughs, which will be somewhat different for each person with none of us metabolizing the exact same I suppose. IMHO doing eod, as I am, is a little bit of a pain but it seems to be working so far in that I'm not experiencing any variance that is noticeable and I have my sites in rotation so I'm not overdoing any 1 spot. Anyway, just my 2 cents and I'm definitely interested to hear from the folks that have been at this a lot longer than myself as to what their thoughts are.

That is the exact tool I used to run the numbers when I started my current protocol. Bit of a pain that you have to enter all the parts of Sustanon separately if you are going to use that but little extra work for the ability to plot is by no means any bit of an issue.

So as the title says, today, is my 11th anniversary with wifey #2. I always joke with her and tell her that obviously, being a hard headed man, I needed a trial run, with wifey #1, to do research, start my husband training, and get all the bugs/kinks worked out, and that she should be very thankful that I went that route as she got a better finished product as a result! bwahahahahaha Anyway, those of you that are married will understand when I say that my wife is my rock. She has stuck by me through thick and thin and through some pretty sad times that happened as a result of the health issues I have. She has stuck it out far beyond what I really feel anyone should feel obligated to despite how much they love a person, or anything else. Now that things are on the upswing again, (after being flatlined in the same sort of spot for a while) and I have gotten my ducks in a row as regards getting my quality of life back to where it should be, after we picked up and moved from our city home of 35 years for me, and her entire life, and then subsequently my issues started due to having to give up my old doc of 20 years, I'm making sure that this year's anniversary will be one she will remember even more so that others. Right now she's off to what I call the "masked bandits of esthetics" lol, which in layman's terms would be the Chinese ladies at the mani, peti, facial place (I told her I would handle the facial and got smacked for my kind offer lololol) getting a full boat on a gift certificate I gave her, and later she'll be treated to a gourmet meal, prepared by moi and then after that some solid man/woman time and some special new things, she has no idea about, that I held back from my last order to Pink Cherry. Given the sad state of our sex life for so long, due to my hormone issues, the fact that right now I'm about as horny as a 2 peckered goat has her tickled to death already, and shes getting it to the point where she has actually had to beg off once because the night before I gave her such a great going over lolololol... I'm posting here about this, telling all of my new found friends, because I believe that sincerely telling everyone how much she means to me, what a solid woman/wife she is, and how thankful I am to have had her in my life for 11 years and hopefully for many more, in some small way will just put it out there into the ether and it will come back as positive energy that will in some way add to her feeling, what she knows, about what she means to me. I know kind of hippie dippie new agey, and that's not really me at all but I do believe there is a grand, and master plan, and that we all are on a path, and that good things beget other good things. The hard times and trials we experience are not good people being punished, for no apparent reason, but rather good people being tested so they will know the true metal of their being. So some how, some way, this little bit of sharing will come back to us in a good way. Ok enough of that, flower power nonsense hehehehehehehe..... The day started this morning, as it has every single one of our anniversaries, with her waking up to this streaming to the big screen in the bedroom. Lol it's an inside joke between me and the wifey. Happy Anniversary - The Flintstones

I don't believe I made a call or judgement one way or the other, just pointed to some content I knew about. After that whomever is free to make their own choice about it I guess. All I can really say about it, not being terribly knowledgeable on the topic, is that from everything I have seen of Sam over at Live Like a Viking I've never seen anything to doubt his credibility, he just doesn't read that way at all. Beyond that, taking then for granted that what he says in his video is true and the bloodwork results he showed are authentic, then the only conclusion I could draw is from the evidence in front of me, and would be the same conclusion that he came to. I'm sure that some of the Chinese product is NFG just like there are bogus labs here in North America but I'd never even begin to try and say that all of the Chinese product is bad, or even that the majority of it is, as how could anyone possibly even know that. There's so much product coming out of China, that no one could even begin to know all of the sources, and there are sources that are available only through very specific contact that 100% ensures that you won't get bogus product. I don't have experience as a buyer in this industry but I have pretty extensive experience in another and dealing with Chinese manufacturers through a middle entity that makes it possible for companies in North America to do business with Chinese manufacturers that they'd likely not even find on their own and even if they did they'd likely not have trust enough to deal with them. The middle entity takes care of all of that with introductions, escrow services to establish trust, shipping logistics etc etc. There is literally no way to get ripped off or bad product and be stuck with it but more importantly the company would be basically shunned for doing that ONCE, one time and it's over for them! I took a look out of curiosity and there are definitely sources for everything from steroids to peptides to SARMS to HGH available through this service I have used many times. And not just one or 2, there are quite a lot of them, enough that I was actually surprised a bit.That tells me then that there are 100% legit sources for all of this in China, beyond question. China is a hugely different entity than it was even 10 years ago. When I first started trying to source product there it was a nightmare and Jack Ma was basically at the top of everywhere you tried to deal. he's a snake and to be avoided but tenacity got me a few contacts and a few more over time and then an absolute genius came up with this service I was mentioning. After that it got a lot easier but even still, on this end, you need to have business cred as well or they just won't deal with you, too much hassle. So anyway, I guess my point is that I don't think you can write China off as a source as they likely aren't any worse than all of the bogus labs/dealers that we have hear in North America and if you have the right contacts then you can source 100% legit product at significant savings compared to the Pharma stuff here, so why wouldn't you. And if I know this I'm sure others do too, 100% sure, so I'm sure they are bringing this stuff in and people are buying it and probably chuckling to themselves when they tell people it's from China, and what they paid for it, and get told it's crap...

I realized that in my anger with health Canada, I left out a crucial bit of info regarding their ineptness and how they, along with other branches of govt, are a complete failure at pretty much everything they do as regards things of this nature. So i mentioned container loads of Fentanyl coming into the country from China and Mexico and on the surface that would seem to imply that we would have a big issue with those sorts of illicit substances here and then lend a little more credibility to this false narrative about the opioid crisis. That would seem to be the case right up until the point that you learn that the biggest % of all of those drugs, coming in through Canadian ports, don't stay in Canada. They come in here because it is so much simpler than coming in via the USA ports, or via USA border crossing from Mexico. So they end up going right back out again, overland or via air to private air strips, because going from Canada south into the states is beyond easy. If those on our side, responsible for stopping this, had any shame they would be seriously embarrassed by how much of this goes on and how easy it is for the skels to get away with it. Another portion of the drugs stays here temporarily until it is used by certain gangs to purchase weapons. The people selling the weapons are again from south of the border and after the transaction off they go with their drugs back home to the USA. So the end result is that Health Canada and the govt, who pull the strings of law enforcement are either completely incompetent or 100% corrupt but either way this is the result. health Canada also plays a roll in the smaller amounts that come in through the mail because of this BS crisis narrative and the effect that it has had on chronic pain patients making it extremely difficult to get effective pain medication. Many people turn to Fentanyl from China and as the law prohibits any mail item less than 28 grams from being opened the drugs come in easily and 28 grams of fentanyl is a huge supply for 1 person's needs.Then by doing things like this crackdown on peptides/sarms they remove another option for many people to use to improve their quality of life, again something that wouldn't be necessary if our healthcare system was actually as good as people are always saying it is! That's only going to lead to more issues. desperate people do desperate things and once the system has failed you, then you stop looking to it for help. Health Canada's system has impacted me personally in a couple of absolutely horrendous ways. it allowed someone like me, with 11 years of clearly documented medical history, and diagnoses by some of the top specialists in their fields in Canada, to be subjected to unforgivable treatment by doctors when they turned me away for no reason other than them not wanting to deal with a patient with my pre-existing issues and the medication I have been on for 11 years. 6 months of that rubbish led to me being hospitalized and many calls to health Canada/Ontario govt yielded exactly 0 help in the matter! In addition, I have had to fight tooth and nail for ever bit of medication I get, despite there being no question as to the need and my responsible use for 11 years! As much as I don't mind I still have to submit to urine screens regularly despite never having failed one in 11 years! The doctors who mistreated me will continue to behave this way with others as you literally have no recourse. The stats, that are freely available to the public, clearly show that even if you file a complaint, nothing punitive will be done and the process is so long and arduous that it is clearly designed to dissuade people from even starting it but even more so from following it through to the end.. All of this because Health Canada is incompetent and corrupt! Anyway, apologies for the sort of OT rant but this is one topic that I feel the more people know about the goings on the more noise will be made and maybe at some point things will change for the better. I am constantly writing letters to my govt reps and anyone else that pops up in the news and looks like they may be able to have some impact. Every little bit, right!

I'm not aware of any law that states specifically that they are not allowed to ask, HOWEVER, the fact that they did means that right off you're dealing with someone whose head is not in the right space. There is absolutely no liability to them at all no matter what they sell you, how many, or what you use them for. Quite literally if you want to shove them up your keester, it's nothing to them and they couldn't be held liable. Therefore you have to ask yourself why they would even bother asking? When I needed to source some locally here b4 my supplies shipment arrived I was in a Shoppers Drug Mart and of all people, a girl maybe 20 or 21, was working behind the pharmacy counter and she gave me attitude all kinds when I walked up and extremely politely inquired about what they had in stock for syringe size, needle size etc. She didn't know but I had already called this location and had spoken to a gentleman in the pharmacy but as I didn't see a man there I started from scratch. Anyway a couple minutes into it a fellow that I was pretty sure was whom I spoke to due to recognizing his voice, walked out from the back and I addressed him asking if he was the one I spoke to. The girl couldn't dump me fast enough for him to take over. I just found this so odd that someone her age, who you generally find to have leanings that would make them the type to be defending safe injection sites and decriminalization etc etc and here she was giving me the gears over trying to by some supplies! In the end, all you can do is be polite, take names and file a complaint with their head office, if it's a chain, or with the owner if it's a mom/pop and you're not already dealing with them. I'll link to an interesting document but here is an excerpt from it. Sticking Points: Barriers to Access to Needle and Syringe Programs in Canada In Canada, pharmacy sales are legal, and professional regulatory bodies have encouraged pharmacists to sell syringes openly.Nonetheless, pharmacists generally retain discretion regarding whether to sell syringes and whether to display them openly or behind the counter. The policy of the Ontario College of Pharmacists for example, is that “the placement of needles and syringes and their sale is left to the professional judgment of the pharmacist. Although the college has encouraged pharmacists to sell syringes to anyone requesting them, the matter is left to the professional judgment of the individual pharmacist. So the college has left the pharmacist an out to be a dick if they want but the prevailing sentiment is "easy access" for all so they shouldn't ever be a dick about it. You really need to follow up with a complaint because this shit just shouldn't be happening!

Health Canada, what a joke! They're worried about harmless things, for the most part, nobody in the news dropping dead from SARMS or Peptides, containers of Fentanyl coming in from China and Mexico and a bullshit narrative being driven by high ups in Medicine and Health Canada/govt that this "so-called" opioid crisis is linked to over prescribing of pharmaceuticals. Complete and utter bullshit, the whole narrative. Canada never has had anything that could even be mistaken for an opioid crisis linked to prescribing but it suits these dicks to have the public think thats the case. What pockets of a problem there are they do nothing to stop and it's still all about illicit drugs and any meds involved were obtained illicitly as well. The only reason Health Canada would even be looking at Peptides/SARMS is if someone with some clout is losing money over it!

You're welcome. It's kind of a sad situation. There's so much misinfo out there about HGH, Peptides, other related stuff. Rarely a week goes by that I don't see some douchenozzle on YouTube proclaiming himself an expert and within a few seconds usually, something comes out of his gob that outs him as an idiot, or just a regular run of the mill snake oil salesman thats running down other sources etc to further his own business. I watched one the other day where a guy was telling people that they needed to buy peptides only from his verified source because everyone else in the USA was getting them from pharmacies who imported them from China, and whatever ones didn't pass their QC they then sold them off to these other people who are then reselling them. So don't buy them because they failed QC due to heavy metals, contaminants etc etc. What an absolute load of crap but that was his pitch to get people to buy his stuff lol. That's why I appreciate the Live Like a Viking content so much. Sam tells it like it is, from his viewpoint anyway, and doesn't push anything on you. The only source he even ever mentions he only mentions it as where he is sourcing, that his info/results comes from their product, and that you can get a discount code (tells you up front its an affiliate code) if you choose to buy there but that you should always do your own research and source where you feel comfortable...End of story....I appreciate that every time I hear it!

It can also be a blood flow/vascular issue. I mean the penis is a giant collection of blood holding, and moving strata and if anything interferes with that process, your penis may not shrink but it will definitely appear smaller, especially when erect, and that's all anyone is going to notice right.(I grabbed this from the US Library of Medicine as it explains it precisely leaving no room for me to forget something or use the wrong medical terms lol) The physiology goes like this: Penile erection is a complex physiologic process that occurs through a cascade of neurologic, vascular, and humoral events. This cascade is initiated by auditory, visual, and olfactory signals and local stimuli of the penis. . Erection begins with an increased flow in the pudendal arteries and dilatation of the cavernous arteries and helicine arterioles in association with relaxation of the smooth muscles of the trabecular network causing engorgement of blood in the corpora. This leads to compression of subtunical venules by the resistant tunica albuginea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There is a plethora of different medical conditions that can affect any one of the myriad of involved parts of the puzzle. A good urologist is usually the one who can look at the symptoms, and other related info, and come up with what's going on. The pecker is the one place that as much as I dislike docs I'm making an appt at the slightest even hint of a problem lol...probably the best policy IMHO anyway!

Thanks for the info mate, much appreciated. One of the things I really like about Rand McClain is there isn't the least tiny whiff even of elitism or anything like that. Despite his vast knowledge, how highly regarded he is, and how long he's been around, he seems like one of the most humble, down to earth guys you would ever meet and I have seen people posting about how they emailed him and got a response with a well thought out, not rushed, answer same day. based on what I have seen in his vids I believe it! I didn't know about his clients but that makes perfect sense! All the best :{)=