Clomid (Clomiphene Citrate) PCT

When planning your PCT cycle, Clomid is one of the most common drug names you’ll see mentioned by experienced bodybuilders. It is very commonly included in post-cycle therapy for reasons I will cover below.

It’s not only during PCT that Clomid is extremely helpful, though, with this being a medication that is often utilized during a steroid cycle as well to combat some of the worst side effects that we all want to avoid.

Author’s Note: The following guide is based on my personal experience and does NOT promote the illegal use of steroids (PEDs).

What is Clomid (Clomiphene Citrate)?

Clomid (Clomiphene Citrate) is in the class of drugs called Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERM). It has anti-estrogen effects and was originally developed as a fertility medication for women who do not ovulate normally.

Clomid is also sometimes prescribed for the treatment of hypogonadism in men as an alternative option to testosterone replacement therapy, with excellent results often seen in this area (increases the output of luteinizing hormone by the pituitary gland), which is why Clomid became such a sought after drug for those using anabolic steroids.

In the world of bodybuilding, Clomid is highly prized for its ability to mitigate estrogenic side effects caused by many steroids during a cycle, as well as for combating the suppression of natural testosterone as a result of using steroids, which is the main goal of its use in post cycle therapy.

Two of the most dreaded estrogen-caused side effects that anabolic steroid users want to avoid are water retention and gynecomastia (gyno). Clomid is useful for tackling both of these adverse effects which, if left to advance, can both lead to some serious negative implications.

Excess water retention can ruin your physique, mask your gains, and lead to high blood pressure. While gyno can become untreatable if left too long, surgery is the only option. So, it goes without saying that Clomid is a hugely powerful tool in the arsenal of any anabolic steroid user.

Clomid for Gynecomastia

When estrogen levels rise too high in a man’s body, one distressing side effect is the development of excessive breast tissue in a condition called gynecomastia, a.k.a “man boobs” or just gyno for short.

Along with water retention, gyno is the worst thing that can happen to your physique as a result of using steroids. If left for too long, gyno can keep developing until you reach a point where it’s no longer treatable by medication – and here, surgery is the only option you’ll have to get rid of that breast tissue.

So, needless to say, you will want to completely avoid gyno rearing its head while you’re on steroids, but if it does start up, then getting on top of it with Clomid and other drugs can ensure that all symptoms will disappear.

While Clomid is a tried and tested drug for preventing gyno, aromatase inhibitors (AI) are often the first choice these days over SERMs for preventing this and other undesirable effects during a testosterone cycle.

Water retention is the other main estrogen-related side effect we dread with steroid use. New steroid users can make the mistake of thinking that SERMs can also effectively eliminate water retention, but this is not the case.

Clomid and other SERMs more actively target the breast tissue. While Clomid might have some slight benefit in reducing water retention, it is rarely enough not to warrant the use of other drugs to target that specific problem.

Clomid does not directly reduce estrogen levels, which is what is needed to combat water retention. This makes Clomid very useful for preventing gyno as its main inclusion in a steroid cycle.

Clomid for Post Cycle Therapy (PCT)

When you’re on a steroid cycle using synthetic versions of testosterone or derivatives of the hormone, your body is running with much higher testosterone levels than you’d normally be able to produce.

The body knows this and, as a result, halts the production of normal testosterone or at least decreases it to a very low level.

When you stop your steroid cycle, the sudden end to synthetic testosterone going into the body can cause a massive crash and serious low T side effects.

The purpose of PCT, then, is to wind your body back up to normal hormone function, and for this reason, post-cycle therapy is an absolutely critical part of your steroid use. Without PCT, you would be on a very slow uphill battle to wait for your T levels to get back to normal if they ever do.

Clomid is beneficial when included in a post-cycle therapy plan after a steroid cycle when testosterone levels will have been suppressed to a very low or even non-existent level because of the way that many anabolic steroids signal to the body to cease testosterone production when synthetic testosterone is being used.

The goal of PCT is to increase endogenous testosterone back to normal levels so you can avoid the serious effects of low testosterone. These include low libido, muscle mass loss, body fat gain, low mood, decreased energy and strength, poor mental concentration, and more.

The timing of the start of your Clomid use will depend on which steroid compounds you’ve used in your cycle and the active life of each steroid.

Steroids with a short life can cause you to need to start PCT within just days of finishing your steroid cycle. In contrast, some other large-ester steroids can require you to wait two weeks before starting post-cycle therapy as the steroid effects continue to remain active for some time after your last dose.

Depending on how heavy your steroid use is, it can take many weeks or even several months to recover your normal testosterone function and restore levels to what they were before your steroid cycle. Clomid, then, is one powerful but not necessarily the only tool in the box when it comes to effective post-cycle therapy.

Clomid Dosage

The dose you take of Clomid will depend on when you’re using it and for what purpose, most notably during a cycle and after a steroid cycle during PCT.

Clomid Dosage During Anabolic Steroid Use

Clomid is usually used at a low dose during an anabolic steroid cycle with the purpose of protecting you from estrogenic effects. Most men will find that 25mg per day is sufficient to combat these side effects for the duration of the cycle.

Some will increase this to 50mg per day if adverse effects are rearing their head, but taking the dosage of Clomid any higher is not considered effective, and 25mg per day is thought to be enough to mitigate undesirable effects; in the event that it is not, a different SERM like Nolvadex or Toremifene may be required or in some cases, turning to an aromatase inhibitor drug instead.

Female Clomid Dosage

As Clomid was originally developed as a fertility aid for women, the dosage for this purpose is generally set at 50mg per day, with the occasional increase to 100mg for some women.

We can see that this is an identical dosage to that which is recommended for men to use Clomid during a steroid cycle. This indicates that 50mg or 100mg maximum is considered to be the maximum effective dose of Clomid, with higher dosages having no benefit but coming with greater side effect risks.

When it comes to females who use steroids, the use of Clomid is not necessary as neither estrogenic side effects nor testosterone suppression are a concern for females.

Clomid Dosage for Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) and Increased Endogenous Testosterone Secretion

Higher doses of Clomid are to be used for the purpose of post-cycle therapy. Normally this will start in the 50mg to 100mg per day range at the start of the PCT cycle.

Usually, this level of dosage will run for up to two weeks, but it depends on your steroid cycle, and for some men, just one week at this higher Clomid dosage can be sufficient.

The next one to two-week period of PCT will then drop the Clomid dosage back down to 50mg daily, with the last week or two consisting of a 25mg per day or 50mg every other day Clomid dosage.

A good PCT cycle will run for at least four weeks and up to 8 weeks, so your Clomid dosage plan should be scheduled according to the length of your PCT.

The majority of bodybuilders will not use Clomid alone in PCT, finding that it is not effective enough as a sole drug, but instead used alongside Nolvadex and HCG (and sometimes an aromatase inhibitor as well) to maximize the efficiency that normal testosterone function can be restored. So, while Clomid is effective for some people at the above doses for PCT, most will find that Nolvadex is much more effective as a SERM.

Clomid vs. Nolvadex for PCT

Another SERM drug that is popularly used for post-cycle therapy is Nolvadex. There is still a lot of debate among bodybuilders about which is the better SERM to use between Clomid and Nolvadex.

Many experienced bodybuilders will make use of both Clomid and Nolvadex in PCT while also combining these with Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) in order to kickstart the natural testosterone production process.

Many believe that Nolvadex is simply a better, more effective, and more powerful SERM than Clomid. Still, like all things with anabolic steroid use, it often comes down to the individual and how your body reacts to each drug.

Clomid is often thought of as a more effective testosterone booster, while Nolvadex can excel better as an estrogen blocker. They are anti-estrogens, and both can stimulate the release of GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), which increases the output of luteinizing hormone by the pituitary gland, and this then leads to an increase in testosterone levels.

Regardless of this, however, consensus still states that a combination of these drugs is the most ideal way to undertake PCT and get the best possible outcome when it comes to resorting to testosterone levels and maintaining the gains you’ve worked hard to build during your cycle.

Both Clomid and Nolvadex are effective drugs for PCT for the most important purpose they are intended for, and that is to increase endogenous testosterone levels. Those using very powerful steroids are likely to have a more complex and potent PCT. Still, for guys who are, for example, on their first testosterone-only eight weeks steroid cycle, Clomid is likely to be all you need to recover.

Clomid Side Effects

Many of the side effects we read about with Clomid relate to its use as a fertility drug by women. In these cases, Clomid has shown an increase in skin cancers and thyroid cancers, but it’s not known if this would translate to the same effects in men using Clomid for PCT or anti-estrogen purposes. Additionally, the less serious side effects that are listed for Clomid as a female medication are not relevant to males.

Clomid is considered to be a mild SERM that is tolerated well by most men. Despite this, it is still possible to experience some side effects when using Clomid, but keep in mind that many people will have no side effects at all. Compared with women who use Clomid for medical purposes, the tolerance level of males using this drug tends to be much higher.

Potential side effect risks of Clomid include depression and irritability; some men experience negative changes to their mood when using Clomid. Headaches, hot flashes, diarrhea, and nausea are other possibilities, although again, these are mainly reported in the women taking Clomid.

Vision disturbances are certainly the one side effect that most men worry about with this drug. Unfortunately, changes to the vision are one of the more common side effects associated with Clomid, which is one reason guys will choose Nolvadex instead, which does not come with this risk.

In more extreme cases, sudden loss of vision can occur, and sometimes this can be permanent. Hazy or blurry vision is the more common form of this side effect. Although it is a serious side effect that no one wants to experience, it’s still thought to affect less than 2% of Clomid users, and in the majority of cases, the problem disappears on its own once your use of Clomid ends.

Another effect that some men will see when using Clomid for PCT is acne, but this is not thought to be a direct effect of the drug itself but instead a reaction to the rise in testosterone that the drug is stimulating. In most cases, this acne is mild and mostly only affects men who are already predisposed to acne.

In a study of 36 men with low testosterone levels, 25mg doses of Clomid resulted in elevated testosterone and no side effects in any of the men. While this is a lower dose of Clomid than most bodybuilders will use, it does indicate the safety and mild nature of this drug at lower doses and suggests that when using Clomid at dosages for bodybuilding, if side effects do occur, these may be reduced or eliminated by lowering the dose.

The goal of Clomid is to reduce and ultimately eliminate some of the most worrying undesirable effects of anabolic steroid use. So, although there is a small risk of some people experiencing additional side effects with the use of Clomid, it is universally agreed among serious bodybuilders that these minor concerns are not serious enough to outweigh the huge and essential benefits of using a SERM like Clomid to address estrogenic side effects and testosterone suppression.

The good news is that even if Clomid doesn’t suit you, or you find that you’re one of the minority of guys who see more serious side effects with this drug, we have other SERMs to choose from as well as the choice of aromatase inhibitors, meaning there’s always going to be an option for your PCT and anti-estrogen needs whether Clomid is right for you or not.

Common Q&A Related to Clomid

How long do you take Clomid after a cycle?

Following your steroid cycle, a PCT cycle using Clomid should run for at least four weeks. A 4-8 week post cycle therapy is considered standard, with eight weeks mainly considered by those bodybuilders who are using the most powerful steroids. For most people, four weeks of PCT is normally enough to stimulate testosterone function.

How much Clomid should I take for PCT?

Clomid should be started at a high dosage at the start of your PCT, then decreased as you work through your post-cycle therapy period.

An example of a 6-week Clomid therapy is to run Clomid at 100mg for two weeks, then drop to 50mg for two weeks, followed by 25mg for the last two weeks of PCT.

Your dosage will differ depending on the steroid cycle you were on, with stronger cycles requiring stronger Clomid doses. Additionally, if you’re using other drugs during PCT, you’ll need to adjust the dosages accordingly.

Will Clomid boost my testosterone?

In men with low testosterone, studies have shown that a low dose of Clomid is effective at raising levels of serum testosterone and bringing about positive improvements in the ratio of testosterone to estrogen.

These results in a medical study correlate to the purpose of using Clomid in post-cycle therapy in order to boost testosterone production, as men who have been using steroids with resulting testosterone suppression are also suffering from low testosterone, which must be rectified to avoid severe negatives changes to both physical and mental health.

Is Clomid illegal?

Clomid is a prescription medication in most countries where it’s available. Despite this, most bodybuilders in the loop find that Clomid is not difficult to find and that it’s an affordable drug.

Be aware that when buying Clomid from a steroid supplier or other black market source, it is being done without a prescription, so it can then come with legal risk as well as the possibility that you are not getting the genuine product if you’re not purchasing from a reputable source.

Some men choose to get diagnosed by their doctor for low testosterone and then gain a prescription for Clomid or other SERMs legally. When it comes to doping, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) lists Clomiphene as an illegal substance, so if competing, you will want to avoid having this drug in your system at drug testing times.

Does Clomid build muscle?

Clomid is not a muscle-building drug. It does not, on its own, stimulate muscle growth. It does bring about a stimulation increase in natural testosterone. Since testosterone is such a vital ingredient for strength and muscle growth, we could say that Clomid indirectly contributes to muscle gains, or for the use of bodybuilders, it helps to maintain the gains you’ve made during your steroid cycle so these are not lost afterward because of low testosterone.

What is the difference between Clomid and Clomiphene Citrate?

They are the same thing: Clomiphene Citrate is the chemical or generic name of the compound, and Clomid is the brand name of the drug. Clomid is also often called just Clomiphene for short. Its chemical formula is C26 H28 Cl NO. There are dozens of other brand names of Clomiphene around the world, but Clomid is by far the most widely used and recognized.

Is Clomid expensive?

Due to its wide availability and use as a prescription medication, Clomid is one of the more affordable drugs we will look to purchase as steroid users. Costs will greatly depend on your country and where and how you can source Clomid.

Generic forms of Clomid are as low as under $3 per pill. In countries where pharmaceuticals are subsidized, and you are able to obtain a prescription for low testosterone, your financial outlay for Clomid will be extremely low and pale in comparison to the cost you are likely to be spending on steroids.

My Conclusion and Recommendation

Clomid helps block estrogen and associated undesirable effects and, thus, boosts testosterone. It will give your testicles a much-needed prod to begin producing more testosterone naturally again while not relying on the effects of steroids.

Clomid is considered one of the more powerful PCT options and is used by people who are doing more advanced steroids or stacking multiple steroids.

If you enjoyed this guide and would like more real, NO-BS information on cycling steroids, then pick up Straight From the Underground (my recommended underground steroid handbook). Everything in this book is based on first-hand experience, not theory.