My gym buddy calls me up one day, many yeas ago, and yells.... "Holy crap it looks like I have been shot in the back with buckshot !!! " So I ask him who is she and what did you expect her man to do as he saw you jumping out the window ?
Ok, he was describing the wicked acne that had surfaced during his steroid cycle. He was in week 3 of his sust/DECA cycle when all hell broke loose and boy was he breaking out. So I asked him, "what are you using for your aromatase inhibitor (AI)" and he tells me ...."NONE...I only use it if my nipples start to itch" BOOM!!!! There's the problem.... And here is why. When you start/end a steroid cycle you hormones are ramping up and down drastically, very drastically. During these fluctuations are when the most severe breakouts occur.
Now, its not so much the hormone levels temselves, rather the balance between the levels and both low and high estrogen attribute to this low balance contiotin. So what the heck does that mean ? Well its simple, there is a balance between your testerone and estrogen levels (E2) and when the balance get out of wack, you have a hormone unbalance. I have noticed that I would break out most at the beginning and end of my cycles when my levels are increasing and decreasing. However, mid cycle when my levels are stable, my breakouts would be minimal. So here's my trick to controlling the breakouts: When I start my crycle I will take my AI ONLY when signs of acne or bloat start to appear. This tells me that my balance is starting to get out of wack and I need to pull my E2 back in check..This is why its important to become familiar with your body, your AI, and your body's reaction to that AI. My sign is my ankles swell slightly. I can pretty much control my breakouts by adjusting my AI. So give it a shot next time you start to develop acne, once you leaf how to tune your AI properly, you will see a big difference.