I'm just going to be real right now so take it how you want to and I'm not advocating anything.
I have stayed on for a full year, did a 6 week pct, took two more weeks for blood work, then back on for 20 weeks.
The majority of that was Test only, switching between E/C and Sustanon. I did use some tbol for a little while, some tren ace for a little while. Most of this was 750mg to 1g. When I added something, I reduced test to 750, then when it was just test it was 1g.
I ran Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) pretty much the entire time. There were a couple times I ran out so I would blast to correct atrophy then back to low dose. I also ran an Aromatase inhibitor (AI).
The important thing to note was I did have continuous blood work done, and I mean a lot, basically every 4-8 weeks, unless there was an issue. I had an estro problem one time with it too high, then over corrected and crashed it. I had labs 4 times in like a 5-6 week period.
So let's look at the results. This started off great, I love test only cycles and that was really my intent, but with so much time on, I was piling up so much gear and I wanted to try the tbol so I did and it was decent. Then at a later time I added 300-350 tren ace and hardened up pretty good.
So like any cycle, I was making good steady gains for a good 15-17 weeks, then it just leveled off. Adding tbol and tren both helped a little. I did drop to 250mg test for 2 weeks about 2 maybe 3 times.
My bloodwork was actually surprisingly good. I eventually had elevated bp. I was able to get that down with supplements. My lipids were getting messed up, I was at a time where I didn't want to take any real bp or cholesterol meds so I worked on both with supps. My hemoglobin and hematocrit were slowly getting higher but honestly it want that high, when I got back on for 20 weeks, it was a test/deca and I could no longer control my bp or blood counts, all of which were getting very high.
So not any real health problems, felt great the majority of the time, but I went thru a lot of lethargy. The gains for being on that long were not what I expected at all. It was like I made some gains, then was stuck at the same weight for a long time. Maybe if I had a better diet I could have kept gaining, training and strength was really good but I got to a point where I did not gain at all and this was the majority of the time. Adding tbol and tren made me harden up but nothing drastic and we know tren gives dramatic results.
Now while I did basically just maintain, I was maintaining a good size and was pretty solid, vascular, people really were always asking what I was on but I honestly believe I would have progressed much better by breaking that into 3-4 cycles. I don't believe in receptors being saturated and all that and my blood work and check ups showed I was healthy. When it was just test, I really had good blood work but slowly lipids were getting worse even with supplements. I also ended up with more acne than ive ever had, not cystic but any is bad.
When it came time for pct, I was tired of being on I blasted a good amount of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG), used Torem and aromisin. I really didn't feel like I crashed that hard. I had a few rough days, libido was shitty, I could function but did not want to at all, and my woman is hot (yes it's conceited but true), and when you have a hot woman dressed up in little outfits trying to give it up, and all I wanted her to do was move out of the way of the tv. Lol. But that didn't last long.
Overall it was very stupid, it was a waste of time and money. I could have made better gains cycling, I'm lucky it didn't cause any health issues, or maybe it did. Since that time, I now have a harder time controlling hemoglobin/hematocrit while on cycle.
I also did drop a good 10 lbs almost instantly and I don't think it was all water, I looked really flat. So overall it wasn't a bad experience but when looking at it realistically it was stupid and a waste of time. Luckily about 2-3 weeks after pct total test was back in the 600 range. Pct was not that bad considering, but it had it's low points. Mentally I started to feel weak, weak because I had been on a gram of gear all year and while I looked good, I have been bigger on a normal cycle and I felt like I was depending on gear to train and I felt like I should have been much bigger for the amount of time I was on. Really I would have to continuously increase doses and add compounds if I would have wanted to keep making gains.
I did not compete, and didn't have any clear set goals, just gear up and train hard, but I came to a point where I obviously didn't have the right diet to make better gains but I was getting very strong, or maybe just strong with gear.
Since then I've pretty much only ran low doses. I recently finished a cycle of low doses for me with a good dose of primo and I made almost as good of gains on that. I have always been lucky and recover pretty easily after cycles, but what I proved to myself is you can rely on gear and look pretty good but eventually it will cause health issues with bp, lipids, blood counts, and spiral from there. I also realized that AAS are only a tool and there is simply no way around training and diet for real changes. Yes gear aids those very well, but if those aren't in place AAS won't do much.
I have been around for 9-10 years or so with this, I actually get labs and take all the precautions I can and basically wanted to experiment. As the years go by, if you are trying to get bigger, you will see that gains become harder to come by. Even staying on a gram all year, your body seems to become use to that and you need to increase doses or change something. IMO it's not worth it, not what I expected it to be, I mean I did feel and look good but I expected more. Now that may just be saying I have shit genetics, or that your body tries to reach homeostasis and will compensate.
There is a reason it's called cycling. I know some guys who stay on year after year, some are big, some really don't even look like they lift, most of them run test at 500-750 and then just add compounds in and out.
I love to be on cycle but it wasn't all that. Do the work and you will get the real results. I'm sure there are some guys who would become freaky big running that much but I couldn't keep up with the dietary needs.