What is PCT (post-cycle therapy)?

In one line

PCT is the users' term for taking other drugs after stopping anabolic steroids, to get the body making male hormones again.

What is PCT (post-cycle therapy)?
A term that follows steroid talk
When people talk about anabolic steroids, the term 'PCT' comes up next. It sounds like the name of a hospital treatment, but it is actually a term that arose among users. What exactly does it mean, and what are the risks?
In short
Drugs taken after stopping steroids
PCT is short for 'post-cycle therapy'. It means taking other drugs after stopping anabolic steroids so that the body starts making male hormones again. It is not a medical term but one that users created.
What is a 'cycle'?
Repeating periods of use and stopping
Anabolic steroids are often used heavily for a while and then stopped completely. The period of taking the drugs is called a 'cycle'. PCT means something done after the cycle ends, that is, during the period off the drugs.
Background
The brain tells the testicles to 'make more'
A hormone is a substance that travels in the blood and carries signals to other places, and testosterone is the main male hormone. Men make testosterone mainly in the testicles. When blood testosterone is low, the brain signals the testicles to 'make more', and when there is enough, it cuts the signal.
Why people look for PCT
Steroids shut this signal down
When lots of male hormone comes in from anabolic steroids, the brain cuts its signal and the testicles nearly stop making their own. So after stopping the drugs, the body is short of male hormone for a while, and tiredness, low sex drive, low mood and muscle loss can last weeks to months. PCT is an attempt to shorten this period.
What kind of drugs
Drugs originally made for other illnesses
Most drugs used for PCT were made for other illnesses. They include fertility drugs for women, breast cancer drugs, and drugs modeled on a hormone the placenta makes during pregnancy. All of these are also drugs the World Anti-Doping Agency bans at all times for men in sport competition.
Not a set treatment
Not found in medical guidelines
PCT is not one fixed treatment, so the drugs and how long they are used differ from person to person. Most people take them on their own, without a doctor's prescription or supervision. So far, no official medical guideline recommends PCT.
Risks of the PCT drugs themselves
From vision problems to blood clots
The drugs used for PCT have side effects too. Fertility drugs can blur vision or cause double vision, and some breast cancer drugs can cause blood clots, lumps of thickened blood that block blood vessels. Sexual problems, mood changes and joint pain have also been reported.
Black-market drugs
One in three lacked the listed ingredient
PCT drugs used without a prescription mostly come from the illegal market. When PCT drugs seized from the illegal market by police in Poland were analyzed, about one in three did not contain the listed ingredient. They had no active ingredient at all or contained a different drug.
Recovery after stopping
Most recover, but not everyone
Most people who stopped steroids had their testosterone return to normal within a few months. But in a study that followed people who exercise for 1 year from the start of a steroid cycle, about one in ten still had low testosterone at the 1-year mark. Sperm counts took about a year to recover.
Common myth
Is PCT a required, official treatment?
No. In bodybuilding circles, PCT is often seen as a step you must take if you use steroids, but PCT is not a treatment found in medical guidelines. There are almost no proper comparison trials confirming that it works, and each drug used has its own side effects.
Summary
The term for drugs taken after stopping steroids
PCT is the users' term for taking other drugs after stopping anabolic steroids to get the body making male hormones again. It is not an official treatment in medical guidelines, and the drugs used have side effects. Related terms: anabolic steroids, testosterone, SARMs.