Plateaus, Receptor sensitising, and SHBG

Plateaus, Receptor sensitising, and SHBG
-Inja

Towards the end of a steroid cycle my gains often plateau and the cycle becomes less effective. I have previously increased my caloric intake by an additional 500cals at the end of a cycle to attempt to prevent this, to no avail. This decreased effect at the end of a cycle is often attributed to receptor desensitising and sequestering of the active. As a result it is often recommended that one take a compound that is supposed to combat this effect. After going back to things I read ages ago I remember why I originally disagreed with this approach, and thought I would post on it.
Perhaps we can open up a debate on the topic? It’s something I have been struggling with for a long time and I’m not sure there is a way to effectively negate the plateau of gains at the end of a cycle.

‘Receptor cleansing’ (eg: Methandriol)
The whole idea of receptor cleansing is a kind of bogus one. When one is taking a steroid, their receptors become saturated with anabolic hormones. The only way to sensitise the receptor again is to remove the steroid molecule from its binding site, and thus deactivate the receptor until a new steroid molecule binds. This however defeats the entire purpose of having the steroid bound in the first place as muscle building genes are only activated by steroid bound receptors. Once the steroid is dislodged, the muscle building stops. In addition pathways are also activated to counteract the effect of the steroid (homeostasis) however simply removing the steroid for a short period will not spontaneously deactivate them. It takes time, and this one of the reasons we cycle.
In addition there is the idea that certain compounds may up-regulate the steroid receptor. Since the presence of exogenous testosterone actually already increases the number of steroid receptors proportionally, there is no need for this during a cycle.

SHBG binding compounds (eg: Winstrol, Proviron)
Many believe that it is SHBG that contributes to plateau of gains due to excessive binding of steroid compounds. Since steroids are hydrophobic they do not travel well in blood and are often bound to other proteins. Only once freed do they become active. Thus the idea is that their sequestration of these compounds prevents their ability to bind their target receptor. Stanozolol and proviron are purported to bind the SHBG molecule and free up testosterone for receptor binding. Its true that DHT and probably its derived compounds do bind the SHBG molecule with higher affinity, but one must also not that 17-alpha alkylated steroids have a lower affinity for SHBG than testosterone.
Although SHBG binds 90%-100% of circulating testosterone the inclusion of high dose exogenous testosterone and other androgenic steroids actually down-regulates SHBG expression dramatically, so less testosterone is actually bound by SHBG on cycle than is normal bound anyways. So even if these compounds do free testosterone from SHBG their effect is radically minimised by the low levels of SHBG present at the end of a cycle. While high levels of testosterone lower SHBG high levels of estrogen increase it. So lowering estrogen on cycle for instance with an AI may also lower SHBG and less bound AAS. As an after thought T4 increases SHBG expression and this may contribute to muscle wasting...

It seems none of these approaches actually solve my original problem, the plateau of my gains towards the end of my cycle. And so my quest goes on to find an answer elsewhere…

Inja, I really hope that you find a answer to this never ending question. I would think that cycling compounds during your cycle would be the answer but this is my gut feel and I have no facts to base it on.