Exact Answer: 4 Months
Libido in simple words means sexual desire. Sexual desire is a person’s overall sexual drive for some type of sexual activity. Sexual desires arise due to the presence of sex hormones in humans. Libido in human beings can be affected by various factors which may be biological or psychological like stress, medical conditions, age, etc.
Post cycle therapy, also known as PCT in short, is a protocol wherein therapy is started after completion of a cycle of PEDs i.e performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids, etc. The duration of the libido i.e sexual drive inside the body to kick back in would depend entirely on the PCT cycle and its effective completion.
How Long After PCT Does Libido Return?
| Conditions | Duration |
| Recovery after PCT | 3 – 4 months |
| Duration for libido to return after PCT | 4 months |
Steroids that are used as performance enhancement drugs are nothing but synthetic hormones that are used for helping in the repair and growth of muscle tissues. Steroids emulate testosterone, which is the male sex hormone present in human males.
Testosterone in men is responsible for their sexual arousal. Steriods works like testosterone and activates the testosterone receptors in the body. Also, even though testosterone is predominantly said as the male sex hormone, it does not mean that this hormone is absent in females. It is present in women as well, though in smaller amounts.
Thus, one can conclude that the use of steroids and similar performance enhancement drugs can come with certain benefits, the most prominent advantage being the accelerated recovery of muscles.
However, always with advantages come disadvantages. As steroids are artificial and not naturally occurring inside the body, they can mess up the body’s internal hormonal structure that can cause many bodily issues to pop up. When a person’s body is receiving testosterone from an external supplement like steroids, the body’s internal hormonal production gets adversely affected.
Therefore, it is essential to complete the PCT i.e the post cycle therapy after taking PEDs to ensure the body can come back to its original level of homeostasis and have a proper balance of all hormones in the body.
It could take approximately 4 weeks for a person to experience libido after PCT competition. This duration for experiencing such desires again would differ from person to person as it is dependant on various bio-individual factors.
Why Does It Take So Long After PCT For Libido To Return?
It is reported by many people that they experience lower levels of libido after PCT. This may be because the production of testosterone i.e the male hormone gets suppressed due to the steroids which might take time to come back to its normal level.
Thus, one might not get their libido immediately back after PCT as it would take at least a few weeks for this to happen. One might feel that the libido is non-existent after PCT but that is not the case. Giving some time to the body of about 4 – 8 weeks might help one to again experience the high sexual drive.
It is necessary for all the bodily hormones that are produced naturally by the body to be in the normal range. Change in any one of them can adversely affect the essential functions of the body. Libido is concerned with sex hormones inside the body and thus, the sexual hormone must be regulated after PCT to get sexual arousal.
PEDs like steroids even if taken for a shorter duration of time can have a huge impact on the hormone levels of the body. Hence, PCT works as a booster for natural hormonal production and helps it to bring back the production of hormones up to its normal level.
Conclusion
Libido or sexual desire is the willingness to experience sexual activity in humans. It might get repressed while the PCT is ongoing but returns in about 4 to 8 weeks after the PCT is completed.
As the process of recovering after PCT is not a miracle, it does not get completed in a mere 2 to 3 days. This could take weeks and in some cases even months for the libido to return. The time for libido to return would depend on how much hormone was suppressed and how fast the body can recover after PCT.
