LGD 4033 PCT: Do You Need a PCT for Ligandrol?

LGD 4033 (ligandrol) suppresses testosterone, even at very low doses. In the only published trial in healthy young men, 21 days of 0.1, 0.3 or 1.0 mg/day caused a dose-dependent fall in total testosterone and SHBG; at 1.0 mg/day free testosterone and FSH fell too (Basaria 2013). Without any treatment, hormones and lipids were back to baseline by day 56, five weeks after the last dose.

Cycles described online use 5–10 mg/day, 5 to 10 times the highest trial dose, and no study has tested PCT after LGD 4033. So whether you “need” a PCT can’t be read from a study: it can be measured with a blood test. Below: a short summary of PCT, what LGD 4033 is, the suppression data, how to check, and the “no PCT” cycles people describe, in context.

PCT, short summary

PCT (post-cycle therapy) means drugs taken after a steroid or SARM cycle to restart the body’s own testosterone: SERMs such as clomiphene, tamoxifen and enclomiphene, sometimes hCG, sometimes an aromatase inhibitor (Smit 2026). The same review found the evidence for PCT limited and mostly observational, and noted that most users recover on their own.

Online guides, including older versions of this page, describe four-week SERM courses started around the end of a cycle. No study has tested any PCT course after LGD 4033. The best data on PCT come from steroid users: in 79 men after up to 6 months of steroids, clomiphene 25 mg/day with or without hCG sped up hormone recovery, though untreated men also had normal hormones by month 6 (İbis 2026).

The SERMs, what they do and their risks: SARMs PCT, Clomid PCT, Nolvadex PCT, enclomiphene.

The danger of PCT

PCT drugs are not harmless, so taking them “just in case” has a cost:

• Clomiphene: visual symptoms that can be prolonged (the label says to stop and have the eyes checked), mood changes, higher estradiol (label).
• Tamoxifen: blood clots and stroke; loss of libido and impotence have led some men to stop (label).
• Enclomiphene: headache, hot flushes, and four blood-clot events in trials (EMA 2018).

Two young men developed cholestatic liver injury after a few weeks of ligandrol and/or ostarine followed by post-cycle substances. The SARMs were the likely cause; the authors also flagged the PCT drugs and the lack of monitoring (Koller 2021).

What is LGD 4033, short summary

LGD 4033 (ligandrol, later VK5211) is a non-steroidal SARM that binds the androgen receptor with high affinity (Basaria 2013). It has never been approved. Two treatment trials have results:

• Healthy young men, 21 days: lean body mass rose with dose (+1.21 kg at 1.0 mg/day); fat mass, leg-press strength and stair-climbing power did not change significantly vs placebo (Basaria 2013).
• Adults over 65 after hip fracture, 12 weeks: lean mass rose 4.75%, 7.15% and 9.08% more than placebo at 0.5, 1 and 2 mg/day (VK5211, NCT02578095).

Older versions of this page said suppression is the “only side effect” of pure ligandrol. The evidence says otherwise: HDL cholesterol fell with dose in the trial (Basaria 2013), and several case reports describe cholestatic liver injury with jaundice in men using ligandrol products (2020). WADA bans it at all times. Full profile: LGD 4033 (Ligandrol).

Does LGD 4033 need a PCT?

What is known:

• It suppresses at every dose tested. Total testosterone and SHBG fell with dose from 0.1 to 1.0 mg/day (Basaria 2013).
• At trial doses, recovery came by itself. Hormones and lipids were back to baseline by day 56 without treatment.
• Higher doses suppress more. A 25-year-old who took 10 mg LGD 4033 and 15 mg MK-677 daily for 5 weeks had total testosterone 62% lower, free testosterone 86% lower and SHBG 80% lower on cycle. Most values returned after stopping, but FSH was still below the reference range after the cycle (1.3 IU/L), and LDL and total cholesterol stayed higher (Cardaci 2022).

What is not known: how long recovery takes after 8 weeks at 5–10 mg/day, and whether any PCT speeds it up. Recovery after 21 days at 1 mg/day says little about a longer, higher-dose cycle.

Older versions of this page said real LGD 4033 at up to 10 mg/day “absolutely” doesn’t need PCT, and that strong suppression means a fake product. The first claim is not supported by any study. On the second, product quality is a real problem: when 44 products sold online as SARMs were tested, only 52% contained a SARM and only 41% contained the labeled amount (Van Wagoner 2017). But genuine LGD 4033 suppresses too.

How strong is LGD 4033 suppression?

The trial is the only controlled measure: the effect on total testosterone and SHBG grew with dose, and FSH and free testosterone fell significantly only at 1.0 mg/day (Basaria 2013). The case report at 10 mg/day (with MK-677) gives an idea of what happens at doses people actually use (Cardaci 2022). On our 0–3 scale, LGD 4033 scores 3 (marked suppression), the highest of the SARMs in our database.

How does LGD 4033 suppression feel?

The trial did not record symptoms of low testosterone. In general, MedlinePlus lists breast enlargement, muscle loss and low sex drive as symptoms of low testosterone in men (MedlinePlus). Reports from users describe low mood, low libido and low energy. Feelings don’t measure hormones, though: in the trial, the drop was found in blood tests.

How to know if you need a PCT

A blood test. The markers that changed in the LGD 4033 trial and case reports:

• Total testosterone, fasting and in the morning; repeat if low (Bhasin 2018).
• Free testosterone and SHBG. LGD 4033 lowers SHBG, which pulls total testosterone down on paper, so free testosterone helps (Bhasin 2018).
• LH and FSH, which show whether the brain’s signal is switched down.
• HDL, liver enzymes (ALT, AST) and bilirubin, because HDL fell in the trial and bilirubin rose in the liver-injury reports.

When: LGD 4033 has a half-life of 24–36 hours (Basaria 2013). After five half-lives about 3% is left (StatPearls), so about 5–8 days after the last dose. A baseline test before the cycle makes the result easier to read. The PCT & Bloodwork Planner works this out for any stack, and SARMs bloodwork explains the ranges.

In the steroid studies, recovery was tracked at the end of the cycle, 3 months later and at one year (Smit 2021).

No PCT LGD 4033 cycle examples

Older versions of this page, and the merged “LGD 4033 with no PCT” article, listed cycles said to need no PCT. They are user reports, not tested regimens. Here they are next to the closest data:

The trial reported a dose-dependent fall in total testosterone across 0.1–1.0 mg/day. No dose of LGD 4033 has been shown to avoid suppression. Older versions of this page also called MK-677 and SR9009 “non-hormonal and safe”; MK-677 lowered total testosterone vs placebo in one trial (1999), and the case above combined it with LGD 4033.

Conclusion

LGD 4033 suppresses testosterone at every dose tested. At trial doses for three weeks, hormones came back within five weeks without treatment. Nobody has measured recovery after the longer, higher-dose cycles people actually run, or tested whether PCT helps. A blood test after the drug has cleared, compared with a baseline, answers the question for an individual. Compound by compound: SARMs PCT. Related: LGD 4033 dosage, when to take LGD 4033.