I can only offer my personal experience:
Last streak of being on was 9 months, no breaks, fairly heavy dosages (for me) at some points. Came off completely doing a PCT (Scally - google it) and 10 weeks after coming off (2 weeks after PCT) I got blood work done. HPTA was completely shut down.
Here's the strange part: I felt better, much stronger and started to gain strength and size again at a quick rate. I was eating less food but using more of it. I stayed lean and had NO crash at all. Even shut down!
How shut down? Test -77, e2-6.6, LH <0.1, FSH <0.2.
So, I did another PCT in the hope of recovering (I am 42 after all - I may be screwed, LOL) and as of last week (19 weeks after complete cessation of the compounds), my test is at the low end of the normal range, FSH and LH are normal and estrogen is right in range. If low end of the range is my 'normal' then I'm good, I think normal for me is slightly higher, but that will take time to get back to that level.
This is why I've been in no rush to jump into use again, I'm growing almost better than I was on - actually in some ways definitely better! I know, makes NO sense, but it's 100% true. People have asked me what I'm on lately and it's funny cause I can honestly say nothing.
My opinion is that I was suffering from an adrenal/hormonal situation. Burnout. I felt toxic, stagnant. I had very mild testicular atrophy (used hcg on cycle to help with that), but libido although slightly repressed was still ok - things were working just fine. Shut down! But overall, the drugs stopped working for me.
Even if you are a competitive bodybuilder, it's my opinion that you should come off completely for certain periods. Will you recover? Who knows. Is that your goal? Will you crash? It's very likely you will, but I'm proof I didn't as are some other long time experienced users I am friends with who after years of continuous use have come off and been pleasantly surprised that we didn't - we felt better!
I think if you're off for 6 months, eat well but less rigidly, rest more (like 2-3 days between training), train less (3 days a week max) with less pressure on yourself and learn to enjoy it - really just enjoy it - you'll gain, improve in many aspects so if and when you decide to go back on, your receptors will be fresh and you'll be primed to utilize those compounds and more food better than before.
Just my .02
Grim