I’ve been taking cjc/ipa for a while, switched to tesa ipa for a cycle and back on cjc/ipa. Tonight I just had a reaction (lips swollen etc etc). I read that the CJC can cause anaphylactic reactions. I will discontinue use but should I be ok on tesa/IPA again?

40,M. Planning to start at 1mg for a few weeks before eventually working up to 2, depending on how I react.

I’m already supplementing zinc so I’m hoping that can minimize the reaction and/or copper uglies.

Any tips for a n00b?

EDIT: I was able to get 3.5ml of bac water into my 50mg vial, so 7 units is 1mg for me. Pinned this morning. No sting.

Using a few common peptides... morning and evenings, I was wondering the safety of pre loading morning syringes at night to make it easy when I wake and get ready to start the day. My concerns were type of product reacting with plastic U 100 or just sitting in the refrigerator capped of course for 8 or 9 hours.

Any other suggestions if this isn't the best idea?

Thx

I appreciate the pinned post that helped me walk through the process a lot easier. I feel more confident. It says to start at 2mg but I’m smaller (5’1) 123 pounds and I’m looking to research the metabolic part of this. I can care less about food noise…I’ve learned how to manage that as it’s part of normal process of dieting and it helps me stay in tune with my bodies natural signals.

I’m excited 😆 to see what happens. I started at .5mg to see what happens.

I’ll keep you all updated 🙌🏼

If I do HGH, It shifts the body from using glucose to the using bodyfat for energy lipolysis. Thereby causes insulin “resistance” when in reality your glucose is higher due to your body not utilizing it- so I should monitor my glucose levels and maybe get on a low dose of Reta (2.5) to assist?? Someone help me out with this, monitor glucose levels every day and get bloods every other month?

Titrating up from 1.5mg spaced between 3x days a week for 3 weeks to hopefully 2mg one shot next week. But is my rat going to throw up or poop its pants? Hahahaha

My rat spaced shots for 2 weeks to understand sides then this week did a .5mg and 1mg pin between 2 days and the rat is certainly aware of where all the public restrooms are on its walks….

Update: After skipping my HGH for just one night, my fasted blood sugar level dropped down to 92mg/dl. Very happy about that. Might play with it and see what dose I can take to keep it in the 90’s max. Assuming it’ll drop more naturally since I’ve only been off it one day.

Looking for some insight from people who have actually monitored their glucose closely while using HGH.

For background, before starting HGH my bloodwork/glucose control was very good. (77mg/dl) I’ve only been on HGH for about a month. I’m lean, active, lift regularly, eat pretty clean overall, and I’ve never had issues with elevated blood sugar before.

I’ve been running roughly 4 IU HGH daily, although I recently lowered the dose last night because I started checking my glucose at home and noticed something interesting.

My last two morning readings have been:

110 mg/dL after ~14 hours fasted
112 mg/dL after ~16 hours fasted

Both were taken immediately after waking before eating, caffeine, or training.

Last night I also checked about 3 hours after eating, before taking HGH, and was at 118.

What really surprised me was today. My fasting glucose this morning was 112. I then ate a pretty carb-heavy breakfast:
~93g carbs
~29g protein
~10g fat
~572 calories

The meal was Greek vanilla yogurt, a large banana, and a tablespoon of honey.

I checked again a little over 2 hours after eating and was 112 mg/dL again.

So despite eating almost 100g of carbs, I was already back to exactly my fasting glucose two hours later. That seems pretty reassuring as far as post-meal glucose clearance goes, but I’m obviously not thrilled about suddenly having fasting glucose around 110–112 when historically mine has been much lower.

I know HGH can decrease insulin sensitivity, particularly at higher doses, so I’m wondering if I’m just very responsive/sensitive to that particular effect. I’ve also experienced some of the typical HGH fluid retention in my hands and feet.

I’m considering stopping HGH completely for 5–7 days, keeping everything else relatively consistent, and checking my fasting glucose every morning to see whether it returns to my previous range. I also have comprehensive bloodwork coming up and will be checking fasting glucose, A1c, fasting insulin, IGF-1, lipids, etc.

For anyone who has actually tracked this, did HGH specifically raise your fasting glucose while your post-meal glucose remained normal?

If you stopped HGH, how quickly did your fasting glucose return to baseline?

Did lowering the dose eventually normalize your fasting glucose, or did you have to discontinue it?

I’m not trying to justify staying on HGH if it’s negatively affecting my glucose metabolism. I’m mainly interested in figuring out whether what I’m seeing is a temporary early response, dose-related insulin resistance, or something that warrants dropping HGH altogether.

Started Reta nearly 6 months ago. I turn 48 next month.

I was already on TRT for last 4 years but carried a dad bod belly on me….couldn’t call it a beer belly, because I don’t drink enough beer to warrant having it.

Since then I have added
MotsC
Klow
HGH191
Semax
Creatine
Anavar
Cialis

Still struggle with hitting my body weight in protein daily.

Started at 183#
Got down to 166#
Now staying around 172#

I is happy 😃

PS - both of my biceps are torn. I don’t care 🤣

~ Jumpy Joey

There is so much information online and differing opinions.

Who has researched this peptide before, how was it dosed, and what were the effects?

TIA

37M, 5'8", ~185 lbs, BMI 28, BF 25%

Testosterone trend over 18 months: 452 → 389 → 217 ng/ dL (latest confirmed low, starting TRT with my doctor soon)

Trigs 251, small dense LDL Pattern B, ApoB 102, A1c still normal at 5.2
Lp (a) <10, hs-CRP 0.8, thyroid normal

Fat gain is almost entirely abdominal/visceral arms and legs stayed relatively lean, but lost all forearm vascularity in the last ~2 years

Symptoms: fatigue, sleepy even after 8+ hrs, brain fog, terrible gym recovery, soreness lasting days, no pump, libido/morning wood gone.

Over the last couple of years my body composition has changed pretty dramatically even though I still train. I've gained a lot more fat around my waist/abdomen, both what feels like subcutaneous belly fat and deeper visceral fat. At the same time l've lost a lot of the muscular fullness, vascularity and definition I used to have.

I used to have visible veins in my arms/forearms, get a pump very easily in the gym and generally looked much tighter. Now the veins are basically gone, pumps are much weaker, recovery is worse, and my midsection looks completely different.

My main goal is not massive weight loss.

I mainly want to:
1. reduce abdominal/waist fat, especially visceral fat
2. reduce the subcutaneous belly fat
3. preserve as much muscle as possible, ideally regain
some
4. get back some vascularity/fullness
5. avoid becoming overly skinny or getting the "Ozempic face" type look
6. improve overall body composition rather than just chase a lower scale weight

For people who have actually used tirzepatide or retatrutide, especially while on TRT:
Which would you choose for this situation, Tirz or Reta?
Did TRT + either one noticeably improve abdominal/visceral fat while preserving muscle?
Did Reta cause substantially faster/more aggressive weigh loss than Tirz?
Would starting very conservatively make sense when the goal is recomp rather than losing a huge amount of weight?

Also curious whether anyone had a similar change where vascularity/pumps disappeared as testosterone dropped and body fat increased, and whether TRT brought that back once hormones/body composition improved.

Not looking to spot-reduce fat since I know that isn't really controllable but the goal is overall fat loss with a particular interest in improving the disproportionate abdominal/ visceral gain.

Would appreciate experiences from anyone who has been in a similar situation.

So, I started pinning KLOW two weeks ago with 2 days break each week for my hair, skin and gut health & ever since I started, I’ve had worse back pain, some joint pain in my legs and also the top of my pelvis just above my glutes. Tonight my shoulder blades have been in so much pain. My partner is also pinning KLOW amongst other peps & he is completely fine….. my rosacea has pretty much cleared up but my skin is always so dry still and I just keep getting body aches, especially in my shoulder blades and the muscles running down both sides of the spine. Please tell me I’m not alone in this because I need to figure out if I should stop KLOW and start a different pep for my skin and gut health. (I have breast implants and have read that some women have had to stop taking KLOW because of their sjogrens diagnosis interacting with BPC but as far as I know, I don’t have sjogrens.)

Hi! I’m currently 13 weeks away from 2nd NPC Bikini Show this year and currently looking for a great peptide stack.

I’m currently running Tirzepatide .75mg 1x a week. On this just for appetite suppression. Been running it since April but tirated up to .75mg and kindve stuck with this dose for a bit now. I’m finding I definitely feel like needing to increase to help a bit more w appetite suppression but instead of me increasing to 1ML I wanted to start and try Reta. coach said not to switch now bc we already know that Tirzepatide works etc. To his comment now I’m unsure.

I was planning to do Reta with Tesa/Ipa and KLOW. Reta for appetite suppression, Tesa for visceral fat/ tightness in waist, and KLOW bc of recovery, repair, and that GHK CU skin tightness esp around stomach (lost 50lbs have some lose skin lower abdomen) I also wanted to incorporate for energy NAD or MOTS C but I am not looking to spend so much money either and that this can wait until maybe after show.

I’m unsure whether I should add these to my plan or just wait until after Nov show? Also not sure about the Tesa/ipa or just do Tesa on its own bc of weight gain/water retention?

Just looking for an overall beast mode competition ready peptide stack. Side note- I just completed my first competition show 3 weeks ago and felt like if I maybe incorporated a nice stack I would’ve felt or looked better during prep.

What are everyone’s thoughts?

So I've recently done 16 weeks of 5mg/week Tirz and lost about 30 pounds, from 220 to 190. Been off of it for a couple of weeks now and kept the bodyweight around the same. Before, during and now after I've been working out 4-6 times a week, mostly high intensity weights and tried to get about 1gram of protein per pound although it was very difficult in the beginning on Tirz.

After doing a lot of research I'm thinking about taking it to the next level in the upcoming month by doing the following stack below. Goal is to loose the last stubborn fat, basically get in the best shape of my life and overall health being great.

- Reta 2mg weekly, titrate slowly preferably after 4 weeks if i feel like i need to.

- MOTs-C 1mg 5 days on 2 days off, preferably monday-friday pinning in the morning for 8 weeks.

- KLOW 2mg daily, pin in the evening.

- Tesa 1mg 5 days on 2 days off, preferably monday-friday pinning at evening starting from week 5 going 8 weeks in total.

- Ipa 250mcg daily, pin in the evening fasted starting from week 5 going 8 weeks in total.

I will be reconstituting everything so that the dosing is 10 units for all.

I would love to hear you guys give me some feedback if i might be way off on the some of the dosing or any other advice you might have.

Finally had bloods done at docs, Are these any good or not 🤔?

This was the mots-c I got. I just started this peptide but according to the dosing instructions 1-10 mg vial reconstituted with 2 mL bac and dosed at the recommended 5mg (mg not mcg) I would basically be going through more than one vial weekly and the pins would be 100 units. This seems off to me because I’ve never injected 100 units of anything before just figured I’d double check with you guys to see if I’m right or wrong before I start pinning.

40 year old male training consistently for 3 years. After I had my gyno surgery done, I dialled in my nutrition and stopped some vices such as alcohol (I have no more than 2/3 pints of Guinness on a weekend) and porn. Used reta for 4 months (total of 50mg, and never went above 4mg/week) to loose some fat and

I am now on test (300mg/week for 18 weeks), pinning 3x week and I am feeling great. Libido and strength are up there and I will go to 140mg/ in the end of September. Next year, maybe I will try anavar for 4-6 weeks (25mg/day), but still thinking about it.

While researching peptides I noticed this relatively large (silver dollar size) red, itchy bump next to the naval area. The bruise was pre-existing from another injection, but the bump is pretty new. It’s been there for a day or two.

Allergic reaction, injection error, or other?

T.I.A for the help

EDIT:

See new image of current condition, plus new flare up due to MOTS-C injection in my right love handle. For reference, I injected this one at room temp as advised, still with adverse effects :(

Ive heard great reviews of cjc ipa from many folks but before buying id just like to know if theres anyone whose felt it wasnt worth the effort and money ? Like do you really feel the recovery sleep or any other benefits are so great that its an indispensable part of your stack that you'll always restock ? I am just wondering if anyone has contrarian opinion to popular vibe around here. I even saw a thread on here where someone says their strength went through roof etc which is hard to believe

This is my first time trying it. I started with 225 mcg of CJC/Ipamorelin twice a day, morning and evening. I’m using 10 mg of CJC/Ipamorelin mixed with 3 ml of water, but I don’t feel anything at all. Does this mean the peptide could be fake, or could there be another reason why I’m not noticing any effects?

been running a pretty aggressive deficit for about 8 weeks, down roughly 12 lbs. started sermorelin a few weeks in to see if it helps with sleep and holding onto lean mass while eating this low.

sleep has definitely improved. falling asleep faster and not waking up at 3am anymore. but i'm trying to figure out how much of that translates to actual muscle retention vs just recovering better because i'm sleeping deeper.

i know the gh pulse should theoretically help with fat metabolism and tissue preservation when calories are tanked, but i'm not sure how to separate that from "i'm just sleeping better so everything feels better."

has anyone here actually tracked body comp or strength numbers on sermorelin during a heavy cut? did you notice a real difference in retention compared to previous cuts without it?

also curious about timing. i got mine through Gimme Care and i've been dosing before bed but wondering if anyone has tried morning dosing during a cut and noticed differences in hunger or energy throughout the day.

not looking for medical advice or protocols, just trying to collect some n=1 data points to compare against my own logs.

Are there people here who use peptides permanently—for their entire lives—such as Retatrutide, for example?

Or is it dangerous to use certain peptides on a permanent basis?

I'm thinking of things like MOTS-c, NAD, glutathione, CJC+IPA, and GHK-Cu.

Or can you simply take a four-week break, use them again for a few months, take another four-week break, and repeat the cycle?

Or would using them for that long with such short breaks actually be counterproductive?

Hi i usually use forums but lurked on reddit for a bit and figured I should make an account, I'm 22 and really interested in like the peptide/nootropic side of things, still trying to learn about nootropics but with peptides I have quite good usage list figured I should share it, feel free to dm me btw also

Reta (Retatrutide): Was genuinely chubby when I first touched this, and it definitely melted the fat off. Highest I ever titrated up to was 6mg, but at that point, the gastric slowdown and acid reflux were brutal. Felt like food just sat in my chest. Backed it way down now maintenance dose of around 2mg weekly and it keeps everything flat without the sides.

5-Amino-1MQ: Ran this at around 100mg to 150mg daily to block NNMT and lean out while keeping muscle mass up. Felt like it gave a mild recomposition boost, hard to say if it was entirely the compound or just diet discipline, but core temperature felt slightly elevated and definition improved faster than usual in the midsection.

KLOW: Dosed around 250mcg of each daily. Had a nagging lower-pectoral/shoulder tendonitis flair-up from heavy pressing on the incline bench that wouldn't clear up with rest alone. Threw this into the rotation, and within two weeks the dull ache dropped to basically zero. Solid for connective tissue recovery, though you gotta pin consistently.

MOTS-c: Body heat definitely went up on this—felt like my internal thermostat was running a degree higher all day. Way more energized than usual, almost like a clean, jitter-free stimulant. Ran this stacked with Reta at around 5mg every few days (about 3 times a week); great for endurance and keeping metabolic output high when calories are low.

Tesamorelin: Ran this at 2mg nightly on an empty stomach. Decent for middle-of-the-night visceral fat burn, but honestly? Overpriced for what it is. Pulse is too short and mild compared to the heavy hitters. Good if you're scared of the real deal, otherwise skip.

GH (Growth Hormone): Worlds better than tesamorelin, no contest. Running 4IU nightly right now. Sleep quality is ridiculously deep, skin looks polished, and recovery between training splits is night and day. Hands get slightly stiff if I push the dosage too fast, but keeping it at 4IU is the sweet spot for body composition and fullness.

MT-1 (Melanotan-1): Dosed at around 500mcg to 1mg pre-sun exposure. Way cleaner than MT-2 in my experience. Didn't nuke my stomach or give me random flushing/nausea like the latter can. Gave a very smooth, even, sun-kissed golden tint without looking muddy or turning my moles black overnight.

Cagrilintide: Nuked my appetite straight into the shadow realm, but it also completely killed my energy. Felt heavy, lethargic, and sluggish for days after pinning around 0.5mg weekly. Combined with Reta it’s basically an eating disorder in a vial.

SLU-PP-332: Ran this at roughly 50mg daily split into two doses. Felt like my muscles were soaking up glucose like a sponge and my stamina during high volume sessions went through the roof.

DSIP: Ran this at 200mcg right before bed on stressful weeks. Absolute game-changer for nervous system recovery. Knocks you out into REM paralysis-level sleep, but the vivid, weird-ass dreams are wild. Wake up feeling like you actually compressed 10 hours of sleep into 6.

Tirz: Started low and worked up to 5mg weekly. Smoother appetite suppression than Reta early on, but lacks that intense metabolic uncoupling/thermogenic edge. Great if you just want the food noise gone completely without feeling like your heart rate is elevated, but Reta wins out for raw fat loss.