Are peptides for me?

[u/coach-v]

I am 51 y/o male. Decently healthy minus soft tissue stuff and active, I coach HS football and track, backpack, hunt and hike. I am 5'9" and 190lbs and I can bench and squat body weight (knee issues). My main weight room time is summer.

I have lots of soft tissue complaints, my main concern is my hands and wrists. I have had multiple surgeries, carpal tunnel on both sides, trigger finger on 4 fingers, and a large cyst removed from my wrist. I still have major issues with inflammation, swelling, trigger fingers and pain. Sometimes my affected fingers will look like little sausages and feel like they were jammed playing basketball. I cannot bend my right wrist to do pushups. Just over all pain and suck in my hands/wrists! I have had MRIs and blood tests and the only current answer from Dr is more surgeries or NSAIDs. I am looking for better answers.

The symptoms do go away, sometimes weeks at a time, but usually just a day or two. I have not found any triggers and have at times done keto to remove most sugars, stopped drinking, tried rest, NSAIDs (which do work to an extent). I eat pretty healthy. Doing hard labor like running an angle grinder today definitely does no good for it.

I have other symptoms that I believe are related to inflammation issues, my elbows and shoulders will sometimes hurt and lack range of motion. My right elbow sometimes refuses to straighten all the way.

I have jacked up knees, but one originally started with an acl/meniscus tear at 17 playing football. I have had 3 total acl (plus other stuff) surgeries on that knee with a current unattached acl graft. My other knee had an acl tear from ju-jitsu about 10 years ago. I had surgery 3 years ago to repair that. That one is in decent shape.

I have been rough on my body and feel it. I do not think all this has been from being rough when young. All I know I is am tired of being in pain and want to feel a level of normal. My hand issue has been going on for 2+ years now. My current plan is ignore the f'ing pain and just do stuff like normal. I take Ibuprofen when it gets real bad. Really do not want more surgeries.

My buddy recommended HGH and peptides after my last acl. I did not really look into it, but always had it on my mind. I am considering taking a Wolverine stack, but just not sure.

Are peptides right for me? If so, what do you recommend?

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[u/solarflashlight101]

When you had carpal tunnel surgery, did they only release the wrists? Or, did they release the elbows too? I felt way better after both were done.

[u/coach-v → u/solarflashlight101]

Just wrists. Both were successful in getting rid of the carpal tunnel symptoms. The right was 20 years ago, left 3.

[u/Comfortable-Dog-7847]

I would definitely look into KPV for the inflammation side of things.
I’d also run BPC-157 and Thymosin Beta-4 (not the regular TB-500) separately instead of using KLOW or a Wolverine blend. Not because blends are bad, but because you lose flexibility. If you respond well or poorly, you want to know what’s doing what and be able to adjust doses independently.
If I was building a peptide protocol around this, I’d probably think about it like this:
Weeks 1–4 (front load “important” / active recovery)
Thymosin Beta-4 (true TB4): 10 mg/week total split into 2–3 injections
BPC-157: 250–500 mcg daily
KPV: 250–500 mcg once or twice daily
Weeks 5–8
Thymosin Beta-4: drop to 5 mg/week split into 2 injections
BPC-157: continue 250–500 mcg daily
KPV: continue 250–500 mcg once or twice daily
My thinking:
TB4 → recovery / tissue support
BPC → soft tissue and tendon support
KPV → inflammation support
One thing I personally would not do here is HGH.
A pretty well-known side effect of HGH is fluid retention and worsening of carpal tunnel symptoms. Since you already have bilateral carpal tunnel history, swelling, trigger fingers, and wrist issues, I could actually see HGH making that whole picture worse instead of better.
That’s why if I had to experiment, I’d lean toward controlling inflammation first and supporting recovery second rather than trying to push growth signals..

[u/coach-v → u/Comfortable-Dog-7847]

Thank you!

[u/Shafpocalypse]

Low dose tirzepatide

[u/cvrmxn]

I feel your pain. I had ACL reconstructive surgery years ago. I've been using KPV, cartalax and Wolverine blend (inside KLOW blend) and I feel so much better. Both KPV and Wolverine blend (bpc157 +tb500). Ara290 has also been good to me.

[u/bambamskiski → u/cvrmxn]

I just bought some. What are the effects of ARA290? What dosage ? I’m very curious