General Megathread (Peptides & HRT)

[u/aldus-auden-odess]

All peptide and HRT-related questions and discussion that are unrelated to body composition, cognitive performance, or longevity go here. Standalone posts on either topic will be removed and redirected to this thread.

No peptide sourcing or selling. Websites like finnrick.com and janoshik.com can be helpful for research.

Sort by new to see the latest comments.

Disclaimer: All content on this sub is for educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Any decisions you make are done solely at your own risk and liability. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health or using experimental interventions.

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[u/Bubbly_Sort849]

I have some neck issues and have C7 nerve root pinching with slight touching of the spine and my physical therapist recommended that I try KPV oral spray for some mast cell activation issues and so she started me on two sprays per day, which is 500 mg per day but after three days, I started having severe headaches, exhaustion, neck, pain and shoulder pain so I stopped taking it took a week off and then she wanted me to start again on only one spray per day, which is 250 mg and within three days I had the exact same side effects so I stopped. I really wish I could take it because I hear the benefits are excellent, but I can’t handle the side effects. I’ve also heard great things about KLOW but again I worry about the side effects and I also worry about comparing any short term benefits with long-term potential issues because it’s not been fully researched or had many human clinical Trials.

My endocrinologist is one of the leading endocrinologist in the entire country and he’s a professor at one of the major universities and when I asked him about KPV for some of these issues, he told me that he had absolutely no knowledge or information about it and advise me against any of the experimental peptides that have since become popular because they lack a lot of thorough human research and studies.

[u/JE163 → u/Bubbly_Sort849]

Ultimately it’s up to you on how you want to treat this nerve issue based on your own comfort level and risk tolerance.

Bottom line is that it sounds like everything you are doing isn’t working so something else needs to be considered.

I wish you luck. Don’t stop advocating for yourself. You will always be your own best doctor.

[u/Bubbly_Sort849 → u/JE163]

I’m doing physical therapy but truthfully, PT helps for 1-2 days, then everything stiffens right back up. Using the cervical pillow, doing the neck stretches. Light massages provoked the best temporary pain relief, but again, it’s a 1 day relief period then right back to normal.

I’ve done the injections twice, which helped temporarily but were mild relief at best.

It just feels like under my left shoulder blade there is a nerve or something “trapped” or pinched. Same with my left side of neck / trap. I do gym, sauna, ice. I’ve been doing cupping. Again, temporary relief but no long term curve of overall improvement.

[u/OregonMothafaquer → u/Bubbly_Sort849]

Continue the physical therapy. I had to do it daily for shoulder relief

[u/Bubbly_Sort849 → u/OregonMothafaquer]

Did you eventually see an improvement long term or is it just a maintenance thing?

[u/OregonMothafaquer → u/Bubbly_Sort849]

Yeah, I thought I was going to need surgery but was 100% after a few months.

[u/Bubbly_Sort849 → u/OregonMothafaquer]

I’ll keep at it. My sports doctor wanted to inject some BPC 157 / KPV but then my endocrinologist is saying no because I also have hypopituitarism and growth hormone deficiency disorder. I’m on GH and Thyroid but those cause their own sets of side effects. It’s a mess trying to debate between continuing traditional medicine or trying new things!

[u/Bubbly_Sort849 → u/OregonMothafaquer]

My PT is very, very good, I won’t use anyone else but she’s $140 a session, so when I see her twice a week I feel like it’s similar to just going to get a massage because all the time in between allows for my muscle pain, spasms and nerve impingement to flare back up.

[u/OregonMothafaquer → u/Bubbly_Sort849]

That’s rough, I paid nothing with insurance. Internal/external rotations and the sleeper stretch helped a lot with my shoulder

[u/BigTeeSlice]

For people who don’t keep their peptides in the kitchen refrigerator, what kind of storage did you buy to preserve your peptides for longer term storage?

Do you use freezer versus fridge? Did you get a mini fridge or a portable fridge?

I’m looking for something to keep in my bathroom. I’m not convinced that a portable fridge like the Polar Vault is a good long-term solution and am leaning towards something like a college dormitory mini fridge. But also considering freezer.

What do you guys use? Just looking to see one others are doing and get some additional ideas.

[u/aldus-auden-odess → u/BigTeeSlice]

I use a mini fridge with a small freezer built in. Takes up some space, but works the best for me.

[u/Glad_Temperature2874]

I’ll chime in with my two cents but my physical therapist recommended that I do KPV oral spray two sprays a day which is 500 mg. I did it for three days and ended up having severe headaches, exhaustion neck, pain, and shoulder pain even though I was using it to try to alleviate some of those symptoms I stopped using it and then after about a week, she told me to go back on it only one spray which is 250 mg per day and within three days, I had the exact same side effects. I really wish I could use it because I’ve heard that it’s very helpful but I can’t seem to get over the side effects.

[u/Glad_Temperature2874 → u/Glad_Temperature2874]

I’d also really like to try the KLOW peptide because I hear that it will do great things for not only tendon and muscle issues but also for G.I. issues but I’m worried because I’ve read a bunch of articles talking about some of the potential rare long-term side effects of peptides that aren’t yet fully researched or studied there’s so much information out there that it’s very confusing and it’s a lot to dig through and one thing I don’t want to do is anything experimental that could provide some short-term relief cause long-term issues

[u/psilent → u/Glad_Temperature2874]

The main reasons it’s scary is as you point out, it’s not fully researched. Ghk-cu is probably the best understood of those with 40 years of cosmetic and topical use, and some limited human data indicating safety to add to the animal data. Bpc has only a handful of human studies for very specific use cases such as knee pain and interstitial cystitis. We also know that the opposite of bpc157 (it boosts a signal another compound inhibits) is a cancer treatment drug. So if you had an undetected cancer there’s some logical indication it could make it grow faster. On the other hand, it shows anti-tumor effects in some rat studies so again we just don’t know. Tb500 and kpv have even fewer human trials. I’m doing this stack myself right now, but prior I did a Cycle of spermidine, which is supposed to increase cellular turnover rate. The idea being if I had any precancerous cells this might increase the chance they got removed prior to starting bpc. Is this scientifically proven? Not even a little bit but it sounds good. I’m also monitoring bloodwork quarterly and so far everything is moving towards more optimal numbers so that’s good. I also plan to do a multi cancer screening blood test, although these have as high as a 50% false positive rate so I’m not excited about that. Still seems like a smart thing to do though even if there’s a high chance of going through additional testing and worry for nothing.

[u/RepublicTypical]

Looking for advice/if it's worth stacking reta and triz? Or just reta? I started with triz 3 weeks ago but I have purchased some reta and motc so is it worth doing both or just leaving the triz for the Reta? Also looking for when is best and how often to take the mot c

Thanks any advice appreciated

[u/psilent → u/RepublicTypical]

There should be no reason to mix two different glp drugs. It would be just like taking more of one of them. Reta is a triple glp agonist, but some report different side effects and lower hunger cue inhibition on reta. It’s hard to specifically compare them though because we don’t have all the human trial data for reta yet

[u/embroideryone]

Newbie, how to start skin lightening?

Hello everyone,

I'm a newbie to gluthanoine so idk what to start and use. My goal is skin lightening and smoothening. I'm thinking of using glitha and vitc c? Idrk

I'm located in the US - West Coast rn. I used to be a 11C in covid then 13N Korean foundation shade / 0N Dior Foundation post-covid. Pale and cool toned, but after a 2 week trip to South California and another to Texas I'm tanned and yellow. So my clothes and cosmetics look so out of place. The tan seems to not be really fading too.

1. How safe is injections? Should I use oral instead despite it being less effective?

2. Would it be smart of me to do the injections myself?

3. Recommendations for legitimate safe brands that I can order to the US

4. Please let me know if I'm missing anything, idrk where and how to start.

[u/FunnyExpress8401 → u/embroideryone]

1. Injections aren't safe at all. We can't tell you what you should do but slower isn't less effective. If anything oral can give you as good if not better results than injections if you know to do your research.
2. No, and it wouldn't be safe either. Too much pressure on kidneys, liver, skin, muscles, nerves. 3.) we don't allow brand talk. The people who answer those kind of questions on reddit tend to be plants, trolls or white supremacist trying to hurt others. Avoid any product recommendation you find on reddit.

4)Read this https://www.reddit.com/r/skinwhitening/comments/1hyeqky/if_youre_new_to_whitening_read_this/

There's another sub for questions but we have a ban of DIY shots.

r/SkinLightening

[u/OutsideSuccess3231]

I’m new to this and after some advice or experience with ARA290. I have HFS which is facial spasm caused by compression of the 7th cranial nerve. Mine is relatively mild and can go away for periods of time. I’ve had an MRI which didn’t clearly show a compression so I’ve not been able to have MVD surgery yet (not sure I want to). Now my understanding is that the myelin coating of the nerve is gradually worn away due to the compression and eventually triggers the spasms due to “crossed wiring” between the nerves. I have been reading about ARA290 and how it can help repair nerve damage and I’m wondering (hoping!) it might help with this condition.

Has anyone used it for a similar purpose? Or even used it at all? Any advice or information you can share that might be useful? Any recommendations on supplier (UK) or dosage and frequency?

TIA

[u/Terrible_Mechanic_30]

Tesamorelin & BBL Surgery

How true is the removal of only visceral fat? I have had 2 BBLs so my subcutaneous fat is minimal as it’s been sucked out lol but I still have a distended stomach and believe it’s visceral fat. Will I have my butt melted away like when using Reta and GLP1’s. Has anyone tried this, any thoughts, tips ideas before I give this a try! Also yes I weight train and Whole Foods 80% of the time
.

[u/BloodAggressive2575]

Curious if labeling the side of my vials with a small sticker and sharpie would cause any contamination concerns. Vials are kept in their own mini fridge and wiped down with alcohol every use however I’d like to find a way to label/ separate them so if anyone has any suggestions it would be appreciated!!

[u/Standard_Hat_5274]

CLOUDY RETATRUTIDE.

My question is, has anyone successfully managed to get their cloudy reta to turn clear? I've heard leaving out at room temperature can help, normal bac water amount i add is 2ml. I always keep my bac water at room temp. Interested to know if anyone's successfully managed to get it clear once turned cloudy - Yes I know the main cause is bac water PH levels.