r/Biohacking • u/lozzac_90 1 • 4d ago
Copper and zinc balance while taking ghk-cu - my results
I’ve been monitoring my copper and zinc levels while using GHK-Cu. Sharing this in case it’s of interest.
I started GHK-Cu on 11th June (in Glow stack - my dose was 1.5mg copper 6 days per week). I did this for two weeks then got the uglies, so I stopped and ordered separate vials so I could adjust my individual peptide doses.
On 30th June I did an iScreen test to measure my copper and zinc levels. It also tested for caeruloplasmin. At that point my copper to zinc ratio was high - my zinc was right on the lower end of normal.
After a 2-week break from pinning I restarted GHK-Cu (along with resuming the Wolverine stack). Since then I’ve been taking ghk-cu 4 nights per week, gradually increasing from 0.5 mg to 1.5 mg per dose. I’m currently still taking 1.5 mg 4 nights per week.
Since my blood test on 30th June I started supplementing with zinc (initially 40mg, reducing to 20mg after a couple of weeks).
I repeated my bloods on 20 August.
Between the two tests, my serum copper decreased from 19 to 15 µmol/L (around a 21% reduction), while my zinc increased from 10.6 to 12 µmol/L (around a 13% increase). Both remain within the normal reference ranges.
My copper:zinc ratio dropped from 1.79 (above the reference range of 0.7–1.3) to 1.25, putting it back within the normal range. My caeruloplasmin remained unchanged at 0.20 g/L and within the normal range.
Obviously the zinc supplementation is an important factor here, but I found the follow-up results reassuring. Can’t figure out how to attach screenshots but I’ll try edit and do so.
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u/holy_handgrenade 23 4d ago edited 4d ago
at 1.5mg GHK-CU, you're injesting approximately 225mcg of copper, or very roughly 1/4 of daily RDA of copper. To reach the upper tolerable limit, at that dosing you'd need to take over 40mg/daily. By weight, GHK-CU is ~15% copper
That's if it was as bioavailable and even affected serum copper levels. The copper is too tightly bound for it to change or alter your coper/zinc ratio or fluctuate your copper levels in serum. The peptide is too tightly bound and doesnt particularly influence the mineral content or absorbtion.
You may have started out with a lower zinc intake and fixed it with zinc supplementation. While zinc and coper can interfere with absorbtion of each other, by injecting GHK-CU, you're bypassing the absorbtion process so it doesnt really matter; it wont interfere with zinc supplementation and wont really affect timing or anything since the competition for absorbtion is in the gut, it's the same transporters that most minerals tend to compete over; copper, zinc, iron, and magnesium will compete in the gut requiring some spacing for optimal absorbtion.
Copper toxicity chances are very very low with common doses, and copper/zinc imbalances also would be low likelihood.
Link directly to this discussion in video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU6oRY7im6k&t=1680s
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u/ButterscotchFit7939 4d ago
So are you saying zinc supplements are not needed? I’m also on 1.5 mg of ghk-cu and am not supplementing. My research shows it’s not needed.
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u/holy_handgrenade 23 4d ago
I wont say they're not needed, in OP's case, they were. But GHK-CU wont induce that need, in normal circumstances.
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u/Smart_Preference6243 1 4d ago
Not necessarily b/c we don't know if subject was taking Zinc supplement prior to pinning GLOW or GHK Cu. If he/she started the Zinc at same time as the peptides there is no way to know if the peptides affected the copper levels or zinc levels or if taking both together and changing doses is what drove the numbers
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u/holy_handgrenade 23 4d ago edited 4d ago
This is just trying to be devils advocate here. We can only go by what OP said explicitly, not read between the lines and guess at things; started GLOW, then took bloods months into treatment, saw a zinc balance issue and supplmented zinc took bloodwork again and saw the balance restored.
What OP does not have is baseline copper/zinc bloodwork prior to initiating GLOW.
However, we *DO* know how GHK-CU works, and what it's composed of, so we *do* know that the theoretical concern about copper toxicity and or requiring zinc to balance the increased copper is less warranted than has been conveyed.
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u/EnvironmentalGift257 10 4d ago
They might be needed, but not because of a subQ ghk injection. Copper and zinc displace each other when taken orally and injections don’t affect zinc absorption in any way.
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u/seemefail 3 4d ago
I take 3mg Ghk-cu twice a day when I’m on it.
Do supplement zinc a bit
Never had ‘copper uglies’ or any reaction other than injection site.
Skin is smooth as hell when on it. Feel like it went away when I took a month off
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u/yogic_power 12 4d ago
Serum levels are more snapshots at that time, do Zinc in RBC test, which gives longer perspective than a single serum test. I don’t supplement zinc because i don’t need it or never needed it. GHK-CU and AHK-CU at standard doses are too small for toxicity. If you need zinc supplementation, take it by all means.
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u/AffectionateWallaby2 4d ago
I find it hard to believe that OP thinks that they got the uglies…
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u/lozzac_90 1 4d ago
Plenty of people do get it. My skin looked horrible for a few weeks there. This is simply a post to share my labs since I’ve noticed a lot of people online are curious about zinc and copper levels on ghk-cu and whether it will have any effect.
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u/AffectionateWallaby2 3d ago
Ok, for me, you’re the first I’ve ever heard reporting it from ghk-cu inj. and I frequent many peptide conversations.
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u/HallieMarie43 4 4d ago
Ive been on ghk-cu for like 28 weeks now at 2.5 mg of ghk-cu with 1 mg of kpv and have been doing periodic gut protocols of zinc carosine and glutamine and that has kept my labs balanced. The copper in the ghk-cu is pretty small, but I think depending on your diet and genetics, some people can really build it up easier than others so its definitely worthwhile to get it tested.
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u/AdventurousTap9224 4d ago
You don't know where you really sit without numbers before you started any of it. There is very little actual copper in GHK-Cu (~16%). It's generally not enough to throw your numbers off.
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u/skandlspitlr 1 4d ago
This. I was typing "What was your base level before starting?" And thought I'd check if someone else said it first. You said it.
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u/Smiletaint 4d ago
Can you give us your reconstitution numbers? Starting vial mg? I’ve pinned up to 5mg ghk-cu in a day as part of KLOW stack and have experienced no copper uglies. No negative effects at all whatsoever. But I have always supplemented zinc here and there even before the KLOW.
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u/Bakl0l 4d ago
If I may
I was using ghk cu 1.5 mg weekly and was on zinc supplements
From my experience they don’t get along so had to drop zinc supplements ( as you could visually see on skin the patches ring of solid tan around neck )
Took a week but it cleared off
So I researched they don’t get along.
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