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Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 14, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Anyone wanna share their peptides/supplements stack that actually does something? My current stack (aside from very basic stuff like Vitamin D):

  • Omega-3 for skin, inflammation, cognition - made a difference for my skin, not sure about anything else, make sure to get high quality one
  • Magnesium Glycinate for sleep - makes it easier to fall asleep, and helps with not feeling dead on wake up on nights when I don't get enough sleep
  • Selank: for anxiety, mood regulation, depression - genuinely makes me feel more happy and stable. I've been going through cycles of rumination, depression and mild panic attacks at night and they've pretty much stopped. I still get negative thoughts at night here and there, but instead of automatically falling into a negative feedback loop I can just observe the thought and move on. This is my first cycle of selank, so not sure how it's gonna go in the future but I'm very surprised to see such noticeable changes, usually with stuff like this changes are marginal.
  • Creatine: had to stop this one for now, but it's great for the gym. I've been reading research on 10gr dose providing visible cognitive benefits, so I will try that instead of 5gr to see if it makes a difference next time I can hop on it.

Daily stuff:

  • 2 caps fish oil
  • Protein shake (2 scoops whey protein)
  • 10g creatine, mixed into my morning protein shake (or 5g morning, 5g evening mixed into my recovery protein on a workout day)
  • 2 multivitamin gummies

On/off:

  • 3 vitamin D tablets when I remember to take them. Quantity not based on anything, but I was in the onset of a nasty-feeling cold a few weeks back and 3 tablets and a nap deleted it.
  • 213 complex - this is what actually got me started on supplements, but I tend to space out when I'm on it because it tends to make me feel like I have a cold. Helped somewhat with my afternoon sleepies but really helped with managing weight, though it's not the most comfortable sensation. Feels like I'm on the verge of uncomfortably full a lot. Also has a melatonin thing to help with sleep and cortisol reduction.

I have a desk job so my physical activity is mostly my kickboxing habit, my supplement "stack" is largely based on the recommendations of my friend who's a sports trainer and I adjusted quantities somewhat based on how I felt after a session. I'd be hard pressed to tell you exactly what benefits each supplement gives me, but I feel better than I've felt in a decade.

Semaglutide for weight-loss and energy.

I've gotten off the horse for megadosing on Fisetien for Reasons(and I really need to get back on) but it remains the one supplement I should never give up simply because every time I megadose at the start of the month, my reaction can vary wildly - from nothing at all to sleepy lethargy as if I'm fighting off an infection to voracrious hunger to - well, you get the picture. It's an odd supplement that always makes me raise an eyebrow.

Creatine is something I'll sample occasionally, and is basically rocket-fuel for training. I tend to use it sparingly, as it's obvious effects wear off pretty quickly.

I've said this here before but I went on creatine and had good gains from it but jfc it gave me the most insane charlie horses in both legs at the same time during hill climbs. I had a few episodes but the worst was stuck on my ass for a few days during a hiking trip as a result before I thought to stop taking it.

Best guess is this was some kind of atypical dehydration related thing exacerbated by the creatine causing excessive muscle tightness but I don't really want to fuck with it anymore. My doctor was totally confused but did order bloods and it showed my creatine kinase levels were elevated for weeks.

I can't stick to anything, but what I've seen results from when I use them in between:

-- Creatine will make me put on ten pounds of mostly muscle instantly.

-- Nutrafol, with persistence, has got my thinning hair looking less thinning. Might not reverse altogether, but I feel like it's buying me time to get to 40 and just shave it all off before it becomes really problematic.

-- Collagen supplements reduce finger strain when I'm climbing a lot

it's buying me time to get to 40 and just shave it all off

Did it at 28. Zero regret.

I rock a Johnny Sins Jason Statham look. "Bald + beard" is a little overplayed, I think. Plus, if you have a jawline, show it off.

We'll see how I look by 40. I've tried buzzing it down to a 2 a few times, and I have an odd shaped head, I feel like I look like a baby, and also like I shouldn't hang out too close to a synagogue.

I get my omega-3 in the form of liquid fish oil. It's absorbed better that way. Tastes horrible though.

I also take D3 (large doses during winter every day, less during summer) and magnesium glycinate in the evening. Sometimes potassium citrate.

Vitamin K2 (trans-menaquinone-7) to make the D3 go where it should in the body.

B12 during periods of less animal product consumption.

I'm intrigued by this Selank thing. First time I've seen it. How did you hear about it?

B12 during periods of less animal product consumption.

I've tried it long time ago, unfortunately gave me really bad hormonal acne (went away after I stopped taking it)

I'm intrigued by this Selank thing. First time I've seen it. How did you hear about it?

It's been around for a long time, I've first read about it 10+ years ago when I was briefly interested in biohacking, but never got around to trying it. There's a 'chinese' peptide craze right now among techies and finance bros, I've finally decided to do a deep dive and try the one that I thought would benefit me most and it turned out pretty good so far.

Looks like Selank is a Russian invention though? If it's been around for that long, it should have been better known and regulated by now. I don't think I'll be able to buy it where I live, except as a 'research chemical'.

Yep, it is Russian and has been around since 1980s, but a lot of other peptides these days come from China and India. I'm assuming USA isn't interested in regulating stuff like that because it's so cheap so can't make much money off it. I also bought mine as 'research chemical' and had to mix it myself.

Hmm. Do you have to prove you're a researcher in any way?

Nope as far as I'm aware. I got mine off ebay, found a seller with lots of recent sales and went with it.