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Notes -
I've never been shy about being an advocate for peptides. It's ironic, however, that despite me having to gently cajole and harrass and nag my brother to try them given all the benefits I've gotten, once he started using them he fully went head-first down that rabbit hole. While I've been content to gently climb down that rock face, he skipped all the steps inbetween and went straight for cliff-diving into the waters below.
During his research, he noted not only alternatives to Semaglutide in terms of hunger suppressants, but also what could be best termed as 'rest months', where taking a month or two off of Semaglutide would help to reset it's effectiveness as well as encourage further weight loss.
A few months back, he decided to do just that; eschewing his normal Semaglutide, he instead opted for a two-month dosage of Cagrilintide, which operates in suppressing hunger in a different manner than Semaglutide. Cagrilintide isn't a GLP-1 agonist; instead, it works by mimicking the hormone amylin. What this means is that, in theory, someone whom isn't afraid of taking peptides can let thier body rest from taking an GLP-1 agonist, while still getting similar results.
Once back on Semaglutide, the end results spoke for themselves. Before taking Cagrilintide, he had hit a rough plateau of a weight around 195 to 198 - now, his lowest recorded weight is around 186, and it shows very much in terms of his overall body shape. Why this is so remarkable is because he started taking Semaglutide when he was 245, and in high school, his weight was 215 - a barrier he was never able to get past via dieting. He has, quite literally, never been at this weight in his entire adult life.
Yay for peptides.
Naturally, being on Semaglutide longer than him, I decided to do similar, having been stuck at my expected weight plateau.
Speaking now from experience, Cagrilintide is very much a different beast than Semaglutide. I described semagltuide in the past as a sort of suppressor between I and the hunger - present, yet not overwhelming and easily ignore. Cagrilintide, however, killed the sense of hunger entirely, so much so I became just a tad worried about my food intake. Also of note, where people have described being on Semaglutide and not being able to stomach as much alcohol anymore, something that I was never afflicted by, being on Cagrilintide meant things I could drink without issue now damn near put me flat on my ass, which was quite the experience!
While taking Cagrilintide proved effective by atleast keeping my weight even-keel, I could also tell that I had less energy than when I was on Semaglutide, though it wasn't a dramatic shift. Sadly, roughly one month in, another side-effect arose - bruising at the injection site. Apparently, I'm one of the small number where that can arise, though I find it interesting that it took roughly a month before such symptoms arose.
So. Cagrilintide was out; I had planned for an initial 8-week regime, now cut down to 5. So I've been roughly 2 weeks free of any peptide, and what I find remarkable is that the changes I noted from after taking Semaglutide has persisted. Hunger is much easier to manage, water still retards hunger(this was never the case before taking Semaglutide), food intake is much slower even when I'm hungry, and skipping meals without any dramatic side effect is now possible should I feel the need to do so.
I am not a medical doctor in any way, shape, or form. Not even close; my college degrees dealt with numbers, not the flesh. So any postulation on my part is pure theory and supposition.
But.
I'm begining to suspect that the right stack of peptides for people can have longer-term beneficial alterations than what's going on with the surface, that they can actually shift, change, alter, augment, and repair the body in unexpected ways, some beneifical, some not. I don't ever expect to stop taking Semaglutide - again, I like the benefits it gives above and beyond the weight loss - but there is an iota of reassurance that, should a black swan event occur and I'm no longer able to source peptides that I won't be out too much of a loss.
Naturally, I could be wrong. I only have a single data point - me - and testing long term effects of peptide injections would require me to stop taking said injections for much longer, whereas I plan to resume Semaglutide in roughly 2 weeks or so.
Here's hoping I can get out of peptides what my brother got. Heh.
(TLDR: If you're still on the fence about taking peptides, just do it.)
Obligatory comment that "Peptides" as a category characterizes an enormous group of varied substances, from insulin to calcitonin to parathyroid hormone, that have different qualities, benefits, and risks.
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I got off the fence thanks to posts like this praising GLPs. In particular, thank you @erwgv3g34 for your post on Cremieux Recueil.
I'm getting compounded tirzepatide shipped to me at the moment. What I really wanted was retatrutide, but I'm too scared to buy the peptides without an intermediary pharmacy verifying the quality. I expect reta to eventually be available to compunding pharmacies at some point, so I will stock up on reta then if tirz is no longer effective for me.
While waiting for Reta, I might try your trick of a month off and using Cagrilintide as an alternative. So many options these days.
FWIW I went with Reta from a semi-sketchy source (I'll share in message, though the site I bought from has different sources now.) and it went fine. I picked a supplier that had respectable (but not the most amazing/expensive) reviews and COAs (too cheap and lazy to test the batch that I received) and it's been fine. If anything, the only issue I've had has been with inconsistent dosing (This was noted in the COAs; purity tends to be good from batch to batch but the suppliers have a habit of overdelivering on dosage.) and my own overly aggressive dosing schedule (I was aggressive and it worked, but I felt like shit a lot of the time before I reached a dose that I've stuck with. Most of that "feeling like shit" was just the result of a very aggressive calorie deficit. I didn't want to eat but I was tired AF and constantly cold.).
As for results, I lost 60lbs in 5 months and going on/off have hit a sort of plateau and not really been trying since then. I might go for another 10-15lbs but beyond that (and maybe then) I'd be venturing too far into "skinny nerd" territory. For reference, I'm currently 175lbs at 6'1.
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Do you get your peptides gray market, and if so, where?
Any suggestions for someone who has never been 200# and doesn't need to lose weight? GHK-Cu? TB-500? BPC-157?
Online supplier.
As I mentioned in my post, my brother would know more - the only other peptide I've taken is the BPC-157 / TB-500 blend for healing purposes, and oh boy does it work.
If you have any persistent/long term injuries and you don't mind site injections, I'd give that a shot.
Sorry to be a negative nancy but the clinical evidence for BPC-157 is eyebrow raising in a bad way. The best that can be said about it is that it's apparently harmless and that some athletic associations are concerned enough about it to ban it.
But the evidence base for it comes entirely from one lab which also happens to hold the patent on it, and the only pre-registered trial for BPC-157 that was actually done has never published results. This is an extremely low bar of evidence and may as well be interpreted as anti-evidence. They've been investigating BPC-157 since at least 1989!
On the other hand, peptides like Semaglutide, Tirzepatide and Retatrutide have FDA trials that prove their efficacy (though Reta is not officially approved yet). But the gray market sites will sell you a bunch of other peptides while you're there and the rest of them are not nearly as well established.
Interesting. I can only go by my personal experience in that said peptide has been surprisingly beneficial - I did come into it with skepticism in mind, nor have I noted any detrimental side effects.
I'm just going to say it, I think the interest in "peptides" is a category error.
"Peptide" is a chemical class, not a mechanism. Insulin is a peptide, so is vancomycin. Saying "I'm on peptides" is about as informative as saying "I'm on molecules".
I'm not only complaining about semantics though.
You almost certainly mean "exciting peptides synthesized in China sold on gray market sites" that appeal to bro scientists, which, fine.
The one case where the bro scientists are genuinely ahead of orthodoxy is Retatrutide: real phase 3 data, ~28% weight loss, and the only way to get it is by constituting your own freeze dried vials you ordered for "research purposes only" from a gray market supplier.
But that's the exception. The rest of the peptides being sold on gray market (that aren't already FDA approved drugs available cheaper than pharma out of pocket/gatekept by insurance) are very unfounded. They're coasting off the legitimacy of GLP-1s.
There are some myostatin inhibitors, if validated, that sound like they are going to be crazy for muscle growth.
I wonder if the facts play out that the myostatin inhibitors you're thinking of could increase lean muscle mass or volume but have nearly no effect on strength (nonfunctional hypertrophy) if people would still want to use them. This could also fuck up things like tendons due to increased load due to perceived badassery where there is none.
If no one could guess I am skeptical about trying to hack the body in these ways--not in principle but in our new era of bro science based on anecdata instead of empirical studies, clinical trials, and third thing goes here. People on this very board will doubt statins (which have had many, many studies done on their efficacy, have improved over the years, and, while not completely safe, are about as safe as any drug at the population level) yet embrace peptides from China with zero regulation or assurance that they contain what they are supposed to contain, based on a few good stories of people who've used them for almost a year, and wow.
I'm probably wrong. I sound as if I am dismissing OP and everyone in here, but I do not mean to do so. It is interesting though to see how people swallow whole perspectives that are based on flimsy evidence and anecdotes when it suits them or is in line with what they wish to believe, yet if a cause they abhor were to offer up the same type of data as proof they would scoff and call for a wrecking ball to universities. Or whatever.
(Full disclosure: Universities do seem to suck in their current iteration. I do not deny it. I am rather pointing out an inconsistency, and one that I would realize I am probably equally guilty of were I a bit more self-aware.)
I'm not on the Chinese mystery powder train myself. I have doubts that most of these substances will pan out as people hope. However, I'm all in favor of bro science people using themselves as guinea pigs for my education and entertainment.
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Fingers crossed they pan out!
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Now you're speaking my language.
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Erm, how's it for fibrous collagen plaques? Asking for a friend, natch...
I wouldn't know, personally; my experience involved healing an old knee injury(not debilitating, just worrying) and alleviating back/muscle pain for several hours after a series of very questionable decisions and learning that I've been training completely wrong for a very long time and I need to fix all my stuff.
As long as you know how to reconstitute peptides and know a good source, it's so cheap you might as well roll the bones and see what happens.
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Thanks for sharing. Are you still able to exercise and build (or at least maintain) muscle while taking peptides, or is it purely for slimming down?
edit: second question, how do you get them? do you go through an actual doctor, or one of the sketchy online services?
And in reply to your second question, yes, it's an online supplier.
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It is surely the shady online services, and sometimes even cutting out the shady middlemen to buy direct from shady Chinese suppliers. It's the only way to get retatrutide at the moment. For tirzepatide, online compunding pharmacies abound. I don't think most people prefer semaglutide when it has been outclassed by the reta and tirz.
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I've not had problems building up muscle while tasking said peptides, but I will admit with a caveat that I'm exercising every day by this point, except for saturdays - roughly walking 9 to 10 miles a week and training in karate tuesday/thursday.
My brother walks more - and he does a several hour workout every sunday, and he's had no issue building up muscle to the point I've actively noticed.
I'm not sure where the chestnut of 'you can't build muscle while on peptides' began. Either that, or I and my brother are just freaks of nature. Take your pick.
10 miles a week is 16 km. Which is, given a stride length of 75cm, around 3000 steps a day on average. Not a lot.
I only do walking 3 days out of the week - the other 2 are when I'm training. I and my brother walk together, hence why he racks up more miles.
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What do you mean by letting their body rest from taking semaglutide? Is that a real thing or what.
I'm on tirzepatide and expect to be on it for the rest of my life, or until something better and more permanent comes along. Which is totally fine with me because the results have been a godsend.
I understand a non-trivial number of people don't regain 100% of their weight when they discontinue, but I have so much anxiety over my weight (and associated worsening health indicators that correlate with higher weight) that I do not want to fuck around with the thing that's actually, finally working.
My own progression on tirzepatide was that running and lifting was harder to do while I was actively losing weight but once I stabilized at certain weight at a certain dose I was able to rack up PR again. That seems under-observed and it makes me wonder if people worry that the bit of sluggishness that comes from going on them will be a permanent thing.
Keep in mind that I'm only going off of second-hand forum posting, but from what I've read, people whom have been taking GLP-1 agonists have had to, for whatever reason, stop taking them for a month or so - and when they got back on, they noticed they started loosing more weight compared to before.
Plus, it's also what my brother did, so, again. Small data point, not sure if it's a trend. If I manage to get over my current plateau once I get back on semaglutide, I'll probably be letting people know about it.
As for sluggishness, I've never had that issue. If anything, I had more energy than ever on SG - whereas my brother reported having a big boost of energy on Cangrilitide, and I never experienced such. Go figure.
Interesting. I wonder what mechanism could explain that.
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As far as I'm aware, there's nothing to be gained by taking time off GLP-1 drugs. They're not tolerance forming. They're not habit forming either.
On the contrary, the last paper I recall reading said that people gained back 2/3rds of the lost weight within a year, probably in the context of semaglutide. I've heard people say that this is a knock against it, which is pants-on-head retarded. Most drugs stop working when you don't take them. It's not an antibiotic (which you hopefully don't need by the time you stop the course).
Agreed.
For GLP-1s, if you don't taper off the dosage and replace the hyperpalatable foods in your house with decent stuff while you have the temporary self-control, you'll gain the weight back. Has nothing to do with the drug and everything to do with the individual.
"Temporary self-control" implies it gives me discipline or something. It doesn't. The best way I can describe it is it's 9:30am and I just finished my morning standup meeting or whatever and although the idea of going out for a latte and having a croissant may pop into my head just the same, but there's no hit of dopamine that makes me put my shoes on and head out the front door unless I exert an enormous amount of willpower to stop it. Instead the thought is just an idea with no urgency.
It's not even a struggle. Quite the opposite. It would actually be a struggle to go out and eat despite, since the thought of eating when I'm not actively hungry is so boring.
I would love to believe this is reprogramming me, but I wouldn't be surprised if missing a few weeks of doses brings the urgency behind those intrusive food thoughts back.
I've taken GLP-1s for a single dose so I know exactly what you're describing. It led me to having smaller portions for 3-4 months. I've now backslid a bit and had to come up with more exercise to compensate.
That first hit is the best.
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This is how I feel on keto. Even just a couple of days with very low carbs and no sugar takes me from "3/4 of a pizza" guy to "did I remember to eat once today, or twice?"
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How does that square with the fact that you need to keep increasing the dose (albeit not forever)?
I started on a very low dose myself (<1mg) but am having to increase it because my weight loss is plateauing.
Because you keep asking for more weight loss?
To make up numbers:
Let's say x amount of semaglutide suppresses appetite to a degree that accounts for y kg of lost weight for the average person. They plateau there.
Then they want to lose more weight, and go on to take take 2x of the drug and lose 2y of the weight before plateauing again.
That... is the least surprising thing I can imagine. It would be bad if there wasn't a reliable dose-response curve, or if a single dose of a GLP-1 agonist meant that you lose your appetite completely. We aren't trying to induce total anorexia.
It would be something entirely different if you had lost Y weight on X, and then notice that while you're on your regular dose, the weight crept up. That is not impossible, but it is not typical either. That phenomenon would invite questions about tolerance at a physiological level.
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Agreed! Anyone who has actually lost weight through diet and or exercise knows full. well you also regain the weight when you stop doing it. So I don't consider this a knock against the drugs either, they are miracle drugs because they are infinitely easier to tolerate and, I don't know about anyone else, but whenever I've lost substantial amounts of weight from dieting and exercise, I feel fucking hungry all the time and really tired and miserable. There's no "maintaining" that isn't suffering. whereas I just don't on GLPs
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