Peptides: two or three at a time, and never more

There are more than a hundred peptides out there now. The ones I’ve used here in Bangkok were picked on the strength of clinical trials and the latest medical research, to meet international safety standards — and then they went through me before anyone else. I’ve used most of them. I run two or three at once, never more. This page is why, told through what I actually took, what it did, and the one I stopped for good.

Jump to: Why only two or three · What I’m running right now · What each one was for · The one I stopped · One I tried for a different reason · The three questions I ask about a vial · What I was asked before I started · What I was told peptides are · Questions I get asked

Why only two or three

The rule here is that we don’t offer anything we haven’t tried on ourselves first. So every one of these has been through me, and that’s the only reason I can write any of this.

Here’s the part that isn’t good for business. Everywhere you look, somebody is selling a stack of twelve things you apparently can’t live without. I don’t agree. You need the few things that are right for you, and they’re different for every person. I can reach any of it, and I still run two or three, in cycles, based on what my body is asking for at the time.

And the unglamorous version: some of what I have access to, I put off for weeks. Not because I doubt it. Because it’s always here, so there’s always next week.

What I’m running right now

Three, which is my ceiling.

Retatrutide — I used it until I reached where I was going, and I’ve stepped down to maintenance.
Tesamorelin — for the deep fat around the organs that nothing else I tried would shift.
Epithalon — for sleep, and the only one where I have a number instead of a feeling.

Ask me again in six months and the list will probably be different. That’s the point of cycles.

What each one was for

I don’t think about peptides one by one. I think about what I was trying to fix.

Recovery and injuries

When I hurt myself in the gym, I inject BPC-157. My shoulder should have cost me several weeks out of the gym. It cost me a few days, and it didn’t turn into one of those injuries that hangs around for months. When I’m injured I run TB-500 alongside it. → BPC-157 · TB-500

My gut

Same compound, different form, different job. When my stomach is off or I’ve been eating badly, I take BPC-157 as a capsule instead. The stomach problem I had went away. → BPC-157

Weight and metabolism

Retatrutide is the one I call a game changer. I’ve tried every generation of this class as it came out, so I’m comparing it against the others, not against nothing. My metabolic markers moved as the fat came off, and day to day it felt like I’d simply forgotten a meal. → Retatrutide

Tesamorelin was a different problem: visceral fat, the kind you can’t pinch. I’d thrown a lot at it without much success, and this one shifted it. → Tesamorelin

Focus

Semax is a nasal spray. Within the first hour, what I notice is simply no fog in my head. Not a buzz. I use it in rounds, with breaks. I’ve also tried brain peptides, to understand them. They feel similar, slower to arrive and longer to last, and these days I do them only now and then. → Semax and brain peptides

Sleep and recovery

CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin I use together, in cycles, for sleep and recovery. → CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin

Epithalon is on my list right now. I wear a ring that tracks my sleep, and the ring said my sleep improved. I trust that more than anything I could tell you about how I felt. → Epithalon

Skin

GHK-Cu, by injection. What moved first wasn’t my face. It was the acne on my arms and back, which cleared fast, within about two to four weeks. Then people started commenting on my skin. → GHK-Cu

The one I stopped

MOTS-c. I had anaphylaxis on it. That was the end of it for me, and it’s the reason it isn’t offered.

This is what the rule looks like when it actually bites. Something goes through me first, and if it causes a problem, it doesn’t go any further. One reaction in one body isn’t a verdict on the molecule, and it isn’t a prediction about yours. It’s just the end of the road for me.

One I tried for a different reason

PT-141 went through me like everything else, but only to check it didn’t cause me problems. It didn’t. I never had the problem it’s meant for, so I can’t tell you what it does. More on its page.

The three questions I ask about a vial

The question I get asked most about peptides is where to get them. I don’t answer “should I” questions, and I’m not going to start here. What I can tell you is what I check.

Everything I use comes as a vial that gets mixed before it’s injected, and I do that part myself. I won’t put amounts or steps on this page. That belongs with a doctor, not a website. What I won’t do is use a vial when I can’t answer three questions about it:

What’s actually in it — the right molecule, in the right sequence, rather than something close to it.
Whether it’s clean — or whether something got in during production that shouldn’t have.
Whether it stayed cold — from wherever it was made to wherever it ended up.

These are the things I was told to worry about, as they were given to me:

Heavy metals such as lead, mercury or arsenic, left behind by poor manufacturing.
Bacterial residue from a production environment that wasn’t sterile. I was told this can set off inflammation through the whole body, and in the worst case sepsis.
Solvents used during synthesis, such as trifluoroacetic acid, that are meant to be removed and sometimes aren’t.
Sequences that are simply wrong. One amino acid out of place and the key doesn’t fit the lock.
Your own immune system reacting. With a poor-quality product, it can start making antibodies against the thing you’re injecting, and I was told that can interfere with your own hormone production.
Heat. Peptides are fragile proteins, and I was told a vial that sits in a hot container without temperature control breaks down before it ever reaches anyone.

None of those three questions are peptide questions. They’re questions about whoever made the vial. That’s where I landed, and I’m not telling you where to land.

What I was asked before I started

Before I used any of these, a doctor asked me things I wouldn’t have thought to ask myself.

The first was whether there might be anything growing in me that I didn’t know about. The explanation I was given is that peptides are signalling molecules that act on hormones and metabolism. Some of them, the ones that work through growth hormone, are the wrong idea if there is.

The second was everything else I was taking, especially anything for blood sugar or anything hormonal. That went on the table before I started, not after.

What I was told peptides are

I don’t explain the biology in my own words. The explanation I was given is that peptides are short chains of amino acids that work as signalling molecules, like keys that fit specific locks. They tell cells to do things like repair tissue, burn fat or build collagen, which are jobs that slow down with age and stress.

The same explanation is why most of them are injected just under the skin rather than swallowed. Taken by mouth, most are broken down by stomach acid before they get anywhere. A few come in other forms: Semax is a nasal spray, and BPC-157 has a capsule that’s meant to work in the gut itself.

Questions I get asked

Do you have to take them forever?

No, and I don’t. What I was told is that peptides are usually used in cycles, often three to six months, to reach a specific goal. After that you move to a maintenance plan or take a break so the body can hold its new balance. That’s broadly what I do: a stretch on something, then maintenance or a break. Then I look at what my body is asking for, and that decides the next two or three.

How long before anything happens?

What I was told to expect is that sleep, energy and mental clarity come first, somewhere in the first two to four weeks. The physical changes, like fat and muscle tone, take eight to twelve weeks of consistent use. It depends on the peptide and on where you started. Mine have ranged from within the hour with Semax to two to four weeks with GHK-Cu on my skin. Everyone is different. “I was fine” is not the same sentence as “you’ll be fine.”

Can peptides help with weight loss?

For me, yes: Retatrutide and Tesamorelin, as above. The explanation I was given is that specific peptides work on appetite and insulin sensitivity, and go after stubborn visceral fat while holding on to lean muscle. For me, lifting weights wasn’t optional while the weight came off. I’ve written about why in The pen isn’t the point.

Is it safe, and what are the side effects?

What I was told is that most side effects are mild and short-lived: some redness or itching where you inject, more hunger with the ones that work through growth hormone, and a little water retention. I was told these are usually handled by the doctor adjusting things, and that the real risks tend to come from unregulated sources or the wrong amounts. Apart from MOTS-c, I’ve never had a side effect from any of them. That’s my body, not a promise about yours.

Can you use peptides with other medications?

That was the second question I was asked before I started (see above). Everything you take goes on the table first.

Questions about peptides go here.

Ask about peptides on WhatsApp →

—

I’m George. Thirty years in business, then ten years trying this whole field on myself before offering it to anyone else.

This is where I write down what I use, what I stopped using, and what I’d never do again. More about me →

Ask on WhatsApp