New Lab Rat from North Carolina
-
Hello, I am a newbie from NC.
Height: 5'2 (my driver's license, but I have shrunk to 5'1 at age 49)
Starting weight: 193lbs November 2025, down to 176 in June 2026 through Ketovore diet and 3-4 days strength training, and daily walking. I am already eating well, and working out, but I only lost a few lbs, meanwhile my husband who is on the same diet and same work out (lifting lighter weights than I do) lost 25 lbs. (Maybe I am stressing too much in making us both healthy. I prep all the food and force him to work out every other day)I am perimenopausal, and my latest lab works says I am pre-diabetic, highly insulin resistant, have a high cortisol level, and high inflammation markers, and with other biomarkers also out of whack.
Since nothing is working, I have decided to try GLPs, but it is so cost prohibitive, even going through Ro and Noom is still expensive. So, I dug around some more and bought my first Reta in September from a reseller who has a high rating on trustpilot. Product was great, but price was still high. Some more digging led me to this website.
I bought my second batch of Reta from a vendor I found here and also bought SS31, Mots-C, GHK-cu, KPV, BP153, TB-500 from 2 other vendors which I also found here.
I added KPV to reta last Friday to address chronic inflammation, will add SS31 next week, and then add Mots-C week after, and GHK-cu the following week.
I also started my husband on KPV last Friday, and then add BPC153 next week, then TB-500 week after, then GHK-Cu the following week. I know I could get him started on the KLOW stack, but I wanted to see if he has any reaction to any of the individual peptides, and I also want to have complete freedom with dosing however his body responds. He has joint pains: shoulder and knees, as well as restless leg syndrome.
Thank you to the admin and to all the individuals whose combined knowledge and first hand experiences make this website/forum AMAZING!
-
Howdy neighbor (SC) - one thought: You may want to take some time between adding each pep. It'll be difficult to know which is doing what. I understand wanting all of it NOW, but it'll all make more sense down the road to slowly add to your stack. Sounds like you're monitoring bloods, which is great.
-
Couple things I would suggest remembering. Building muscle adds weight, so don't take one number as a gospel of progress. GLP-1 is a tool, and that tool takes time to work, slow and steady. I would suggest attempting one pep at a time and the harder part understanding how you react to each one individually. Welcome and enjoy the journey!
-
Couple things I would suggest remembering. Building muscle adds weight, so don't take one number as a gospel of progress. GLP-1 is a tool, and that tool takes time to work, slow and steady. I would suggest attempting one pep at a time and the harder part understanding how you react to each one individually. Welcome and enjoy the journey!
Building muscle adds weight, so don't take one number as a gospel of progress.
To expand on this with my own experience, after I started Reta my weight hasn't dropped much or quickly, but my body comp scale shows consistent fat loss and lean muscle gain.
Definitely don't take slow movement on the scale as anything to be concerned with. -
Both weight-loss and body recomp will take time, and studies show the slower and more gradual you are the longer people keep off the weight because your taking sustainable choices. Plus losing weight really fast increases your risk for gallstones.
Unfortunately I don't have much other advice, I just recieved my own reality check in a similar line and am working to use less heavy lifting and cardio to aim for more recovery. -
Howdy neighbor (SC) - one thought: You may want to take some time between adding each pep. It'll be difficult to know which is doing what. I understand wanting all of it NOW, but it'll all make more sense down the road to slowly add to your stack. Sounds like you're monitoring bloods, which is great.
@SkepticJen Thank you for the reminder to slow it down.
I am on my 3rd month of reta, and wanted to add the mitochondrial stack (SS31, and Mots-c) to address fatigue and maybe help Reta push my body to become more insulin sensitive. My fasting blood sugar is still in the upper 90's - low 100's (I check a few times a week). Should I wait a couple more months to start the mitochondrial stack?
I am on my 3rd week of 4mg Reta and I don't want to titrate up yet as I am still experiencing strong apetite suppresion-- I just wish fasting blood sugar would go down already. I will be getting basic blood work this week before I officially start SS31, to see if reta has helped with any biomarkers and to have another baseline for my new protocol.The KPV was not planned but the pain on the finger joints in my R hand was flaring up since last week, so since I had KPV on hand, I decided to try it. GHK-Cu is also for added anti-inflammatory benefit and, to help me not lose too much hair and to maintain skin integrity as I lose weight... I may or may not continue with it if it stings so bad (will start it end of November or 1st week of December).
The KLOW (individual vial, not the blend) is for my husband. He has been suffering from chronic pain, and taking that 7OH-kratom mess. I want him off of the 7OH, hence we are trying the KLOW stack (individual peptides). I was just thinking that since some people take the blended KLOW stack (all peptides at once), it will be safe to introduce one peptide with one week interval as it will already tell us if he is reacting negatively to a certain peptide. He is not on any other peptide, but do I need to space it out some more? (I ordered the superpower blood work + other blood test not covered in the superpower for him last week before starting him with KPV)
-
Couple things I would suggest remembering. Building muscle adds weight, so don't take one number as a gospel of progress. GLP-1 is a tool, and that tool takes time to work, slow and steady. I would suggest attempting one pep at a time and the harder part understanding how you react to each one individually. Welcome and enjoy the journey!
@damic Thanks for the reminder. I was down to 176 from 190+ from strict carnivore+ketovore (only carb source was avocado and nothing else) without any meds, but went back to 180-186lbs by July, right after celebrating my husband and my birthday. That birthday celebration let the flood gate open once I let in the carbs. Food noise became louder compared to before I started carnivore. I was still eating healhty 95% of the time, but was overconsuming the "healthy whole foods".
I know GLP1s is a tool, and I am putting in the work. I am working out (strength training with Caroline Girvan 3x a week), and walking 8k-10K steps a day, and mostly standing and moving at work and still eating healthy. But, since starting reta in September. I finally am able to stop eating too much. My body finally got the memo to stop eating until 500% satiety. My weight loss since starting reta in Sept is slow, but I am just glad it is finally trending down week by week and not going back up. As for the other peptides... I am only adding the mithochondrial stack with 1-2 weeks interval between each peptide... the KLOW stack is for my husband.
-
@SkepticJen Thank you for the reminder to slow it down.
I am on my 3rd month of reta, and wanted to add the mitochondrial stack (SS31, and Mots-c) to address fatigue and maybe help Reta push my body to become more insulin sensitive. My fasting blood sugar is still in the upper 90's - low 100's (I check a few times a week). Should I wait a couple more months to start the mitochondrial stack?
I am on my 3rd week of 4mg Reta and I don't want to titrate up yet as I am still experiencing strong apetite suppresion-- I just wish fasting blood sugar would go down already. I will be getting basic blood work this week before I officially start SS31, to see if reta has helped with any biomarkers and to have another baseline for my new protocol.The KPV was not planned but the pain on the finger joints in my R hand was flaring up since last week, so since I had KPV on hand, I decided to try it. GHK-Cu is also for added anti-inflammatory benefit and, to help me not lose too much hair and to maintain skin integrity as I lose weight... I may or may not continue with it if it stings so bad (will start it end of November or 1st week of December).
The KLOW (individual vial, not the blend) is for my husband. He has been suffering from chronic pain, and taking that 7OH-kratom mess. I want him off of the 7OH, hence we are trying the KLOW stack (individual peptides). I was just thinking that since some people take the blended KLOW stack (all peptides at once), it will be safe to introduce one peptide with one week interval as it will already tell us if he is reacting negatively to a certain peptide. He is not on any other peptide, but do I need to space it out some more? (I ordered the superpower blood work + other blood test not covered in the superpower for him last week before starting him with KPV)
@Marikit I'm the WORST at waiting - so I understand wanting to get to it. If you're already in week 3, I don't think it's too early to add. I first added NAD because I was having such fatigue from Reta. I do Reta every third day and the following day was brutal. NAD saved me from that. I then added SS and then MOTs. I couldn't handle straight GHK-cu at any concentration (welts that lasted a week), but when I made a blend of that and KPV, it's a snap.
My monthly Rythm lab doesn't have fasting insulin so I did that stand alone to confirm the fructosamine numbers. The reta is going to do wonders for you to get that under control. At just under 6 months I've lost 50 pounds (- 27.5% total body) and my Fructosamine (average glucose marker) has dropped 31 points or -13%. -
You definitely want to add peps and protocols one at a time, first, so that if you have a reaction, you know what is causing it, second, so you can actually see what a given pep is doing for you, and third, so you can focus on the results you want to get. Experienced researchers might use 6+ at a time, but should know what each is doing and what the effects are.
Are you on HRT? I have spoken with a number of women who were perimenopausal or menopausal and were miserable until they started HRT. The sooner you start, the better the benefits. (I’ve been told) that if you wait until you’re done with menopause, the results can still be good but not generally as good as if you started early.
-
Welcome from Fellow Newbie!
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login