Reta 2mg once a week, CJC no DAC + ipamorelin 250/250 in the morning, 5-Amino with NAD+, GHK-Cu injectable a few times a week plus a topical at night. 14 hour eating window more days than not, lifting 5 days. Weight is coming off but I look a little flatter and I can’t tell if that’s Reta or if the GH stuff isn’t doing enough. Thinking about MOTS-c or SS-31 next for energy and I already feel like this is a lot. What would you drop, what would you add, and what’s just noise at this point?
I’d drop the 5-Amino/NAD combo first. Not saying it does nothing, but that’s the part of this stack I’d have the hardest time judging.
Also, injectable GHK plus topical every night seems like overkill unless you’re treating two completely different things. I’d pick one for now. You already said the stack feels like a lot, which is usually the answer lol.
Too many moving parts for me. I’d stop adding things and get some labs before deciding the GH side isn’t “doing enough.” IGF-1, glucose, thyroid, testosterone—the basic stuff that might actually tell you something.
If everything looks fine, change one thing at a time. Otherwise you’ll have seven compounds going and still won’t know why you feel flat.
Reta can hurt IGF-1, but not as much as eating too little. I'd double check your are eating enough and getting enough protein. Start there, do not add more stuff. MOTS-c is just going to aid Reta in the body recomp and it goes the opposite of mTor which is what you need for muscle building. Some people are non responders to cjc/ipa, so I'd actually try switching that to tesa/ipa instead once you finish off your existing vials. I'd drop 5-amino as well. NAD is take it or leave it. I love MOTS-c, but man those ISRs make it a pain to run. If you can handle that I'd add the MOTS-c and lower your Reta to like 1mg total a week. See how you feel.
Appreciate the reality check. I think I knew the answer before I posted, I just needed other people to say it lol.
I’m going to hold off on MOTS-c and SS-31, drop the 5-Amino/NAD combo for now, and get labs before changing anything else. I’ll probably keep the injectable GHK and stop the topical when the bottle runs out. Then at least I’ll have fewer things muddying the water.
The lower carbs from Reta could definitely explain the flat look too. I’ve been focused on protein and probably haven’t paid enough attention to that.
I like grouping cycles of peptides together that make the most sense. Once you finish your CJC / IPA cycle, then you can add in MOTS-c and SS-31. So these two compounds essentially replace the CJC and the dropping of 5-amino. You don't really have to cycle Reta and can stay on that for a long time if you want or even just micro dose it. I think MOTS-c also pairs really well with Reta.
As for the GHK-Cu topical, no reason to stop that. You can plaster that on your face every night, which is what I do. Just don't use a vitamin C serum at the same since they don't get along. You can do the vit c on alternating nights from the topical GHK. The subq version of GHK you do need to cycle it. That's a lot of info to absorb, but take some notes.
I don't like 5-amino at all and I think NAD injections are overrated. I'd drop both and look for an oral NAD+ precursor.
If you are someone that can tolerate MOTS-c, then that would get my vote.
You're right. I'm not even sure 5-amino is doing something and I got "influenced" by a youtube doc saying 5-amino does cool things like shrink your fat cells. Not sure if this is even true. I've heard good things about MOTS-c, so I'm going to add that once my NAD+ vial is finished. I'll get some NMN capsules to replace it. Thanks to everyone who commented.
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