Live data from Hacker News

Peptides: where to begin?

science.org

21–30 of 431 posts

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#21
I tried retatrutide for 10 weeks, here are my results: Before: 5'7, ~182lb

Bench 1rm: 315

Squat: 5x10 225

Deadlift: 5x5 315

After: same height lol, 154lb

Bench 1rm: 285

Squat: 5x10 205

Deadlift: 5x5 275

Suffered some anhedonia towards the end but that went away ~1wk after stopping. Overall pretty good, not any side effects. Definitely fixed my food craving problem. I didn't have a high intake of protein during the 10 weeks, so I suspect thats why I lost muscle mass :/

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#22
post #15

> My patient is refusing a drug studied in 170,000 people because of side effects that a 124,000-person analysis just confirmed do not exist — while injecting a compound studied in 14 humans, from unregulated sources, based on the recommendation of someone who profits from selling it. She’s probably not the only one. And those using it believe they are “doing their own research.” Ok, and? At worst you waste a couple…

My partner's grandfather died of cancer because when he was having pains they believed their homeopathic medicine would work. When he finally when in to see a real doctor it was too late. If he had gone in earlier, he would been able to have a chance. This is not a rare occurrence for these types.

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#23
post #8

Lowe has a point, but the FDA has painted itself into a corner by (a) forcing up the costs and the various bureaucratic demands associated with clinical trials, (b) allowing drug advertising , but then forcing those comical "may cause death" disclaimers, both of which have become totally ubiquitous, and (c) inconsistently following its own rules, and in some cases flouting its own rules. At this point, broscience is…

When medicine ignores nutrition entirely, and nutrient supplements are still complete unknowns, you have to wonder who the FDA is working for.

But there's a core problem with this, in many states doctors are legally forbidden to give nutrition advice. The academy of nutrition and dietetics has worked very hard to make it so that only dietitians can provide nutrition advice. Take Ohio for example, a medical doctor in Ohio is legally forbidden and actually in jeopardy of losing their license and going to jail if they were to provide nutrition advice without a dietetics license. Dietitians are not doctors, but the academy of nutrition and dietetics wants you to think they are.

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#24
post #15

> My patient is refusing a drug studied in 170,000 people because of side effects that a 124,000-person analysis just confirmed do not exist — while injecting a compound studied in 14 humans, from unregulated sources, based on the recommendation of someone who profits from selling it. She’s probably not the only one. And those using it believe they are “doing their own research.” Ok, and? At worst you waste a couple…

> I know dozens of people at my gym

I don't think I even know dozens of people, full stop, let alone well enough to talk to them about their peptide use.

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#25
post #24
post #15

> My patient is refusing a drug studied in 170,000 people because of side effects that a 124,000-person analysis just confirmed do not exist — while injecting a compound studied in 14 humans, from unregulated sources, based on the recommendation of someone who profits from selling it. She’s probably not the only one. And those using it believe they are “doing their own research.” Ok, and? At worst you waste a couple…

> I know dozens of people at my gym I don't think I even know dozens of people, full stop, let alone well enough to talk to them about their peptide use.

I go to a gym that has IFBB pros and people competing on elite powerlifting level, steroid and peptide use is an every day chit chat topic.

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#26
post #7

Lowe has a point, but the FDA has painted itself into a corner by (a) forcing up the costs and the various bureaucratic demands associated with clinical trials, (b) allowing drug advertising , but then forcing those comical "may cause death" disclaimers, both of which have become totally ubiquitous, and (c) inconsistently following its own rules, and in some cases flouting its own rules. At this point, broscience is…

> Another point I could raise is that telemedicine has turned the entire prescription system into nothing more than a parasitic middleman/gatekeeper. I’m curious what you mean by this. I’m not sure what you mean by “prescription system” specifically.

Go to doctor, get prescription for restricted medicine, pick up prescription.

If you can call up a teledoc and they give you a prescription based on your description why could you not just go buy the meds yourself without a prescription. You have essentially diagnosed yourself and just asked the doctor for permission to buy the drug you want.

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#27
post #7

Lowe has a point, but the FDA has painted itself into a corner by (a) forcing up the costs and the various bureaucratic demands associated with clinical trials, (b) allowing drug advertising , but then forcing those comical "may cause death" disclaimers, both of which have become totally ubiquitous, and (c) inconsistently following its own rules, and in some cases flouting its own rules. At this point, broscience is…

> Another point I could raise is that telemedicine has turned the entire prescription system into nothing more than a parasitic middleman/gatekeeper. I’m curious what you mean by this. I’m not sure what you mean by “prescription system” specifically.

I'll give you a case in point. This article was discussed the other day:

> https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/technology/ai-billion-dol...

People want GLP-1 drugs. They can't get them without a prescription. They pay $$$ to a "telemedicine" "doctor", recite a list of well-known symptoms, and buy the prescription.

The system is that you can't buy these drugs without the piece of paper, and the piece of paper is basically something that anybody can buy regardless of whether or not they actually need the drug. Wanting it is usually enough.

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#28
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Drugs risks do not enter into the picture given the fact I can buy ammonia and bleach along with a myriad of other dangerous compounds. This is a deeply weird take. You think anyone ought to be able to buy, for instance, warfarin and freely take it without a doctor’s involvement? We should let parents self-diagnose diabetes and administer insulin without a prescription or discussion? We should just hope that patien…

> This is a deeply weird take. You think anyone ought to be able to buy, for instance, warfarin and freely take it without a doctor’s involvement? We should let parents self-diagnose diabetes and administer insulin without a prescription or discussion? We should just hope that patients heard their doctor say hydralazine and not hydroxyzine? Weird examples. You can buy insulin without a prescription today in the USA.…

Funny you mention this... I bumped into a VP of Merck at a conference and that's the exact example he gave: in the US, you can't adjust your own coumadin dosage without a M.D. consult, but here, have 200 doses of insulin to take home with you.

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#29
post #17
post #15

> My patient is refusing a drug studied in 170,000 people because of side effects that a 124,000-person analysis just confirmed do not exist — while injecting a compound studied in 14 humans, from unregulated sources, based on the recommendation of someone who profits from selling it. She’s probably not the only one. And those using it believe they are “doing their own research.” Ok, and? At worst you waste a couple…

You know dozens of people from a single place that have chronic tendon/joint issues?

Yes? These types of injuries are common among bodybuilders and powerlifters.

Re: Peptides: where to begin?

#30
post #7

Lowe has a point, but the FDA has painted itself into a corner by (a) forcing up the costs and the various bureaucratic demands associated with clinical trials, (b) allowing drug advertising , but then forcing those comical "may cause death" disclaimers, both of which have become totally ubiquitous, and (c) inconsistently following its own rules, and in some cases flouting its own rules. At this point, broscience is…

> Another point I could raise is that telemedicine has turned the entire prescription system into nothing more than a parasitic middleman/gatekeeper. I’m curious what you mean by this. I’m not sure what you mean by “prescription system” specifically.

I take certain medications--nothing interesting, nothing controlled, nothing abusable. I have to deal with a whole thing just to get refills, because my PCP forces me to come in every time--and even that is now just a telehealth call that is annoying.

In Mexico, for meds like mine, you can just buy them at the pharmacy. There's no reason for all this nonsense.

(Edit: same PCP refused to prescribe GLP-1s early, without any scientific or medical reason not to. Delayed my weightloss by months until I found a place that would.)

Post reply on HN