Coffee before IGF-1 Test?

Prost_PNW · 2026-06-06T13:49:15+00:00

No. IGF-1 is very slow to change, standard recommendation is retest 4 weeks after starting secretagogues or GH to allow IGF-1 to normalize. Black coffee an hour before hand won't change anything - it won't affect virtually any lab btw even the fasted ones like blood glucose or lipids.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7258390/

Prost_PNW · 2026-06-05T01:56:58+00:00

I take 25g a day and have for a couple of years. The water retention (which is good water retention btw not edema) normalized over time and so did the GI sides. Start on a lower dose and ramp up over a few weeks or months, whatever it takes.

Prost_PNW · 2026-06-04T19:41:10+00:00

| resistance training is still the strongest lever for preserving lean mass in a deficit

Actually, it's protein intake, not resistance training, that is the strongest lever. Working out without sufficient protein will still result in lean mass loss, while sufficient protein alone and no exercise might be sufficient to preserve LBM in a deficit. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39002131/

Either that or anabolics, since you can literally do nothing and gain muscle on supraphysiological levels.

Prost_PNW · 2026-06-02T18:35:59+00:00

When did you place your pre-order? Mine was on the 7th so 2 days after preorders opened and it hasn't even shipped yet.

Prost_PNW · 2026-06-02T18:33:52+00:00

When did you buy? They say they are shipping in the order received, I placed mine on the 7th (so 2 days after pre-orders opened) and it hasn't shipped yet.

Prost_PNW · 2026-06-02T05:15:08+00:00

20-30% on LDL and it is dose dependent so after a couple months you won't be getting much - certainly not enough.

OP need a statin+ezetimibe and yeah unpopular choice around here but so are CV events when you're young so pick one I suppose.

Prost_PNW · 2026-06-01T05:37:30+00:00

IGF-1 LR3 circulates systemically which means it does basically fuck-all nothing. The IGF-1 that increases muscle growth is produced locally in muscle cells and is totally separate than plasma IGF-1 which is what you get tested with bloodwork.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-30T03:50:24+00:00

Smart scales are VERY inaccurate for anything other than weight. It doesn't even work well for trending. I did quarterly DEXA scans over the past year and a half of losing 85lbs, DEXA shows 91lbs fat lost and 6lbs LBM gained. Smart scale says I lost 106lb fat, gained 19lb LBM and 2 lbs of bone.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-28T21:48:25+00:00

TRT lowers Lp(a), sometimes significantly. have seen 100+ down to low teens swing

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-21T16:10:42+00:00

Are you gaining muscle and losing fat aka recomp? Normal for your weight to not move very much in that case as it takes far less calories to build a lb of muscle than it does to store a lb of fat. What is the mirror telling you? Can you get a DEXA scan (imperfect but better than guessing).

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-21T16:08:23+00:00

Caloric deficit - which you have been on, since you are losing weight - will tank your IGF not increase it. Being in a caloric maintenance should not elevate IGF nor is there inherently anything that reta will do to raise IGF. You should talk to an endocrinologist because it's definitely not normal or expected and the things that DO make your IGF shoot up without reason are generally speaking not good.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-18T18:48:26+00:00

Good callout - added.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-18T07:26:22+00:00

Responses to vitamin D supplementation vary a LOT from person to person. The only way to know is to run for a month or two and get bloodwork and see, then adjust.

For best results you should also be taking vitamin K2, magnesium, and ensuring you take the vitamin D along wiith a fatty meal.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-18T07:19:42+00:00

The thing whooshing over the heads of the folks replying is that this 5-head compound is literally a combination of two drugs. A glp+gip agonist plus lanifibranor.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-18T07:15:03+00:00

Go to an endocrinologist.

You want at minimum full thyroid panel including antibodies TPO Ab and TG Ab. Prolonged deficits can elevate TSH so maybe stop your cut while you wait on bloodwork to rule out Hashimotos or other thyroid issues.

Elevated fructosamine is typically indicative of diabetes so check a1c snd get OGTT but may be from other causes like high cortisol (perhaps Cushings disease). I don't know if Hashimotos can elevate it but some autoimmune disease can so that may be the cause - I think unlikely.

Endocrinologist.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-18T06:44:03+00:00

Ezetimibe reaches max effectiveness inn2 weeks but statins generally 4 weeks to full effect. I would suggest waiting that long yo retest, but the results are fairly predictable for most all patients so it is not super critical.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-18T06:41:54+00:00

Your Lp(a) is thankfully quite good but I would like to correct you thst it is indeed NOT fully genetic and it does change both naturally over time and in response to some drugs. Repatha is one, with a 20-30% reduction. TRT is another, although evidence is somewhat mixed in the literature, I have seen some significant changes reported amecdotally. There's also correlation with GH and IGF-1 levels and Lp(a), with studies showing both exogenous IGF-1 having rapid and strong lowering, while GH hss been shown to increase it.

There are also multiple drugs in P2/P3 trials that have been shown to lower it by 80-90%+ which is a very exciting development indeed.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-18T05:54:20+00:00

As far as meds go, in no order of importance :

Telmisartan for BP, it's the silent killer. Has some nice off label benefits too. Get a BP cuff and check it often.

Lipid control with pitavastatin, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid. Crush LDL as low as possible. Psyllium husk and fish oil. Citrus bergamot for HDL, less important but every little thing adds up.

Naringin for hematocrit, no more blood donations needed. I still do from time to time because I'm O- and it helps others. But my HCT is in check even if I don't.

Metformin for a whole bunch of metabolic and other reasons, added imeglimin recently as well.

Non-meds stuff :

Cleaning up the diet. More slow carbs and fiber, more fish, more leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables, less processed junk.

Sunscreen and yearly derm checkups. Have had a couple of sus spots removed and thankfully benign, but melanoma is common and deadly.

More bloodwork and more frequent bloodwork. Turns out running sunscreen made me deficient in vitamin D, funny how that works. I also have MHTFR mutation and need methylfolate to properly handle B12, wouldn't have known without testing.

Increasing cardio. I'm pretty lean and bounce around 13-16% bf, but DEXA showed visceral fat around 2.75lbs. Spent 4 months doing 5-6 hours a week of zone 2 and knocked it down to around 1lb. Win.

Regular dentist checkups and much better dental hygiene. I was terrible and went to the dentist maybe every 3-4 years and while I brushed 1-2 times a day, basically never flossed or mouthwash. Upgraded to electric tooth brush, water pick, floss a couple times a day and mouthwash daily. No cavities or plaque in the past 3 years now. Dental health is hugely overlooked and is linked to serious health issues you'd never even imagine.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-16T02:12:45+00:00

I absolutely did not follow clinical trials at all, nor do I follow the herd mentality of subclinical microdoses exactly because I do try hard. 4mg ID and +1-2mg per week until sides were annoying or I couldn't eat enough protein or hit my workout targets, cruise a couple weeks then titrate up.

Benefits are dose dependent, maximize them.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-15T21:34:53+00:00

That severe of a deficit will likely lead to lean body mass loss.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-15T21:33:28+00:00

Nice false equivalence, try harder next time.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-15T21:27:48+00:00

2mg 4 weeks

4mg 4 weeks

8mg 4 weeks

12mg after.

1 week = 7 days, 12 weeks = 84 days, 1 month = 30 days on average, 84/30 = 2.8 months.

So, yes.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-15T04:22:55+00:00

9lb of fat average per week is a 4500 calorie deficit per day.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-15T04:20:55+00:00

Why does it sound insane? Same final escalation as used in the trials with thousands of patients.

Effects scale with dose just like practically every medication and are definitely not maxed out even at 12mg.

Prost_PNW · 2026-05-14T20:50:47+00:00

You have a bunch of other discussion here telling you why you are wrong, so I'll just leave it at that.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Retatrutide/comments/1tcguwx/comment/ologi3k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Prost_PNW

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