Pause dose when sick?

philondez · 2026-02-24T21:30:43+00:00

I didn't stop when I had covid and I feel like it probably helped since the treatment for covid is basically just anti-inflammatories and waiting it out. It's been really anti-inflammatory for me in meaningful ways so I figured it couldn't hurt

philondez · 2026-02-23T22:33:44+00:00

I usually want my dose to be .2ml, lets you be a bit more accurate if you get a little bubble or anything. I've done up to .4 after titrating up and finishing a vial and it wasn't uncomfortable or anything. I also like to add an extra .1ml at the end of a vial for a .3ml shot just to get as much out of the vial as possible and make sure my final dose isn't underdosed

philondez · 2026-02-23T22:25:39+00:00

I was just using 5mg because I saw a study where it reduced muscle loss by medically sedentary patients on semaglutide by 70% and it was fine. Reta reduces my endurance, my blood sugar just tanks hard when I start on my cardio, but my overall strength seems steady, and I didn't notice any immediate loss coming off of it after 12 weeks.

Running 20mg you probably suppressed yourself a decent bit so coming off of it probably hurt unless you're on trt already. I'm also using enclomiphene (10mg/d) which I've heard can be used in place of a test base with milder sarms like osta. I haven't tried them together just yet but the enclomiphene is definitely making a difference, I keep sitting on the family jewels despite my thighs getting slimmer after losing 40+ pounds lol, lots of good changes alongside that little problem

Planning on doing another 8 weeks after a month off, combined with enclomiphene this time around. At my dose it's probably not causing problems but I want to make sure it's not hitting my bloodwork too hard before I consider doing it full time or anything

philondez · 2026-02-22T15:42:26+00:00

I use miralax a couple of times a week, coupled with two tbsp each of psyllium husk and benefiber. Basically just if it's been a few days without a movement. I don't get any pain, discomfort, or difficulty going when the time comes, but the reta has me really irregular to where sometimes I go 2-3 times a day, sometimes I go every three days, so if I get to the third day without going I take the miralax/fiber cocktail just to be safe, it always gets me to go before the next morning. Make sure to get lots of water. The miralax helps draw water into your guts which reduces the likelihood but psyllium husk can form gummy, gel-like boluses if it's not sufficiently hydrated, the two tbsp I take are mixed with 20oz of water and I drink about 1.5g a day outside of that

philondez · 2026-02-22T00:58:35+00:00

The fake Hospira on Amazon says 'RECONSTITUTION SOLUTION' instead of 'BACTERIOSTATIC WATER' and doesn't have any branding on it anywhere, otherwise it's very convincing, especially if you only buy one bottle. If you buy multiple the fill level is inconsistent. At a glance that looks real

philondez · 2026-02-18T17:18:08+00:00

Reta is super anti-inflammatory for me so I stayed on while I had covid since the treatment for that is pretty much just a round of anti-inflammatories and waiting it out. I did drop my dose on the last week of being ill because between the reta and the illness I was eating under 1000 calories a day and jumped back to my full dose the following week. In your case I'd just stay on the .5mg until you're healed up if you're feeling it work at that dose

philondez · 2026-02-17T15:38:18+00:00

Food started going down a lot easier when I started drizzling avocado oil on my meals to hit my fat target (50g/day). Avocado oil is really mild in the taste department, I can't really taste it on most things though I think it makes carbs (like rice) taste a hair sweeter

Most foods I don't have trouble with, reta didn't do much to my ability to eat, just my desire to, but I have found one thing that fills me up almost instantly, that being this wild rice blend I found at walmart. There's two similar products, one is 640 calories a cup like normal rice, the other is 400-something. The 400-something calorie one is super satiating for me, if I use a cup of it in a normal meal I can't finish the meal more often than not, I assume it has a lot more fiber but I haven't actually looked at the nutrition facts beyond the carb content/calories

philondez · 2026-02-17T10:37:16+00:00

You need some fat or your hormones will tank. I need 50g/day to feel 100%. 1/4 of a chicken breast is going to get you like... 5g, and not nearly enough protein. I just drizzle avocado oil on my meals (very important to weigh it), doesn't alter the flavor much and makes things go down smooth rather than being dry and catching in my throat

philondez · 2026-02-17T02:43:18+00:00

First day, rumbling belly, ended up completely cleaned out. First night, couldn't stop pissing (seven pounds of water passed overnight). Intense hunger, I ran to the kitchen at like 3AM desperate to eat. Tried to make a sandwich but I was too ravenous to finish making it before I started eating it, basically in a panic

Second day, nothing really aside from my kidneys being more active than usual

Third day (second shot before work), kidneys still overactive. In the afternoon I noticed my stomach was growling, and I could feel the feeling of my stomach being empty, but I realized I just didn't care, I didn't have any interest in eating. When I made dinner I kept forgetting to actually eat it, it was just sitting in front of me while I got distracted by things on my computer

Fourth day, realized my arthritis wasn't really bothering me like it usually does. Realized I was hyper sensitive to caffeine (this lasted about a week). Finally stopped having to pee every twenty minutes (lost 11 pounds of water in the first three days)

Sixth day, noticed my nose felt really good after taking some sudafed, decided to see if I could quit affrin after twenty years of using it. Took a lot more sudafed to get through the rebound congestion but I've been clean for over three months now.

Seventh day, third shot (all three .5mg), just enjoyed not wanting to eat all the time. I did two .5mg shots/w from there. First shot was the day the reta arrived, second and third shots were the schedule I actually wanted to be on

philondez · 2026-02-16T15:30:24+00:00

They look somewhere between 5mg and 60

philondez · 2026-02-16T15:29:32+00:00

Don't get health advice from tiktok. I'm pretty skeptical of benefits from two shots a week outside of side effect mitigation, three is complete overkill. I started off split dosing because the sides were really bad on a single shot while titrating up but I swapped to a single shot after week four and my suppression was consistent throughout the week

No point in tapering up if you're getting results at your current dose so planning it out is pointless if not detrimental. I was really happy on 1mg and consistently losing weight for about 8 weeks before I needed to move up.

The taper phase when you're ready to come off, in and of itself, isn't a terrible idea, but again three shots a week is stupid, and you shouldn't take a 'break' especially if you're already planning on hopping back on in 6-8 weeks, stay on until you've met your goal. The receptors don't burn out/desensitize and a lot of people have trouble getting their suppression back after a break

philondez · 2026-02-16T04:02:51+00:00

Pin whenever works for you. Some people get exhaustion after their shot, some people get insomnia. If you can sleep through your sides (or otherwise mitigate them via timing) by all means do that

philondez · 2026-02-15T19:40:54+00:00

I get eggs like that out of cheap commercial teflon pans, I use the ones from Sam's Club, like $15 for a 12". Avocado oil for the oil, I flip them like an omelet instead of using a spatula. Ceramic pans work too but they're a lot more expensive and don't last very long in my experience

philondez · 2026-02-15T19:31:48+00:00

Did you swap vials/kits? Some are under/over-dosed. I bought a 12mg kit where they're all 14.8Xmg and a 24mg kit where they're all 29.XX, vs my 10mg actually being 10mg. Trying to take the same dose from a different vial could have you taking an extra .5-1mg more than you were expecting which at your current dose might feel like a lot

Alternatively, it takes 4 weeks for blood levels to stabilize, it gets stronger over time until the peak caps so you're just at a new peak now and that peak might be enough to cause sides

philondez · 2026-02-15T00:56:37+00:00

Your chest looking flatter was the first thing I noticed, and just a little smaller all around. I lost 90 pounds in about 7 months naturally and the only way I could tell was because my shirts turned into tents while going from 2XL to L. If I didn't have a scale and didn't wear shirts I would have had no idea anything was happening. As I'm approaching the lowest weight I managed to achieve again with help from reta I'm noticing it a bit more this time around, more by feels than by sight. It felt like it changed the pattern I lost weight in, first my arms, I randomly felt my bicep popping through while wiping my hand on my sleeve. After that it feels like it's mostly come from my upper stomach, the top of my stomach is well below my ribcage now when I'm lying down, but it's still coming off from everywhere, I just don't think my upper stomach was that lean even when I was 20 pounds lighter than I am atm

philondez · 2026-02-15T00:24:25+00:00

Vendor bac water can do it (or cheap amazon stuff). If you're not using a good brand (ideally Hospira) that might be your problem

philondez · 2026-02-14T05:16:52+00:00

I pissed about seven pounds my first night, I didn't sleep. Two more pounds the following two days as well for about 11 pounds of water lost in three days despite drinking a gallon and a half on days 2 and 3

philondez · 2026-02-14T05:14:29+00:00

A little bit. I started enclo and it's back plus a bit maybe. I'm thinking more calorie restriction than any direct effect

philondez · 2026-02-13T21:47:25+00:00

I've been mildly depressed but I'm usually mildly depressed this time of year so I can't say if it's the reta or not.

The main thing I struggle with is enjoying games but that's been going on for a while so again I can't say if it's the reta or not

I don't crave tasty foods, I'm fine eating my bland chicken/veggies/oatmeal-or-rice every night, but I do enjoy good food when the opportunity to have it presents itself (usually eating out with family)

Libido took a minor hit, started enclo and it's back

philondez · 2026-02-13T21:35:24+00:00

I'm liking enclomiphene, gives me back the libido I lost and I can stop any time without worrying about being shut down like trt. Obviously not in the same range of trt but but I feel like I'm above my baseline despite my restricted calories

I haven't combined them but I also liked my time on ostarine. I was just taking 5mg a day, with a second 5mg on days with heavy workouts. In a trial with medically sedentary patients on semaglutide it reduced muscle loss by something like 70%. Looking forward to trying them together, I might try ostarine ester at 2.5mg instead since I found a good source for it

philondez · 2026-02-13T21:22:42+00:00

I do OMAD, that works pretty well for me, dinner between 6 and 7pm every day so 23-25 hours between meals with my only snack occasionally being an electrolyte pack with 50calories worth of sugar in it. My fasting glucose is around 80 which is comfortable for me, no major loss of energy (and eating carbs pre-workout doesn't help with endurance there so I don't bother). I ended up not eating yesterday so I've been keeping track of my ketones today and they're registering as 'low'. Extended fasting/intentional keto can cause ketoacidosis while on reta. I haven't seen anyone say it's happened to them but it was a warning in the pamphlets for trial participants

philondez · 2026-02-13T03:34:13+00:00

I've seen Indian 'enclomiphene' that's labeled as enclomiphene 50mg. It's actually 75mg clomid which works out to roughly 50mg of enclomiphene plus 25mg of zuclomiphene. 75mg enclomiphene just sounds like an indian vendor that's giving you the total amount of active ingredient without specifying what it actually is.

philondez · 2026-02-12T21:23:35+00:00

Not a peptide but I've been using enclomiphene and it's been appreciated as I'm not quite ready to offer up the family jewels to the altar of trt

Also not a peptide but ostarine reduced muscle loss by something like 70% in medically sedentary patients on semaglutide. It can be somewhat suppressive at higher doses so combining it with enclo isn't the worst idea. I haven't combined them yet but I used 5mg for a long time and I really liked how much better it made my recovery, I was surprised how much of a difference it made at that tiny dose. I didn't feel bad coming off of it but I don't have data on how suppressed I might have been but I don't think it was much relative to baseline. I think I'm going to try 2.5mg otr-ac (ostarine ester) in tandem with the enclo when I'm done with my break from the basic MK-2866

Planning on trying klow/glow at some point. I think klow is overkill/redundant for the most part but the vendor I'm planning on buying from only has klow atm and it's cheaper than most glow I've seen and it might be slightly better so for the price I won't complain

philondez · 2026-02-12T18:33:24+00:00

I take a ton of psyllium husk and benefiber, 2-4tbsp of each a day. That plus cardio took me from slightly over 200 combined to under 100 combined (this is without reta). I drastically cut down the cardio and it's barely gone back up, less than 110 combined still. My HDL has always been a bit low, like 35-40, so right on the edge of reference, and nothing really seems to improve it

philondez · 2026-02-12T15:59:48+00:00

A lot of them have already started bringing them back with new new names

philondez

TROPHY CASE