r/ResearchCompounds

So a very common sentiment I read here is that Reta doesn't crush hunger as much as Tirz. And yet, all the weight loss studies (like the Phase 3 data released today) show the weight loss on Reta is *much* more significant than on Tirz.

can someone help me square this circle? These are trial participants, so presumably just average people in both groups

Just wrapped a 20+ day Epithalon cycle. Honest take? Maybe slightly better sleep toward the end. That's it.

And I'm completely fine with that.

I use plenty of peptides where you feel something. GLP-1s are obvious within days. Running CJC/Ipamorelin you notice the sleep quality, the recovery, the body composition creeping in the right direction. GHK-Cu builds up over a cycle in ways you can see in your skin and hair. BPC-157 does what it does for injuries faster than anything else I've used. Those compounds give you feedback. You stay consistent because you feel the return.

Epithalon doesn't work like that. It was never supposed to.

This is a four amino acid peptide (AEDG) that Khavinson's group in St. Petersburg developed in the 1980s from pineal gland extract. It's been studied for 25 years, approved clinically in Russia, never gone through FDA pathways. The reason most Western researchers are only now paying attention is partly that, and partly because nearly all the published research came from one institute for decades, which made it easy to dismiss.

That started changing last year.

The core mechanism is telomere biology. Quick version: your telomeres shorten every time a cell divides. Once they're short enough, the cell stops functioning properly and starts pumping out inflammatory signals instead. Telomerase is the enzyme that rebuilds them, and in most adult cells it's basically switched off. Epithalon appears to switch it back on.

The foundational 2003 study showed a 2.4x increase in telomere length in human cells, with treated cells continuing to divide well past their normal limit. A mouse lifespan study found no effect on average lifespan but extended maximum lifespan by 12%, cut chromosomal damage by 17%, and dropped leukemia rates by six-fold. The effect was on the aging process itself, not any specific disease pathway.

None of this produces a feeling. That's just the nature of what it's doing.

The reason 2025 matters is that a team at Brunel University London published the first independent replication of the mechanism in Biogerontology. They tested across four human cell types with full dose-response analysis and confirmed telomerase upregulation in normal cells. But they also found something unexpected: in cancer cells, where telomerase is already active, Epithalon switched to a completely different telomere extension pathway called ALT instead of amplifying telomerase further. That's relevant because the standing concern with any telomerase activator is what it does in precancerous tissue. This doesn't close that question but it's meaningfully more reassuring than nothing.

Back to the sleep thing. Epithalon acts on the pineal gland, which is where it was originally derived from. Research shows it restores the natural melatonin rhythm that degrades with age rather than simply raising melatonin levels. In people with low pineal function it goes up, in people with normal function it slightly decreases. It regulates rather than overrides. My sleep data looked a bit better in weeks three and four. Could be the peptide, could be noise.

The reason I run it twice a year anyway comes down to how I think about this category of compounds. There are peptides I use because I feel them working. Then there are peptides where the whole point is what's accumulating below the surface over months and years. MOTS-c, SS-31, Epithalon. You don't feel less senescent. The return on these shows up in telomere length panels, biological age testing, inflammatory markers over time, not in how you feel on day 14.

Epithalon is cheap relative to most things I run, has an unusually clean safety record going back decades, and now has independent replication on the core mechanism. The cycle is 20 days twice a year. The math isn't hard.

I run what I can feel because I want those results. Anyone else have experience with this compound?

Sources:

Al-Dulaimi et al., Biogerontology 2025 -- first independent telomere mechanism study, Brunel University London

Khavinson et al., Bull Exp Biol Med 2003 -- foundational telomerase/telomere elongation study

Anisimov et al., Biogerontology 2003 -- SHR mouse lifespan, chromosomal damage, tumor data

Araj et al., Int J Mol Sci 2025 -- comprehensive biology review

More stories at r/PeptideTides

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Someone please explain this to me bc GH releasing peptides still cost a lot of money, and even generic HGH is much better than all of the other stuff on the market. So why are these peptides being pushed so hard right now? Is there an actual reason people recommend them over real HGH?

Long story short, a friend pressured me into running gear with him and I just said fuck it and went through with it. I have zero experience or knowledge about any of this. The only research I did was looking around online a couple of days before my first injection. I never got my blood tested or anything.

For context, I am 28 years old and a little overweight, but I work out and play sports here and there. I started taking 300mg of Test Cyp a week, doing 150mg on Mondays and Thursdays. I am also taking 150mg of Tren E a week, doing 75mg on Mondays and Thursdays.

I am on week four right now. After reading a lot more online, I realize this is probably not for me and I do not know what I should do at this point. I have lost nine pounds which is nice, and I actually feel really good. I was thinking about completely stopping the Tren and just sticking with the Test, or maybe I should just come off of both completely.

Where should I go from here? I know a lot of people are going to talk shit because I am an idiot for doing this blindly, but I really need some actual help figuring out my next steps.

What is everyone paying on gray Reta? My Zepbound is $299 a month, and I am researching other options for when the promotion ends. I know some of you are in the trial and do not pay anything.

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What is actually a good first cycle to run, assuming you had access to whatever you needed? I am 24 and have been natty my entire life, but I am ready to finally make the jump.

Please do not give me the generic advice about fixing my diet, sleeping more, or drinking a glass of water. I just want to know what a proper first protocol should look like if sourcing is not an issue.

Long story short, a friend pressured me into running gear with him and I just said fuck it and went through with it. I have zero experience or knowledge about any of this. The only research I tdid was looking around online a couple of days before my first injection. I never got my blood tested or anything.

For context, I am 28 years old and a little overweight, but I work out and play sports here and there. I started taking 300mg of Test Cyp a week, doing 150mg on Mondays and Thursdays. I am also taking 150mg of Tren E a week, doing 75mg on Mondays and Thursdays.

I am on week four right now. After reading a lot more online, I realize this is probably not for me and I do not know what I should do at this point. I have lost nine pounds which is nice, and I actually feel really good. I was thinking about completely stopping the Tren and just sticking with the Test, or maybe I should just come off of both completely.

Where should I go from here? I know a lot of people are going to talk shit because I am an idiot for doing this blindly, but I really need some actual help figuring out my next steps.

I have 5 days until my next dose of Reta, and my appetite suppression isn’t as strong as I’d like right now. I’m thinking about going back on my Adderall until my next dose, or maybe just increasing my Reta dose early.

Would y’all wait until the next scheduled dose, or dose early?

I am currently 21 years old. Back in December, I ran RAD 140 and MK for about eight weeks and ended up extremely suppressed. I tried taking a generic PCT from a local shop and it barely did anything. A friend recommended I try Nolvadex, so I took 5mg a day for two weeks, and then lowered the dose to a quarter of a tablet for the last two weeks.

The first two weeks were fine, but during the third week, I woke up one day and just felt incredibly weird. It felt like I was not even alive, almost like I was walking around in a dream. My senses just felt off and muted. I thought it was just in my head, so I decided to give it some time.

Fast forward several months and I still feel the exact same way. From what I have read, it seems like severe brain fog or that the medication completely messed up my estrogen levels. I have a good diet, I work out normally, and I sleep very well, but absolutely nothing has changed. For context, I took the SARMs from December to January, and the Nolvadex from mid-February to mid-March.

If anyone knows what to do or what I should take to fix this, please let me know. I need some serious help.

Hi everyone! I’ve been on compound Sema for 10 months and down 60lbs. I am currently at .9mg (45 units) and hate to keep going up. Anytime I go up my side effects are horrible for the first couple weeks and then they taper down and the food noise comes back with vengeance. I haven’t really gained any weight but I haven’t really lost either.

I’m fixing to make the switch to research Tirz but curious if it’ll really make much of a difference? Has anyone had the same experience as me and switched from compound Sema to research Tirz? I have 50 more lbs to lose and I’m feeling a little discouraged.

I recently upped my dosage and wondered if anyone else has had side effects of sour stomach. Wondering if it’s the GLP3 or just illness I’ve caught. It’s been 2 days since I took my injection.

Have you noticed a change in your personality since you first started gear or any other PEDs? I do not mean the short term stuff, like feeling like garbage and getting angry when you are two weeks deep into a PCT on 25mg of Enclo every day.

I am talking about longer term, deeper, and more gradual changes in how you actually act. It could be in terms of your ego getting bigger, how you treat other people, or just a permanent shift in your general mindset over the years. Have you guys experienced any real personality changes like this?

Long story short I'm going on a cross country road trip and I'm stopping in one state to fuck the tar out of a cute waitress. The thing is, I've been locked up, with men, jacking off in secret, for just over a year.

I'm afraid when my little soldier just feels the warmth radiating from her bush he's gonna spill his guts all over it.

I have about 10 days to order something. It *must* arrive before Friday, the 29th.

Plz halp.

Is anyone else tired of all the roid bro posts? I’m all for experimentation and ‘research compounds’ but at this point this sub has been completely overrun. Sorry not sorry bros. It is not super impressive half the time when your pinning steroids and glp1s and you lose weight and build muscle. To me is that not just the obvious outcome. Anyway sorry for the rant just over all the shirtless bro pics on a sub that used to be interesting.

Been taking KLOW for about 3 weeks now. 15u. 7 days a week. Wondering what cycle you guys follow! I was thinking of doing either 8 weeks on, 4 weeks off. Or 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off. Let me know!

There's seems to be lots of peptide info here but not so much of other ped's, so i hope this helps some people even tho its short and quick and very much basic info, and ofcourse do your own research

Also get your bloodwork done obviously, everyone responds different

Health issues with steroids

Lipids

This is quite possibly the absolute worst part of anabolic steroids health wise, we all know about cholesterol and how plaque builds up, androgens exacerbates this a ton. Fortunately theres lots of options to midgate these things. First off, limit fat intake, especially saturated fat. And for god sakes do your cardio and get some fiber in. To assist your body as its most often not enough we have weaker otc options like fish oil which is a great supplement in general and lowers triglycerides a bit, helps joints and brain tok but thats mainly unrelated to this. We also have citrus bergamot, a bit stronger and is able to lower ldl a fair bit also helps quite a bit with triglycerides. Strongest otc option is probably red yeast rice which acts a bit like a statin and is strongest among these 3. When we get into prescription stuff which i use and prefer as its more reliable and stronger for this sort of thing i think there are 3 main drugs you should read in on. Ezetimbe, rosuvastin and pitavastin. Both pita and rosuvastin are quite clean but in this aspect pitavastin takes the cake but rosuvastin takes the cake but rosuvastin on the other hand is remarkably strong. Ezetimbe unlike the first 2 is not a statin and instead just stops your intestines from absorbing cholesterol similar strength to pita. You can also combine lower doses of ezetimbe with lower doses of a statin for synergistic effect. These can have sides altough they arent bad.

Cardiovascular health

Again do your cardio. Fish oil can also help here as well as magnesium, both are supplements you should have natty or not in my opinion but theyre effect here is pretty small. So here i think look towards nebiviol, propanolol, telmisartan and cialis. Nebiviol and propanolol are both beta blockers, theyll lower your blood pressure and are the only here to lower heart rate, propanolol is pretty cns depressive tho, so id say unless you have preexisting anxiety or are using something strong and mentally strong like tren pick nebiviol as it can make you feel pretty tired. Telmisartan more so only lowers bp but its stronger at doing so and its also protecting of your kidneys. Cialis is something that may raise eyebrows but its evidence is very interesting to say the least. It seems to lower bp and pretty greatly help overall cardiovascular health.

Liver

This is something pretty avoidable on gear as its mainly present with 17-alkylated compounds which are mainly orals, with a few exceptions as some orals like anavar are quite gentle on the liver, tren can also fuck up the liver a bit. Use nac to support production of glutathione or even injectable glutathione as well as tudca to lower bile build up

Kidneys

Stay hydrated. Nattokinase is great and otc but hydration is most of the equation.

Testosterone

This is ofcourse what you make and the base of all cycles. Testosterone in and of itself isnt that bad generally, you might have some level of bp increases and lipid disruptions. You dont have to go nuclear but be weary. The main issues come from its 2 conversions. 1 is the aromatization which is the reason for things like most of the bloat, puffy nipples/gyno etc. But dont make the mistake of being scared of estrogen. Its the most important hormone in your body and if you lower it too much youll feel worse than youve ever felt. You can lower estrodial with an anti estrogenic androgen or an aromatase inhibitor to simply block the enzyme responsible for aromatization. Second is the dht conversion. This might be irrelevant for some but it does things like shifting collagen balance between the types and giving a harder, "manly" type skin. Dutasteride/finasteride lowers dht. Theres lots of fearmongering on this stuff but the odds of sides are low, especially when low testosterone can increase the risk and thats not something to worry about. But they are still real, be wary ofcourse, you can get things like erection or libido issues for example. You can also use a topical anti androgen to block the androgen receptors in your skin, possibly even in combination.

My rating:10/10

Anavar/oxandrolone

Its a dht derivative but quite different from its sister compounds. Its not very androgenic and more anabolic in muscle. There is liver risk due to it being oral mainly but it is low. Its always better to be safe than sorry tho so protect your body. Androgenic sides like the typical dht sides earlier mentioned are low but if they do happen dutas/fin wont help. Youll need a topical anti androgen. It is quite a mild steroid both health wise and gains wise

My rating:8,5

Nandrolone/deca/npp

This is not only a 19-nor, its the 19-nor, because this in other words is 19-nortestosterone. This unlike most steroids makes it progestenic. To counteract this youll need to increase dopamine. This can be done with p5p which is otc or cabergoline which is prescription and a d3 agonist. Caber is stronger and needed at higher doses. Its pretty light on most biomarkers on the other hand while being very anabolic

My rating:8

Dbol/dianabol

This will really make you blow up, its a testosterone derivative that aromitizes into methylestrodial, a verision of estrodial that isnt broken down as easily so it stays. Its mainly water weight tho so you dont gain nearly as much muscle as you think. Youll feel great mentally and push weight in the gym. It is oral and somewhat toxic. I think there are better options for raw muscle as this is mostly temporary but i very much get the appeal

My rating:5

Tren/trenbolone

This is like nandrolone a 19 nor. It is progestenic but also interesting in other ways. To start its uniquely a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist making it often used for cuts as this makes it exeptionally anti catabolic. Super anabolic, amazing nutrient partitioning and gets you horny and wired mentally. It also seems to interfere with oxytocin and vassopressin signaling which should in theory contribute to why youll look so debloated and big on it.. Its detriments are also on the other hand pretty bad common sides are androgenic ones like hairloss, elastin loss and also things like too much libido and insomnia. Its also notorious for ending relationships and making you an assohole, or more precisely more of one. Youll be in constant fight or flight, have moodswings etc. Theres nothing like it but be aware what you are getting yourself into.

My rating:8,5/10

Eq/boldenone

This is a testosterone derivative often mainly used for e2 control. It uses up aromatase which lowers it while it doesnt aromatise into estrodial but instead a weaker estrogen which lowers estrogenic sides. Its metabolite is also an aromatase inhibitor. Its pretty anabolic, similar to testosterone. Dont use to much of this relative to your testosterone or youll start to feel like shit. In terms of sides its similar to testosterone exept maybe a bit more hair safe.

My rating 9/10

Pct

Use hcg 8-10 weeks of the end of your cycles to reverse the damage done on your balls. They will then get back to normal size and have functional receptors. Also a serm like enclomiphine can reset your hypothalamus, the part receiving negative feedback