7 Things to Fix Before You Try a Peptide
Most people are using peptides to solve health problems that their bodies can fix on their own.
You’ve now heard at least a dozen people tell you what a miracle they experienced because they injected BPC-157 or Ipamorelin. You’re curious but you’ve also heard a few horror stories from the biohacking community.
I don’t have a horse in the peptide race. It seems to work swimmingly for some and I have had as many patients who experienced no benefits or just side effects. But I’ve collected 7 learning points from my patients that you can try before you dial your local peptide dude.
Welcome to the Physician-Led Health Coaching weekly newsletter. I’m Dr. Ashori, a board-certified physician & health coach. I help people fix brain fog, fatigue, and stubborn weight before they turn into real disease.
1. You’re Not Recovering Like You Used to
This is one of the most popular reasons to reach for a peptide like BPC-157 and TB500. They promise to regenerate your tissues, help you heal faster, and get back to your best self.
But chances are you are doing too many things back to back without adequate rest. In my TREND Method D stands for downtime. You need this downtime/recovery to regenerate tissue, to have more parasympathetic tone on your blood vessels and heart.
2. You Can’t Process Information
Semax and Selank are the popular stack for those who are experiencing brain fog, slow processing speeds, or poor concentration.
The likely problem is that you’re constantly draining your brain without allowing it time to refuel. Try setting a time for heavy mentally taxing work - say, from 9 am until 2 pm. After that, only do lighter work. And turn off your processor after 5 pm. This allows your brain to come back online fresh by 9 am the next morning.
Struggling with Brain Fog? Consider enrolling in my Brain Fog Reset program.
3. You’re in Bed But Not Sleeping
This is the sleep data from one of my patients. She’s convinced she’s getting 8 hours but 2 separate devices confirmed that her sleep apnea and some other health issues are preventing her from actually getting sleep.
Ipamorelin and CJC-1295 are another popular combo stack people take right before bed. Instead, address the quality of your sleep. Maybe your body is retaining too much water which makes you get up to pee a lot or your mind races too much to fall back asleep during the midnight awakenings.
4. Your Energy is Zapped
MOTS-c and Elamipretide are used separately or together to supposedly put the mitochondria in hyperdrive. But that’s only a quick fix. The 2 main problems I see in my practice are excessive calorie restriction and constant low-grade stress.
If you’re trying to control your weight by focusing on more protein and less carbs chances are you’re going to be hungry a lot. Maybe you’re in the 25% of the population who feels great satiety from animal proteins but the other 75% need complex carbs for the nutrients.
5. Your Insulin Needs a Break
Retatrutide and 5-Amino-1MQ are used to improve insulin balance in the body. At least Reta is in the pipeline to be a future pharmaceutical drug, which allows us to have more transparency - not perfect, but better than a completely unregulated space.
I have a patient right now whose fasting insulin is nearly 20. A1C is nearly in the diabetes range. And his cholesterol is quite high. All of this means that his pancreas and liver are just not getting a break from glucose.
Switch from simple carbs to complex carbs. Add more lean protein to your diet (tofu, beans, tempeh, fish, eggs, meat.) The goal is to give the pancreas a break so that your body can get rid of all the excess insulin receptors.
6. Your Muscles Aren’t Activated
We have lots of important receptors on the muscles and to express them we have to use them. How much? It depends on your genetics. Some people just have to walk but others need to lift weights regularly for those proteins to be activated.
Biohackers take IGF-1 LR3 and Tesamorelin are both used to increase muscle synthesis. But they act on the IGF-1 and Growth Hormone pathways, which are both very delicate and potentially harmful to manipulate.
Stretch your muscles before going to bed and go for daily walks. If you are still having trouble with your blood pressure or blood sugars, add in some resistance band training - start with 5 minutes a day.
7. Skin & Hair Are Thin or Sagging
GHK-Cu and Epitalon are injected for anti-aging and collagen remodeling. But we know that collagen breakdown accelerates with low-grade inflammation, excessive UV exposure, inadequate hydration, stress, and high-glycemic-index diet.
Try to oxygenate your tissues more and don’t be afraid of the sun. Use a sun exposure calculator to get the right amount of sun and vitamin D. If your fasting insulin is high, work on bringing it down which will help avoid damage to the skin and hair follicles.
Disclaimer:
Dr. Mohammad Ashori is a U.S.-trained family medicine physician. The content shared here is for education and general guidance. It is not personal medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and it does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Humans are complicated and your personal details matter. Your healthcare team is your best resource before making medical decisions, changing medications, or managing symptoms. This information is to help you add more depth to those conversations.
Follow me on:
📸 Instagram
▶️ YouTube
📘 Facebook
👽Reddit