Emily Lai@emilylai
ALL ABOUT PEPTIDES: my results, logs, learnings, and where to start (or if you even should)
It's been one full year since I've experimented with injecting peptides. In 2025, I used:
> Jan - Oct: Tirzepatide (GLP-2)
> Oct - Dec: BPC-157, CJC-1295, Ipamorelin
> Oct - Dec: Retatrutide (GLP-3)
> Oct - Now: NAD+ (not technically a peptide)
> Dec: Creatine (not a peptide, but I want to talk about it)
> Dec - Now: GHK-cu
My main motivation for injecting strange substances into myself was curiosity on how much better I could feel in this flesh vessel. Starting with tirzepatide, the idea of weight loss was a factor but I was never overweight
High-level, the noted benefits for each are:
> Tirzepatide: blood sugar control, appetite suppression leading to weight loss
> BPC-157: tissue healing, gut lining repair
> CJC-1295: increases growth hormone which helps with muscle repair, recovery, collagen
> Ipamorelin: synergistic with CJC-1295, also promotes growth hormone and enhances sleep, muslce recovery
> Retatrutide: does what tirzepatide does at higher levels alongside metabolic rate increase
> NAD+: energy and cellular repair
> Creatine: strength, recovery, cognitive benefits
> GHK-Cu: collagen, hair/skin growth, tissue repair
Now what I actually experienced:
Tirzepatide:
Since Jan 2025, I've lost 15lbs (7kg), 10% of body weight. Tirzepatide definitely contributed for this. I tested my blood in May and was -11 my biological age Inflammation was low. Beyond weight loss, what tirzepatide truly helped me with was dialing in on diet and my fitness habits. Appetite suppression is strong. You don't feel like eating but know you have to, so you opt in for whole foods, high protein, low carb etc. You also want to build muscle when you're losing weight so you lift weights. Honestly, tirzepatide was the gateway peptide lol. I went down a pant size, now had abs lol, I saw my blood panel results, and I felt great. It's why I kept experimenting.
Dosage:
2.5 mg weekly, I titrated up to 3.5 mg ONCE (0.5mg increase each week) but then went back down to 2.5mg. Why? I had a good friend do two months of ozempic. In the prescribed pen, they have you jump dosages wildly. 2.5 to 5 to 10 etc. She forgot to eat and although she lost a lot of weight, she suffered hair loss too.
BPC-157+CJC-1295+Ipamorelin:
I put these all in one syringe. Tbh, it's hard to say if I felt any different. At this point I was already dialed in on health. I did notice my biceps being more dense but who knows if it would have already been like that because I was hitting protein goals daily. I also had less back pain but I'm not sure if that was from weight loss, inflammaton reduction, or just more upper back strength vs. this stack. I will say I did not experience differences in sleep.
Dosage:
400mcg BCP-157, 200 mg CJC-1295, 200mg Ipamorelin daily
Cycle:
8 weeks. Stopped. Likely won't repeat for now.
NAD+
I'm loving NAD+. I feel the benefits and see them compounding too. I feel the energy rush immediately and stay through throughout the day. I've tried NAD+ IV drips before, but injecting it subq and having consistent access has been a game changer. I noticeably see the difference with running which I track. More stamina and energy. Thinking and cognitive recall seems faster too but thinking about thinking is so meta and subjective.
Dosage:
Loading period of 100mg daily for 10 days. Then 2-3x a week 100mg each. Now I'm at 50mg 2x a week.
Retatrutide:
Tirzepatide got me to a weight level I was happy with yet I was curious about retatrutide, the next evolution of GLPs. The main benefit I'm seeking now is inflammation reduction (look into liver fat reducton).I recently stopped however because it was causing some gastric stress. I noticeably felt it when doing a 72 hour zero-cal 1.5 weeks ago. My whole digestive track was immensely slower.. even with no food in my body. The fast has made it easy to move to intermittent fasting on a 16:8 window, and I'm considering just keeping it at that. Reta seemed to have less of appetite suppression than tirzepatide for me, but it could also be that I'm taking a tiny dose and my body is accustomed now. One risk of this one is there are reports of higher heart rate at high dosages.
Dosage:
0.5mg-1mg weekly, a microdose basically. If I start again will surely be 0.5mg
Creatine:
There's a cult-like following around creatine to a point where I felt gaslit when trying to find information online on why it made my face so puffy. I did it for 30 days, drank lots of water. Felt great at the gym but tbh no wild noticeable difference. Stopped it during my fast and saw my cheekbones get more snatched so decided to stop all together.
Dosage: 3mg daily. No loading.
GHK-Cu:
Ok honestly my skin is pretty damn great as it is but I had two vials of this and just started out of curiosity. Not sure if it's making a difference or will, but will do a full cycle and see.
Dosage: 1mg daily, will cycle for 8 weeks.
Other notes to call out:
- It's hard know if any single input (outside of tirzepatide and NAD+) made a difference because my habits changed over the year, and I'm also mixing this with other modalities..
- I don't drink alcohol. Haven't for 12+ years
- Fully sober
- I sleep, have a grandma schedule lol
- First Vipassana in April, started meditating daily since more or less
- Burned out, nervous system disregulated in July/August
- Tested 11 years younger by blood in May (after Vipassana) and only 6 years younger by blood in November
- After blood panel, started supplementing Vitamin D+K2+Omega3s
- Currently taking an iron supplement with GHK-cu
- For skin, also doing a red light mask daily since Jan 2025, this has made a difference
- Added in daily sauna and ice bath in Dec
^ all this context is to show I'm not sure how much is from the peptide vs. the lifestyle. But I do feel the strongest, sharpest, most spiritually aligned self I've ever been
Should you take peptides? It depends on your own goals. Ultimately dialing in sleep, exercise, diet should be the baseline
If you do take them, I suggest:
- lowest dose possible first, see how you feel then titrate up
- stagnate them, so you can better isolate results
- getting it from a source where they test each batch
- doing your own research and not trusting what people say online
Tools I use: peppedia, reddit, gpt, some books to learn dosages and effects (then i use the lowest dose to start)
Source: peptide dot partners, use EMI for 10% off
Last note: I think looksmaxxing is cool and all but not at the cost of spirit loss. This whole experience taught me aesthetics is easier than ever to obtain. Even before the peptides craze there was botox/fillers and just wearing all-black tailored clothes. Being hot is not just a conscious choice but it's currently at the lowest barrier to entry than ever before. This makes it way less impressive.
What's going to actually matter isn't how you look, but how you feel, and make others feel.
