My story

Extremely high blood pressure got me to find a primary care physician after decades of neglecting routine medical care.

The testing uncovered hypothyroidism and type 2 diabetes. My A1C was 9.7. My earliest weight recording, on February 26, was 165 kilograms.

I take prescribed levothyroxine and receive prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. I was also prescribed losartan for my blood pressure. As my weight and blood pressure came down, my physician directed me to stop taking it.

I manage my diabetes independently, without prescribed diabetes medication. My latest A1C is 5.2.

Those are the broad strokes. This site is about my experience, rather than every detail of my medical history.

The first thing I did was a four-day water fast. That’s what happened, not a starting point I’m recommending.

I started walking immediately. Four-tenths of a mile, eight-tenths—whatever I could manage. The distance increased gradually.

Now I get up at five and walk two miles every morning. I also strength train a couple of times a week and do thirty minutes of cardio most nights.

The short walks count. They were how I got to the longer ones.

My first retatrutide injection was April 12, 2026.

Before that, I spent time reading human-trial research, watching analyses of the findings, looking into vendors, and considering the risks I was prepared to take.

I chose to use gray-market peptides. That part of my routine is independently managed; it isn’t prescribed or supervised by my physician.

I’m open about it because it belongs in an honest answer to “What have you been doing?” I also believe people should discuss their own plans with their medical care provider.

On retatrutide, I have essentially no appetite or cravings. Some days, particularly shortly after my weekly injection, eating is difficult.

Early on, I had gastrointestinal side effects, including two bouts of pretty severe nausea. Those symptoms went away around four months in, as I remember it.

Then there are the pants.

I’m six-foot-five. My waist has gone from 48 inches to 38 inches. Clothing in my size was already expensive, and I’m not eager to spend hundreds replacing pants while my waist is still changing.

So, yes, the progress is visible. So is the fact that my clothes don’t fit.

I wish I’d stayed at a dose that was working for longer.

I followed scheduled increases closely. Looking back, I wouldn’t treat four weeks passing as a reason by itself to increase.

That’s a reflection on my decisions, not a dosing schedule for somebody else. I’m still learning, and some of that involves questioning choices I made earlier.

My next weight goal is somewhere around 220 pounds.

After that, I plan to spend roughly three months maintaining my weight and learning what calorie intake supports it. Then I want to shift the emphasis of my strength training toward building muscle.

That’s the plan today. I’ll update this site as there’s something meaningful to add.

People ask what I’m doing, and I want to give them an honest, useful answer.

That includes pharmaceuticals. It also includes walking, training, food, fasting, side effects, cost, and the practical business of keeping everything organized.

Several things changed during the same period. I can describe my results, but I can’t tell you exactly how much each compound or habit contributed.

I hope this gives you a sense of direction, answers some of the questions we didn’t have time for, and helps you decide what to learn more about.

I sometimes find vendors through independent testing laboratories, by seeing who has submitted products for testing and then investigating their websites.

Before ordering, I look for current certificates of analysis for the batch being sold. I verify reports directly through the publishing laboratory. A PDF or screenshot on a vendor’s website isn’t enough; those can be fabricated or altered.

I review what was actually tested. Identity, purity, and quantity matter, but I also look for sterility, bacterial endotoxin, and heavy-metal testing. One result doesn’t answer every question.

When an order arrives, I compare its batch number with the verified reports.

That process informs my decisions. It doesn’t independently prove that every delivered vial matches the tested sample or make using it risk-free.

I also belong to a community that purchases wholesale peptides, commissions independent testing, and shares results and vendor feedback.

Communication matters enormously with these purchases. Ordering is rarely straightforward, so I expect the other details to be in order. I rely heavily on the community’s ongoing testing and feedback. For me, even one failed test is enough to rule out a vendor.

I wouldn’t recommend this route to newcomers. It demands a high tolerance for risk, and community recommendations don’t remove the uncertainty.

I’ve talked with people who found a treatment helpful but couldn’t sustain spending hundreds of dollars a month.

That deserves an honest conversation. Cost affects the choices people make and whether they can keep going.

When I share prices, I want to show what I purchased, the quantity, the date, and what the total includes. A lower price matters, but it doesn’t establish equivalent products, testing, or care.