INTRO Hi from Michigan

[Intriguedat60]

Hey all, glad to have landed here. I turn 60 this July, and for the bulk of my life I never gave much thought to my body or my health — that changes now. About 2 years back I was diagnosed with an autoimmune liver disease, which put me on prednisone for more than 1.5 years (I'm still taking an immunosuppressant). A bit over a year ago I began Tirzepatide, partly to shed the weight I'd gained and partly to counter the appetite boost coming from the prednisone. Somehow I hit my target of 45 pounds within the first 9 months, and I've stayed around that number since. These days I'm exercising more and generally trying to look after myself better. Part of that push is me digging into the intriguing realm of peptides, and I'm happy to have come across this forum, where I hope to pick up more knowledge and keep moving in a smart, careful direction toward improved health. I played sports constantly when I was younger, but past 40 it felt like I was always getting hurt. That's another reason I'm here — to see whether I can change that. On top of it, my brain health worries me (words escape me a lot now, lol). Anyway, I'm hoping to meet and chat with people who think along the same lines.

 

[ChAsEr435]

Glad to see a new face around.

 

[Intriguedat60]

ChAsEr435 said:

Glad to see a new face around.

Thank you, this is such an amazing amount of knowledge! I'm eagerly waiting for my initial order

 

[cujet]

Greetings to a fellow member of the prednisone-afflicted club — or should I say, patient. Autoimmune problems run in my life too, and going without prednisone is pure misery for me. Unfortunately, I'm taking pred again, 15mg daily. I'm a 62M ex-athlete whose body was hit by a chain of autoimmune catastrophes that began with the Epstein-Barr virus when I was 33.

Naturally, no two people are alike, but in my case Retatrutide has been an absolute miracle. Even though I put in superhuman work to hold my weight and conditioning steady — hard training sessions, 100 mile bike rides, nothing but air for breakfast and lunch, and a Marlboro light as my evening meal — I still ballooned. (yes, that's a grim joke) With Hashimoto's thyroid failure, secondary adrenal insufficiency, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease and long-term heavy pred use stacked against me, keeping a sensible weight was hopeless. I exploded from a muscular 192 up to 262 like gangbusters. Even eating just 1 800 calorie protein (meat) meal daily, 220 was the lowest I could reach. Prednisone is the devil himself.

In Dec 2025 I began 2mg of Reta, and now I weigh exactly my target of 192. It's unbelievable. My labs aren't all 'danger red' anymore either.

One thing I've noticed: splitting Reta into 2 doses per week works better for me. If I don't, the inflammation comes raging back around day 5 or 6.

Note: While I was losing weight, Reta's anti-inflammatory effect was strong enough for a while that I could quit pred. These days, though, I don't want to drop any more weight, so I've reduced the dose from 5mg down to 3mg weekly.

 

[11223344]

cujet said:

Greetings to a fellow member of the prednisone-afflicted club — or should I say, patient. Autoimmune problems run in my life too, and going without prednisone is pure misery for me. Unfortunately, I'm taking pred again, 15mg daily. I'm a 62M ex-athlete whose body was hit by a chain of autoimmune catastrophes that began with the Epstein-Barr virus when I was 33.

Naturally, no two people are alike, but in my case Retatrutide has been an absolute miracle. Even though I put in superhuman work to hold my weight and conditioning steady — hard training sessions, 100 mile bike rides, nothing but air for breakfast and lunch, and a Marlboro light as my evening meal — I still ballooned. (yes, that's a grim joke) With Hashimoto's thyroid failure, secondary adrenal insufficiency, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease and long-term heavy pred use stacked against me, keeping a sensible weight was hopeless. I exploded from a muscular 192 up to 262 like gangbusters. Even eating just 1 800 calorie protein (meat) meal daily, 220 was the lowest I could reach. Prednisone is the devil himself.

In Dec 2025 I began 2mg of Reta, and now I weigh exactly my target of 192. It's unbelievable. My labs aren't all 'danger red' anymore either.

One thing I've noticed: splitting Reta into 2 doses per week works better for me. If I don't, the inflammation comes raging back around day 5 or 6.

Note: While I was losing weight, Reta's anti-inflammatory effect was strong enough for a while that I could quit pred. These days, though, I don't want to drop any more weight, so I've reduced the dose from 5mg down to 3mg weekly.

Intriguedat60 said:

Hey all, glad to have landed here. I turn 60 this July, and for the bulk of my life I never gave much thought to my body or my health — that changes now. About 2 years back I was diagnosed with an autoimmune liver disease, which put me on prednisone for more than 1.5 years (I'm still taking an immunosuppressant). A bit over a year ago I began Tirzepatide, partly to shed the weight I'd gained and partly to counter the appetite boost coming from the prednisone. Somehow I hit my target of 45 pounds within the first 9 months, and I've stayed around that number since. These days I'm exercising more and generally trying to look after myself better. Part of that push is me digging into the intriguing realm of peptides, and I'm happy to have come across this forum, where I hope to pick up more knowledge and keep moving in a smart, careful direction toward improved health. I played sports constantly when I was younger, but past 40 it felt like I was always getting hurt. That's another reason I'm here — to see whether I can change that. On top of it, my brain health worries me (words escape me a lot now, lol). Anyway, I'm hoping to meet and chat with people who think along the same lines.





View attachment 11152

Hi Intriguedat60, best of luck with everything ahead. I get what you're saying about struggling to come up with words — I figure the steroids are to blame, pred for you and hydrocortisone in my case (adrenal insufficiency), they really do a number on brain function.

Pretty amazing that you've already placed an order for peptides. I honestly can't figure out the first thing about how that's done. Not going to ask, since I know it would get flagged. Wishing you all the best.

 

[11223344]

cujet said:

Greetings to a fellow member of the prednisone-afflicted club — or should I say, patient. Autoimmune problems run in my life too, and going without prednisone is pure misery for me. Unfortunately, I'm taking pred again, 15mg daily. I'm a 62M ex-athlete whose body was hit by a chain of autoimmune catastrophes that began with the Epstein-Barr virus when I was 33.

Naturally, no two people are alike, but in my case Retatrutide has been an absolute miracle. Even though I put in superhuman work to hold my weight and conditioning steady — hard training sessions, 100 mile bike rides, nothing but air for breakfast and lunch, and a Marlboro light as my evening meal — I still ballooned. (yes, that's a grim joke) With Hashimoto's thyroid failure, secondary adrenal insufficiency, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease and long-term heavy pred use stacked against me, keeping a sensible weight was hopeless. I exploded from a muscular 192 up to 262 like gangbusters. Even eating just 1 800 calorie protein (meat) meal daily, 220 was the lowest I could reach. Prednisone is the devil himself.

In Dec 2025 I began 2mg of Reta, and now I weigh exactly my target of 192. It's unbelievable. My labs aren't all 'danger red' anymore either.

One thing I've noticed: splitting Reta into 2 doses per week works better for me. If I don't, the inflammation comes raging back around day 5 or 6.

Note: While I was losing weight, Reta's anti-inflammatory effect was strong enough for a while that I could quit pred. These days, though, I don't want to drop any more weight, so I've reduced the dose from 5mg down to 3mg weekly.

Hi Cujet, finding your post has me really thrilled. Secondary adrenal insufficiency is something I deal with as well, and it's a real pain. Would you be open to sharing what your experience with it has been like, and whether Reta (or any other thing?) has changed your day-to-day? If that's too personal for this forum, no worries at all.

 

[cujet]

11223344 said:

cujet said:

Greetings to a fellow member of the prednisone-afflicted club — or should I say, patient. Autoimmune problems run in my life too, and going without prednisone is pure misery for me. Unfortunately, I'm taking pred again, 15mg daily. I'm a 62M ex-athlete whose body was hit by a chain of autoimmune catastrophes that began with the Epstein-Barr virus when I was 33.

Naturally, no two people are alike, but in my case Retatrutide has been an absolute miracle. Even though I put in superhuman work to hold my weight and conditioning steady — hard training sessions, 100 mile bike rides, nothing but air for breakfast and lunch, and a Marlboro light as my evening meal — I still ballooned. (yes, that's a grim joke) With Hashimoto's thyroid failure, secondary adrenal insufficiency, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease and long-term heavy pred use stacked against me, keeping a sensible weight was hopeless. I exploded from a muscular 192 up to 262 like gangbusters. Even eating just 1 800 calorie protein (meat) meal daily, 220 was the lowest I could reach. Prednisone is the devil himself.

In Dec 2025 I began 2mg of Reta, and now I weigh exactly my target of 192. It's unbelievable. My labs aren't all 'danger red' anymore either.

One thing I've noticed: splitting Reta into 2 doses per week works better for me. If I don't, the inflammation comes raging back around day 5 or 6.

Note: While I was losing weight, Reta's anti-inflammatory effect was strong enough for a while that I could quit pred. These days, though, I don't want to drop any more weight, so I've reduced the dose from 5mg down to 3mg weekly.

Hi Cujet, finding your post has me really thrilled. Secondary adrenal insufficiency is something I deal with as well, and it's a real pain. Would you be open to sharing what your experience with it has been like, and whether Reta (or any other thing?) has changed your day-to-day? If that's too personal for this forum, no worries at all.

Hey there! As far as I can tell, Reta hasn't had any impact on my Sec Adrl Insf. My treatment involves both Prednisone and Hydrocortisone. My body tends to 'clear' cortisol quickly, and since I use T3 thyroid hormone as the only treatment for Hashimoto's, that clearance speeds up even more. Because of this, I have to take 10mg Hydrocortisone regularly all day long. Whether I'm on Reta or not, that hasn't changed.

Taking 15mg of Prednisone (10mg in the morning and 5mg at lunch) helps even out the cortisol crashes and calms my overactive immune system, which lessens my MCTD symptoms.

At one point, Retatrutide brought my inflammation down so much that I could cut the Prednisone to 5mg daily. Unfortunately, that effect didn't stick. After I switched Retatrutide sources, the big drop in inflammation disappeared.

Here's what I'm dealing with:

Hashimoto's thyroid destruction, treated with T3 only, which works best for me.

Sec Adrl Insf. SUCKS!! It's hard to manage, and the frequent crashes make living a normal life difficult.

MCTD, which is debilitating during flare ups and inflammation. Pred is the antidote.

Myasthenia Gravis (muscles don't respond) treated with Mestinon. Treatment works well at the moment.

 

[11223344]

Hey Cujet, appreciate you getting back to me. SAI really is awful. I've dealt with Crohns since childhood, and honestly SAI disrupts things far more on a daily basis. Or even hour to hour. I had a very thorough day curve done, and I also clear cortisol fast. My guess is that throughout my days I swing between being under-replaced and over-replaced. There's also something about food that's off for me — I know it, but I don't truly get it.

With your SAI, do you get nauseous and shaky at times?

I'd really like to pose the forbidden question, but I'm aware it violates forum rules. Truthfully, the brain fog has made me a bit slow (I'm pretty sure I used to be sharper than I am now), and I can't figure out how this forum works at all. I believe you have to wait for the 'new user' label to change to 'apprentice' before you're allowed to ask.

 

[Intriguedat60]

11223344 said:

cujet said:

Greetings to a fellow member of the prednisone-afflicted club — or should I say, patient. Autoimmune problems run in my life too, and going without prednisone is pure misery for me. Unfortunately, I'm taking pred again, 15mg daily. I'm a 62M ex-athlete whose body was hit by a chain of autoimmune catastrophes that began with the Epstein-Barr virus when I was 33.

Naturally, no two people are alike, but in my case Retatrutide has been an absolute miracle. Even though I put in superhuman work to hold my weight and conditioning steady — hard training sessions, 100 mile bike rides, nothing but air for breakfast and lunch, and a Marlboro light as my evening meal — I still ballooned. (yes, that's a grim joke) With Hashimoto's thyroid failure, secondary adrenal insufficiency, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease and long-term heavy pred use stacked against me, keeping a sensible weight was hopeless. I exploded from a muscular 192 up to 262 like gangbusters. Even eating just 1 800 calorie protein (meat) meal daily, 220 was the lowest I could reach. Prednisone is the devil himself.

In Dec 2025 I began 2mg of Reta, and now I weigh exactly my target of 192. It's unbelievable. My labs aren't all 'danger red' anymore either.

One thing I've noticed: splitting Reta into 2 doses per week works better for me. If I don't, the inflammation comes raging back around day 5 or 6.

Note: While I was losing weight, Reta's anti-inflammatory effect was strong enough for a while that I could quit pred. These days, though, I don't want to drop any more weight, so I've reduced the dose from 5mg down to 3mg weekly.

Intriguedat60 said:

Hey all, glad to have landed here. I turn 60 this July, and for the bulk of my life I never gave much thought to my body or my health — that changes now. About 2 years back I was diagnosed with an autoimmune liver disease, which put me on prednisone for more than 1.5 years (I'm still taking an immunosuppressant). A bit over a year ago I began Tirzepatide, partly to shed the weight I'd gained and partly to counter the appetite boost coming from the prednisone. Somehow I hit my target of 45 pounds within the first 9 months, and I've stayed around that number since. These days I'm exercising more and generally trying to look after myself better. Part of that push is me digging into the intriguing realm of peptides, and I'm happy to have come across this forum, where I hope to pick up more knowledge and keep moving in a smart, careful direction toward improved health. I played sports constantly when I was younger, but past 40 it felt like I was always getting hurt. That's another reason I'm here — to see whether I can change that. On top of it, my brain health worries me (words escape me a lot now, lol). Anyway, I'm hoping to meet and chat with people who think along the same lines.





View attachment 11152

Hi Intriguedat60, best of luck with everything ahead. I get what you're saying about struggling to come up with words — I figure the steroids are to blame, pred for you and hydrocortisone in my case (adrenal insufficiency), they really do a number on brain function.

Pretty amazing that you've already placed an order for peptides. I honestly can't figure out the first thing about how that's done. Not going to ask, since I know it would get flagged. Wishing you all the best.

Appreciate the greeting. In the end, I went through many reviews across the various vendors and simply took the plunge. A couple or a few of them clearly kept getting strong ratings. I picked one, and my transactions with them have been excellent up to now. The hardest bit was honestly learning the process of purchasing Bitcoin, something I'd never done previously. Best of luck!