Retatrutide Maintenance Dose? Plus TRT & HGH Questions

[MTSpace]

I’m trying to get multiple things sorted out alongside my doctors right now. I’m on TRT and dealing with some persistent iron problems. The hardest part is keeping hematocrit in check without needing more phlebotomies, since those tend to tank my ferritin and leave me feeling pretty awful.

The Vrock protocol has helped me somewhat, but at the moment my main focus is dialing in retatrutide and later adding HGH back in.

Right now:

1. Retatrutide: 3 mg/week (1.5 mg twice weekly), aiming to reach 6mg a week to see how it affects recomp (going that high may not be needed, time will tell where I end up)
   
2. TRT: daily shallow IM injections
   
3. Thinking about moving to daily SubQ if that might help with hematocrit, and then trying cream if necessary.
   
4. Planning to restart HGH in two weeks

I’ve come across plenty of differing views on when to take HGH (before bed vs. morning fasted with cardio), so I’d really like to hear real-world experiences from people running similar protocols.

A few questions:

• Has anyone lowered hematocrit by going from daily shallow IM TRT to daily SubQ injections? Did anyone end up switching to testosterone cream specifically to help manage hematocrit? Daily injections don’t bother me, so the only reason I’d think about cream is if it made a significant difference for hematocrit control.
  
• Is anyone here running a TRT + HGH + Retatrutide stack? If so, where did you find your sweet spot for HGH & retatrutide? I’m at 3 mg/week of reta right now, but I expect I’ll eventually land on a lower maintenance dose, and I’d be interested to hear what maintenance doses others have found effective.
  
• For those using HGH mainly for healthy aging, skin quality, hair, body composition, recovery, and support of TRT, when have you found dosing works best? Morning fasted? Before bed? Have you noticed meaningful differences in fat loss, recovery, or overall results between the two approaches?

I’d appreciate hearing both the successes & lessons learned from anyone who has been down a similar path.

 

[Rolltide61]

MTSpace said:

I’m trying to get multiple things sorted out alongside my doctors right now. I’m on TRT and dealing with some persistent iron problems. The hardest part is keeping hematocrit in check without needing more phlebotomies, since those tend to tank my ferritin and leave me feeling pretty awful.

The Vrock protocol has helped me somewhat, but at the moment my main focus is dialing in retatrutide and later adding HGH back in.

Right now:

1. Retatrutide: 3 mg/week (1.5 mg twice weekly), aiming to reach 6mg a week to see how it affects recomp (going that high may not be needed, time will tell where I end up)
   
2. TRT: daily shallow IM injections
   
3. Thinking about moving to daily SubQ if that might help with hematocrit, and then trying cream if necessary.
   
4. Planning to restart HGH in two weeks

I’ve come across plenty of differing views on when to take HGH (before bed vs. morning fasted with cardio), so I’d really like to hear real-world experiences from people running similar protocols.

A few questions:

• Has anyone lowered hematocrit by going from daily shallow IM TRT to daily SubQ injections? Did anyone end up switching to testosterone cream specifically to help manage hematocrit? Daily injections don’t bother me, so the only reason I’d think about cream is if it made a significant difference for hematocrit control.
  
• Is anyone here running a TRT + HGH + Retatrutide stack? If so, where did you find your sweet spot for HGH & retatrutide? I’m at 3 mg/week of reta right now, but I expect I’ll eventually land on a lower maintenance dose, and I’d be interested to hear what maintenance doses others have found effective.
  
• For those using HGH mainly for healthy aging, skin quality, hair, body composition, recovery, and support of TRT, when have you found dosing works best? Morning fasted? Before bed? Have you noticed meaningful differences in fat loss, recovery, or overall results between the two approaches?

I’d appreciate hearing both the successes & lessons learned from anyone who has been down a similar path.

I inject testosterone subcutaneously every 3rd day, and since doing that I've never had any hematocrit issues. (80mg per injection) Around a year ago I began donating blood, not because it was necessary, but because I believed it was the right thing to do.

As for HGH, I don't use it, since I'm not willing to skip my bedtime cookie, so I can't offer any help on that front.

 

[Rezwalker]

100mg of test, done 2x per week, IM, so 200mg total

before bed I take 2 ui of HGH, 1:30 after my last meal

when I wake up, fasted, I take another 2 UI of HGH for fasted cardio

Monday morning is when I take 6Mg Reta (rough week this time, the new R40 vial hits harder than the last one)

and for the last cut, 50 mg Anavar every day

red meat goes in whenever I can eat

glucose gets tested to be sure, and it's always perfect

when I take 4 IU of HGH before bed, every joint aches by morning...

but split into 2, it's perfect for me

 

[Gr33dyOctopus]

Rezwalker said:

100mg of test, done 2x per week, IM, so 200mg total

before bed I take 2 ui of HGH, 1:30 after my last meal

when I wake up, fasted, I take another 2 UI of HGH for fasted cardio

Monday morning is when I take 6Mg Reta (rough week this time, the new R40 vial hits harder than the last one)

and for the last cut, 50 mg Anavar every day

red meat goes in whenever I can eat

glucose gets tested to be sure, and it's always perfect

when I take 4 IU of HGH before bed, every joint aches by morning...

but split into 2, it's perfect for me

Wow, can we get a look at those biceps, big fella?!

 

[Rezwalker]

Gr33dyOctopus said:

Rezwalker said:

100mg of test, done 2x per week, IM, so 200mg total

before bed I take 2 ui of HGH, 1:30 after my last meal

when I wake up, fasted, I take another 2 UI of HGH for fasted cardio

Monday morning is when I take 6Mg Reta (rough week this time, the new R40 vial hits harder than the last one)

and for the last cut, 50 mg Anavar every day

red meat goes in whenever I can eat

glucose gets tested to be sure, and it's always perfect

when I take 4 IU of HGH before bed, every joint aches by morning...

but split into 2, it's perfect for me

Wow, can we get a look at those biceps, big fella?!

my cycle wraps up on July 15 !!

looking forward to the before and after pics

at least the fat is going away and strength is climbing even while I'm in a big deficit

 

[TacoLifter420]

I take 200mg of test per week as daily IM injections, run reta at 4mg each week, don't use an AI, and I'm fairly lean. Two factors matter most for keeping my Hematocrit in the 46 to 48 range: fasted cardio every day — 25 minutes at 3mph on an incline — and, even more crucial, being extremely consistent with fluids. Each day I put away 150oz of water, with electrolytes mixed into half of it. Once I had blood drawn early in the day after only 16oz of water, and the Hematocrit reading was 54. My doc had me come back the next day, this time properly hydrated, and it landed below 48 again.

On the HGH side I've got nothing to offer — I'm just about to begin it myself.

 

[MTSpace]

Let us know how your HGH protocol goes. Thanks for the tip about fasted cardio. I'll definitely try it out, and it could work well with taking HGH right after waking up while fasted.

 

[AnabolicRaldo]

Rezwalker said:

100mg of test, done 2x per week, IM, so 200mg total

before bed I take 2 ui of HGH, 1:30 after my last meal

when I wake up, fasted, I take another 2 UI of HGH for fasted cardio

Monday morning is when I take 6Mg Reta (rough week this time, the new R40 vial hits harder than the last one)

and for the last cut, 50 mg Anavar every day

red meat goes in whenever I can eat

glucose gets tested to be sure, and it's always perfect

when I take 4 IU of HGH before bed, every joint aches by morning...

but split into 2, it's perfect for me

You appear to be in peak condition.

Each week I inject 300mg of test, split into 2 pins.

Right now I'm in week 1 of reta (beginning at .5mg to watch for adverse effects, kicking off with a very small amount to gauge my reaction)

I intend to combine cjc-1295+ipa without DAC

Does anyone have thoughts on this combination?

 

[tendency]

With the cream or gel, I saw far weaker effects on hematocrit. Even so, they are a real hassle to apply, and passing them on to others happens very easily, no matter what the drug companies claim.

 

[tendency]

AnabolicRaldo said:

Rezwalker said:

100mg of test, done 2x per week, IM, so 200mg total

before bed I take 2 ui of HGH, 1:30 after my last meal

when I wake up, fasted, I take another 2 UI of HGH for fasted cardio

Monday morning is when I take 6Mg Reta (rough week this time, the new R40 vial hits harder than the last one)

and for the last cut, 50 mg Anavar every day

red meat goes in whenever I can eat

glucose gets tested to be sure, and it's always perfect

when I take 4 IU of HGH before bed, every joint aches by morning...

but split into 2, it's perfect for me

You appear to be in peak condition.

Each week I inject 300mg of test, split into 2 pins.

Right now I'm in week 1 of reta (beginning at .5mg to watch for adverse effects, kicking off with a very small amount to gauge my reaction)

I intend to combine cjc-1295+ipa without DAC

Does anyone have thoughts on this combination?

300mg every week?!?! dear lord, that is a huge amount.

 

[Rezwalker]

AnabolicRaldo said:

Rezwalker said:

100mg of test, done 2x per week, IM, so 200mg total

before bed I take 2 ui of HGH, 1:30 after my last meal

when I wake up, fasted, I take another 2 UI of HGH for fasted cardio

Monday morning is when I take 6Mg Reta (rough week this time, the new R40 vial hits harder than the last one)

and for the last cut, 50 mg Anavar every day

red meat goes in whenever I can eat

glucose gets tested to be sure, and it's always perfect

when I take 4 IU of HGH before bed, every joint aches by morning...

but split into 2, it's perfect for me

You appear to be in peak condition.

Each week I inject 300mg of test, split into 2 pins.

Right now I'm in week 1 of reta (beginning at .5mg to watch for adverse effects, kicking off with a very small amount to gauge my reaction)

I intend to combine cjc-1295+ipa without DAC

Does anyone have thoughts on this combination?

cjc+ ipa comes down to how old you are

in my case, cjc+ipa nearly finished me off after just 1 injection (massive allergic response)

if you're 40+, simply use hgh 2 ui before sleeping

and 300 test per week, if you don't aromatize you're fine

but that isn't trt, that's blasting

smart move easing into reta at a low dose

don't rush it

 

[AnabolicRaldo]

Rezwalker said:

AnabolicRaldo said:

Rezwalker said:

100mg of test, done 2x per week, IM, so 200mg total

before bed I take 2 ui of HGH, 1:30 after my last meal

when I wake up, fasted, I take another 2 UI of HGH for fasted cardio

Monday morning is when I take 6Mg Reta (rough week this time, the new R40 vial hits harder than the last one)

and for the last cut, 50 mg Anavar every day

red meat goes in whenever I can eat

glucose gets tested to be sure, and it's always perfect

when I take 4 IU of HGH before bed, every joint aches by morning...

but split into 2, it's perfect for me

You appear to be in peak condition.

Each week I inject 300mg of test, split into 2 pins.

Right now I'm in week 1 of reta (beginning at .5mg to watch for adverse effects, kicking off with a very small amount to gauge my reaction)

I intend to combine cjc-1295+ipa without DAC

Does anyone have thoughts on this combination?

cjc+ ipa comes down to how old you are

in my case, cjc+ipa nearly finished me off after just 1 injection (massive allergic response)

if you're 40+, simply use hgh 2 ui before sleeping

and 300 test per week, if you don't aromatize you're fine

but that isn't trt, that's blasting

smart move easing into reta at a low dose

don't rush it

I’m 34yrs old. Would using hgh be a safe option for me? From what I’ve come across, tesamorelin, ipamorelin, and similar morelin compounds are cautioned against in individuals with a cancer history (or an active malignancy). Cancer runs in my family tree, spanning grandparents through uncles.

Cjc/tesa/hgh all raise igf-1 levels

Does anyone have thoughts on this?

 

[Gr33dyOctopus]

AnabolicRaldo said:

Rezwalker said:

AnabolicRaldo said:

Rezwalker said:

100mg of test, done 2x per week, IM, so 200mg total

before bed I take 2 ui of HGH, 1:30 after my last meal

when I wake up, fasted, I take another 2 UI of HGH for fasted cardio

Monday morning is when I take 6Mg Reta (rough week this time, the new R40 vial hits harder than the last one)

and for the last cut, 50 mg Anavar every day

red meat goes in whenever I can eat

glucose gets tested to be sure, and it's always perfect

when I take 4 IU of HGH before bed, every joint aches by morning...

but split into 2, it's perfect for me

You appear to be in peak condition.

Each week I inject 300mg of test, split into 2 pins.

Right now I'm in week 1 of reta (beginning at .5mg to watch for adverse effects, kicking off with a very small amount to gauge my reaction)

I intend to combine cjc-1295+ipa without DAC

Does anyone have thoughts on this combination?

cjc+ ipa comes down to how old you are

in my case, cjc+ipa nearly finished me off after just 1 injection (massive allergic response)

if you're 40+, simply use hgh 2 ui before sleeping

and 300 test per week, if you don't aromatize you're fine

but that isn't trt, that's blasting

smart move easing into reta at a low dose

don't rush it

I’m 34yrs old. Would using hgh be a safe option for me? From what I’ve come across, tesamorelin, ipamorelin, and similar morelin compounds are cautioned against in individuals with a cancer history (or an active malignancy). Cancer runs in my family tree, spanning grandparents through uncles.

Cjc/tesa/hgh all raise igf-1 levels

Does anyone have thoughts on this?

Even though evidence is limited here, in theory, using anything that boosts or stimulates your body's own growth hormone could raise the chance of turning on cancerous cells.

It's said that even low-dose hgh taken over a long stretch may lead to negative outcomes much later in life.

That's basically what chatgpt mentioned to me at so.e point

And using large amounts over long periods can certainly lead to issues.

Still, folks take the gamble, and they've done so for quite a while

 

[sfkid]

MTSpace said:

I’m trying to get multiple things sorted out alongside my doctors right now. I’m on TRT and dealing with some persistent iron problems. The hardest part is keeping hematocrit in check without needing more phlebotomies, since those tend to tank my ferritin and leave me feeling pretty awful.

The Vrock protocol has helped me somewhat, but at the moment my main focus is dialing in retatrutide and later adding HGH back in.

Right now:

1. Retatrutide: 3 mg/week (1.5 mg twice weekly), aiming to reach 6mg a week to see how it affects recomp (going that high may not be needed, time will tell where I end up)
   
2. TRT: daily shallow IM injections
   
3. Thinking about moving to daily SubQ if that might help with hematocrit, and then trying cream if necessary.
   
4. Planning to restart HGH in two weeks

I’ve come across plenty of differing views on when to take HGH (before bed vs. morning fasted with cardio), so I’d really like to hear real-world experiences from people running similar protocols.

A few questions:

• Has anyone lowered hematocrit by going from daily shallow IM TRT to daily SubQ injections? Did anyone end up switching to testosterone cream specifically to help manage hematocrit? Daily injections don’t bother me, so the only reason I’d think about cream is if it made a significant difference for hematocrit control.
  
• Is anyone here running a TRT + HGH + Retatrutide stack? If so, where did you find your sweet spot for HGH & retatrutide? I’m at 3 mg/week of reta right now, but I expect I’ll eventually land on a lower maintenance dose, and I’d be interested to hear what maintenance doses others have found effective.
  
• For those using HGH mainly for healthy aging, skin quality, hair, body composition, recovery, and support of TRT, when have you found dosing works best? Morning fasted? Before bed? Have you noticed meaningful differences in fat loss, recovery, or overall results between the two approaches?

I’d appreciate hearing both the successes & lessons learned from anyone who has been down a similar path.

What are your hematocrit levels like?

 

[deleted.user.27]

The NIH and National Institute of Medicine sites hold a ton of material covering every subject brought up in this thread. Still, reading through all of it would eat up a week of my time. One of these days I've got to figure out how to copy and paste links.

 

[MTSpace]

sfkid said:

MTSpace said:

I’m trying to get multiple things sorted out alongside my doctors right now. I’m on TRT and dealing with some persistent iron problems. The hardest part is keeping hematocrit in check without needing more phlebotomies, since those tend to tank my ferritin and leave me feeling pretty awful.

The Vrock protocol has helped me somewhat, but at the moment my main focus is dialing in retatrutide and later adding HGH back in.

Right now:

1. Retatrutide: 3 mg/week (1.5 mg twice weekly), aiming to reach 6mg a week to see how it affects recomp (going that high may not be needed, time will tell where I end up)
   
2. TRT: daily shallow IM injections
   
3. Thinking about moving to daily SubQ if that might help with hematocrit, and then trying cream if necessary.
   
4. Planning to restart HGH in two weeks

I’ve come across plenty of differing views on when to take HGH (before bed vs. morning fasted with cardio), so I’d really like to hear real-world experiences from people running similar protocols.

A few questions:

• Has anyone lowered hematocrit by going from daily shallow IM TRT to daily SubQ injections? Did anyone end up switching to testosterone cream specifically to help manage hematocrit? Daily injections don’t bother me, so the only reason I’d think about cream is if it made a significant difference for hematocrit control.
  
• Is anyone here running a TRT + HGH + Retatrutide stack? If so, where did you find your sweet spot for HGH & retatrutide? I’m at 3 mg/week of reta right now, but I expect I’ll eventually land on a lower maintenance dose, and I’d be interested to hear what maintenance doses others have found effective.
  
• For those using HGH mainly for healthy aging, skin quality, hair, body composition, recovery, and support of TRT, when have you found dosing works best? Morning fasted? Before bed? Have you noticed meaningful differences in fat loss, recovery, or overall results between the two approaches?

I’d appreciate hearing both the successes & lessons learned from anyone who has been down a similar path.

What are your hematocrit levels like?

At 54%, my ability to work has dropped, I get winded without much effort, and I have headaches from pressure.

 

[MTSpace]

deleted.user.27 said:

The NIH and National Institute of Medicine sites hold a ton of material covering every subject brought up in this thread. Still, reading through all of it would eat up a week of my time. One of these days I've got to figure out how to copy and paste links.

If someone could share a link, that would be great. A DM works too. Thanks

 

[deleted.user.27]

I'll try to send it your way later — my kids are visiting today. I'm not sure how to handle the link thing. They'll teach me.

 

[MTSpace]

Haha. That's what the younger generation with tech can do. I'm in the same situation. Thanks for the assistance. Have a good time with the family.

 

[sfkid]

MTSpace said:

sfkid said:

MTSpace said:

I’m trying to get multiple things sorted out alongside my doctors right now. I’m on TRT and dealing with some persistent iron problems. The hardest part is keeping hematocrit in check without needing more phlebotomies, since those tend to tank my ferritin and leave me feeling pretty awful.

The Vrock protocol has helped me somewhat, but at the moment my main focus is dialing in retatrutide and later adding HGH back in.

Right now:

1. Retatrutide: 3 mg/week (1.5 mg twice weekly), aiming to reach 6mg a week to see how it affects recomp (going that high may not be needed, time will tell where I end up)
   
2. TRT: daily shallow IM injections
   
3. Thinking about moving to daily SubQ if that might help with hematocrit, and then trying cream if necessary.
   
4. Planning to restart HGH in two weeks

I’ve come across plenty of differing views on when to take HGH (before bed vs. morning fasted with cardio), so I’d really like to hear real-world experiences from people running similar protocols.

A few questions:

• Has anyone lowered hematocrit by going from daily shallow IM TRT to daily SubQ injections? Did anyone end up switching to testosterone cream specifically to help manage hematocrit? Daily injections don’t bother me, so the only reason I’d think about cream is if it made a significant difference for hematocrit control.
  
• Is anyone here running a TRT + HGH + Retatrutide stack? If so, where did you find your sweet spot for HGH & retatrutide? I’m at 3 mg/week of reta right now, but I expect I’ll eventually land on a lower maintenance dose, and I’d be interested to hear what maintenance doses others have found effective.
  
• For those using HGH mainly for healthy aging, skin quality, hair, body composition, recovery, and support of TRT, when have you found dosing works best? Morning fasted? Before bed? Have you noticed meaningful differences in fat loss, recovery, or overall results between the two approaches?

I’d appreciate hearing both the successes & lessons learned from anyone who has been down a similar path.

What are your hematocrit levels like?

At 54%, my ability to work has dropped, I get winded without much effort, and I have headaches from pressure.

My hematocrit was elevated too. I lowered the dose, split up the injections, and what happened? It climbed even higher.

A high hematocrit isn't some terrifying monster—it's something you can handle without much trouble.

Elevate Guide: The Truth About Elevated Hematocrit on TRT — Why You’re Not Going to Drop Dead from “Thick Blood”



It's astonishing how much panic persists about marginally high hematocrit on TRT. Whenever a man shares his labs showing a hematocrit of 51 or 52, somebody inevitably pipes up shouting…

elevatebiohacking.com

Sadly, the majority of doctors and TRT clinics are extremely narrow-minded and haven't kept their knowledge current on this topic; the advice they give patients is simply wrong.