Swelling in feet and a sizable blood pool under the right ankle after Ipamorelin — anyone else had this?

Stayinalive

Stayinalive

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Over the past month I've used a bunch of peptides: BPC/TB, KPV, GHK-Cu, Reta, Epithalon, Ipamorelin, Glutathione, CJC1295, Selank, Semax, NAD+. Lately I've spotted swelling in my feet, plus some blood collecting under the skin on the medial side of my right ankle. My guess is that Ipamorelin or CJC is responsible. I should also note that I wrapped up a course of Tesamorelin not long ago. Can anyone confirm for certain that this is the cause, and has anyone else gone through the same thing? I suspect IPA and CJC because I began them recently, and either or both may lead to water retention — yet I haven't come across anyone reporting blood pooling. I doubt I hit my foot hard enough to bring this on; the area measures roughly 2 inches long by 1 inch tall. It may have looked worse last night, but the swelling has decreased. The IPA and CJC are combined in 1 vial, and my dose is just 250mcg before bed. Any assistance would be very much appreciated.
 
I’m on CJC/IPA and I have not, but please get that checked out for the possibility of a blood clot.
 
Half a kit of cjc/ipa was already used by me, and nothing of that sort occurred.

As previously stated: please consult a physician.
 
Get medical attention right away. I've used IPA for close to 2 months and this kind of reaction has never happened to me. Stay safe and take care!
 
Creatine is in my routine too, and large amounts of it can lead to swelling as well; for the past couple of days I've been at 15+ grams daily. Combining that with what ipamorelin and CJC bring on, I figure that's the point where things went sideways. My plan is to leave out the ipa and cjc, and the creatine too, for a few days, then bring them back gradually. I'll also split the creatine into 2 doses rather than taking it in 1 go. The swelling has gone down, and compared with yesterday the blood patch looks clearly closer to flesh color than purple. A doc visit would be ideal, but it will likely have cleared up by the time I arrive. It isn't the smartest approach, though I might simply be someone who ends up with the side effects people write about online.
 
Stayinalive said:

Over the past month I've used a bunch of peptides: BPC/TB, KPV, GHK-Cu, Reta, Epithalon, Ipamorelin, Glutathione, CJC1295, Selank, Semax, NAD+. Lately I've spotted swelling in my feet, plus some blood collecting under the skin on the medial side of my right ankle. My guess is that Ipamorelin or CJC is responsible. I should also note that I wrapped up a course of Tesamorelin not long ago. Can anyone confirm for certain that this is the cause, and has anyone else gone through the same thing? I suspect IPA and CJC because I began them recently, and either or both may lead to water retention — yet I haven't come across anyone reporting blood pooling. I doubt I hit my foot hard enough to bring this on; the area measures roughly 2 inches long by 1 inch tall. It may have looked worse last night, but the swelling has decreased. The IPA and CJC are combined in 1 vial, and my dose is just 250mcg before bed. Any assistance would be very much appreciated.
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These kinds of side effects aren't something it would produce. Across any GH secretagogue, I've never come across anything like that.

A doctor's visit is what you need.
 
lastresort said:

Stayinalive said:

Over the past month I've used a bunch of peptides: BPC/TB, KPV, GHK-Cu, Reta, Epithalon, Ipamorelin, Glutathione, CJC1295, Selank, Semax, NAD+. Lately I've spotted swelling in my feet, plus some blood collecting under the skin on the medial side of my right ankle. My guess is that Ipamorelin or CJC is responsible. I should also note that I wrapped up a course of Tesamorelin not long ago. Can anyone confirm for certain that this is the cause, and has anyone else gone through the same thing? I suspect IPA and CJC because I began them recently, and either or both may lead to water retention — yet I haven't come across anyone reporting blood pooling. I doubt I hit my foot hard enough to bring this on; the area measures roughly 2 inches long by 1 inch tall. It may have looked worse last night, but the swelling has decreased. The IPA and CJC are combined in 1 vial, and my dose is just 250mcg before bed. Any assistance would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

These kinds of side effects aren't something it would produce. Across any GH secretagogue, I've never come across anything like that.

A doctor's visit is what you need.
Click to expand...
I've never come across blood pooling or clotting linked to Ipa, CJC, or Tesa, but water retention is something I know these can cause. During my Tesa cycle, the feet swelling showed up on the final day, the night of my last dose. Then about 4 days into my Ipa and CJC cycle, the same thing began. Perhaps waiting would have been wiser, but I thought Ipa and CJC could follow Tesa right away. I'll pause for a few weeks, though I'd really hoped to finally get that sleep everyone mentions — I'm still only managing 4 to 5.5 hours a night. Same with Epitalon: I wanted that deep sleep to clear the fog. After a break, I might try a lower dose.
 
Update: I went to the ER to check whether something was wrong. They did an x-ray, an ultrasound, and blood work. Nothing was said about the blood, but they told me the x-ray and ultrasound showed nothing. I'll be pausing the Epi and CJC; the swelling from those might have contributed to something, though I don't know what yet. I need to follow up with my PCP. I may try a lower dose and keep a closer eye on things. Maybe 150mcg rather than 250. I'm thinking about stopping the RETA — not a fan of how slow the motility is, and it wasn't quick to begin with. A lot of those peps don't act on the same receptors, so there shouldn't be any interaction, and some are taken on days when others aren't, and some are only at night. The only recent additions were the CJC and IPA, but I'm still not sure where the blood pool came from, and the docs are no help on that. I donate blood regularly, which has skewed a couple of my blood test scores; that could cause a problem with some of the peptides, I imagine. Just a thought.
 
Swelling like that is understandable — fluid retention can be brought on by anything that raises growth hormone or its effects, and it's a well-known side effect, so ipamorelin, cjc, or creatine could all be behind it.

That one big bruise appearing without any clear reason is strange, and it's certainly something to be concerned about. I don't know how old you are or what you were up to that day — if you were rushing around and doing a lot of physical activity, you might have banged it in exactly the spot that ruptured a small vein without hurting, since a bruise that size would normally be painful and you'd recall getting it. Could the swelling have made the bruise more likely to happen? So it does make you wonder whether your clotting or platelet function is working the way it should, though one bruise on its own probably isn't grounds for serious worry — several would be. Either way, having it looked at was the cautious choice. If your basic bloods came back fine, there's most likely nothing wrong, but if it keeps occurring, definitely get it checked again.

Strange immune reactions that lead to unusual bleeding or bruising can be triggered by drug reactions — not especially common, but you're on a whole pile of different peptides, and none of them have well documented rates of adverse effects, so the less common side effects of those peptides are essentially unknown. Using that many different substances is going to carry some risk of causing problems, but because human studies on most of them are largely lacking, how likely those problems are is unknown. So the usual question is whether the benefit they give you is worth that unknown and unknowable risk.
 
lessthanhalf said:

Swelling like that is understandable — fluid retention can be brought on by anything that raises growth hormone or its effects, and it's a well-known side effect, so ipamorelin, cjc, or creatine could all be behind it.

That one big bruise appearing without any clear reason is strange, and it's certainly something to be concerned about. I don't know how old you are or what you were up to that day — if you were rushing around and doing a lot of physical activity, you might have banged it in exactly the spot that ruptured a small vein without hurting, since a bruise that size would normally be painful and you'd recall getting it. Could the swelling have made the bruise more likely to happen? So it does make you wonder whether your clotting or platelet function is working the way it should, though one bruise on its own probably isn't grounds for serious worry — several would be. Either way, having it looked at was the cautious choice. If your basic bloods came back fine, there's most likely nothing wrong, but if it keeps occurring, definitely get it checked again.

Strange immune reactions that lead to unusual bleeding or bruising can be triggered by drug reactions — not especially common, but you're on a whole pile of different peptides, and none of them have well documented rates of adverse effects, so the less common side effects of those peptides are essentially unknown. Using that many different substances is going to carry some risk of causing problems, but because human studies on most of them are largely lacking, how likely those problems are is unknown. So the usual question is whether the benefit they give you is worth that unknown and unknowable risk.
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My best guess is a blood vessel simply ruptured, though I can't explain the sore spot at the top of the ankle. I'll wait a few more days and then book something with the PCP. I turned 59 not long ago and still hit the gym a few days each week, so I may have tweaked something on the last visit. Another thing that could be playing a role: roughly 1 week ago I donated blood, which left me a bit low on a few things, so some of my numbers are slightly off. Maybe that deficiency is why I'm a little more prone to certain sides tied to the CJC and IPA. I might restart after 1 week at a lower dose and see how it goes. As far as the swelling goes, I'm fairly convinced the CJC and IPA are behind it. The rest I'd been running for a while and had cycled before without any sides, except NAD giving me a head rush lasting about half an hour. Yes, it looks like a lot, but some are dosed in the am, some at night, and a few only 2 times a week. They also don't overlap on receptors. Melanotan 1 does worry me somewhat, since it appears to lower my blood pressure and I don't feel it's accomplishing anything anyway. I was only using it here and there, 1 or 2 times a week, and when I tried to increase the frequency the blood pressure problem kept coming up. Thanks for the reply and feedback.

A new thought: maybe a varicose vein formed there and then leaked. They say it runs in families, and both of my parents had them — really large ones — while I've been fairly lucky so far with only those small blue ones. I'd bet that's the case, and it just happened to line up with the swelling from the IPA/CJC, or the two fed into each other somehow.
 
Provided your clotting markers (bleeding time / prothrombin time), blood counts and platelet counts all come back within normal limits, the odds that something worrisome is happening are extremely low. Strange things do sometimes occur with no satisfying explanation, and unusual bruising is honestly not that uncommon. Reactions to drugs can and do build up gradually, so the fact that it never happened before does not rule out it happening down the road; however, if you have been taking a drug or peptide without interruption for a long stretch, say beyond 6 months, then that becomes less probable. Whatever the cause, acquired bleeding disorders as a whole are fairly rare, so it is unlikely, though if this keeps recurring it would still be worth having it looked at.
 
Grab a compression sleeve for your ankle or a pair of compression socks on Amazon; that can help bring the swelling down. Do you take baby Aspirin as a blood thinner, or Tadalafil to improve circulation, so a clot is less likely? If there's Lymph Edema or swelling in your legs, that might play a part too.

Good thing you went and got it looked at — now check into ways to prevent it. I'm speaking as someone who was in the Hospital for 9 days with a Pulmonary Embolism, meaning blood clots that travel to the lungs. It nearly killed me, and since I'm still around I stick to the compression socks very obediently. (that's me now) My Edema is pretty bad and I wear the 30-40mm socks, which feels like wrestling an alligator. I take 10mg of Tadalafil every day to help stop more clots from forming. Nsaids are off the table for me, and for the time being I don't want blood thinners.

Avatar is legit!
 
A tale familiar to anyone in the bio-hacking scene: stacking FAR too many compounds, which means having ABSOLUTELY no clue which one is behind a serious side effect once it (inevitably) shows up.
 
Any chance of an update? Were the doses of the growth hormone stimulating drugs lowered? Running 3 of them simultaneously — tesamorelin, CJC1295 and Ipamorelin — comes across as somewhat excessive, and developing swelling in the feet/ankles isn't all that unexpected, though it does point to the doses or the combinations being too much. I'm still working on the assumption that the bruise is a red herring; if it shows up once, fine, but if it shows up again I would treat it very seriously.
 
lessthanhalf said:

Any chance of an update? Were the doses of the growth hormone stimulating drugs lowered? Running 3 of them simultaneously — tesamorelin, CJC1295 and Ipamorelin — comes across as somewhat excessive, and developing swelling in the feet/ankles isn't all that unexpected, though it does point to the doses or the combinations being too much. I'm still working on the assumption that the bruise is a red herring; if it shows up once, fine, but if it shows up again I would treat it very seriously.
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My Sep 6 update: the bruise was probably just a blood vessel that burst, the sore area might be a varicose vein, and the swelling most likely comes from the 3 growth hormone releasing hormones. Perhaps I was dosing them too close in time. Ipa and cjc are commonly combined, and they come in a single vial, as do ipa and tesa, since each pair acts on different receptors and the effects on the pituitary complement one another. One more possible contributor: I was also on a high creatine dose, taken for its supposed cognitive benefits, but bloating and water retention are a side effect of it too. So all 3 together might have produced the extra swelling, while the burst blood vessel might be separate, brought on by a recent workout plus age related vein weakness. The sore vein at the top of the ankle may stem from a genetic predisposition to varicose veins. The symptoms have settled down. At the emergency room, blood work, ultrasound and x-rays all came back with no issues. A few labs were abnormal, but most if not all of that could be explained by a recent blood donation and low iron levels. Thanks for caring.
 
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