[BodyWizard]

The goal: to discover how much of my current condition can be reversed, repaired or otherwise corrected by enhancing levels of growth hormone (GH) and / or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1).

The disclaimer: I talk about challenges & difficulties in here, some of it alluded to in other threads - not to weep in public, but to inform the reader of real stuff impacting this effort. None of this makes me special - it makes me ordinary: everyone struggles, so everyone understands how it can get. Without this element, the value of this effort will be lessened. Please bear with me - I promise not to cry!


The SYMPTOMS
For starters, listed below are the indicators offered by RedBaron of ‘Growth Hormone Deficiency Syndrome’:

· Increase in fat.
· Decrease in muscle and lean body structures.
· Decreased skin texture resulting in a less youthful appearance.
· Decreased bone density, onset of osteoporosis.
· Decreased brain function, loss of intellect with aging.
· Decreased sex drive.
· Decrease in overall physical and mental well being.
· Increase in sleep disorders, lower quality of sleep.
· Depression and fatigue.

...all of which I have been wrestling with (since '88, in spades) (’cept for the bone density?). I would add connective-tissue disorders such as arthritis & tendo-ligamentous issues, damaged cartilage, severe joint pain, tinnitus, masses of floaters in my eyes, carpal-tunnel syndrome, thinning hair & loss of color, cataracts, and frequent illnesses & infections (which I’ve been slow to recover from). What with one thing and another, I’ve been struggling upstream, it seems, for 15 years...and have aged 25 years in the process: at 35, I looked & felt 25; at 40, I looked & felt 30; at 54, I look and feel 65.

In short, I feel freakin’ O-L-D!!! And I have felt so since shortly after my daughter was born (that’s gettin close to 18 years): my shoulder has been all but un-rehabilitatable, one of my hips is starting to act up, my football-injured knees are painful when standing, sitting & taking stairs, I’m developing pinched disks & nerves, my thought processes are cloudy (for me), I never feel rested no matter how much sleep I get, and every day I go to bed with a longer to-do list than I woke up with; every day it’s harder and more painful and less rewarding to keep going & keep up.

One element I can't leave out is that these "symptoms" are not just a list of unrelated items: they are interwoven, making it virtually impossible for me to make much headway in any one area: I've tried a dozen or more different strategies, I've combines strategies, I made progress, for a time, in one area or another but could only progress so far. Grudgingly, I had to acknowledge that I was not able to effect sufficient change to turn things around; at that point, I began to research anabolics in an effort to at least injury-proof my shoulder; I was still convinced that if I could lift without pain, re-injury & the inevitable layoffs, I could rebuild. Studying anabolics led me to HRT, I began to look into the hormonal aspects, and that led me to GH, as the only single factor whose absence could account for so many of my issues.

The FACTORS
The key factors seem to be chronic high stress at home & at work, and depression, beginning w/ the breakdown of my first marriage & the resulting financial disaster, continuing through turning 40 & the subsequent deaths of my parents (all but my mother's death happened within 6 months). I had always been strong, resilient, cheerful - and had the constitution of a horse: a cold once a year maybe, but otherwise always healthy & positive. First my marriage broke down then my diet broke down, then my sleep (the baby helped with that); got bitter, resentful, angry, depressed, fat & unhealthy, in that order; after 3 years of that, wife left, took the one child, the one car, the one bank account, started screwing my "friends", then I turned 40, then my dad died. I've been depressed - and my health has been deteriorating - ever since.

All this led to an ultimate low point, right around my 54th birthday; in the absence of my daughter, away at school, and the absence of my wife, now gone for more than a year, I was consumed by self-hatred and a HUGE unwillingness to continue to live in the life I'd made for myself - I stopped caring about anything, even living.

Since that’s a mighty sucky way to go thru life (specially as I by rights should have another 25-40 years of active vigorous health ahead of me), I knew I had to change everything if I was going to live long enough to see my daughter graduate from college, see her happily married, see in her the miracle of a parent's love for her own child.

A complete renovation is immediately called-for! Gut it & rebuild it, all new everything on the inside!

Simply getting real improvement, real healing in my joints would break the blockade: then I could lift without reactivating old injuries, regain my strength and endurance & get on with the “doing” part of life.

The reason for going into so much detail is to look at the events and conditions that led to the overall suppression I believe I've been laboring under so long; in doing so, I want to make a case for premature suppression of GH in my situation, induced by factors other than age itself. if I can achieve a real turn-around in my health, my injury-prone state, my overall fitness and resilience, my state of mind and my ongoing hormonal balance, I think it will be a strong argument for the use of GHS/GHRP-6 in reversing premature, or 'shock-induced' symptoms of aging. Too bad I have neither the funds nor the lab-cred to undertake this as a properly sanctified research project!

So, I do it for me, so I can have a life I can stand to live in.
I do it for my daughter, who wants so much for her children to know their grandpa.
I do it because I just no damn good at giving up.

The mechanism will be GHRP-6, a synthetic peptide that stimulates the release of GHRH - growth-hormone-releasing hormone, the body’s GH trigger. I will be taking this in 3 forms:
- as d-lysate-3 GHRP-6, which reduces the impact of a GH co-factor, ghrelin (ghrelin not only stimulates appetite, it also stimulates GH release) by antagonising the GHS receptors in the stomach
- as GHRP-6 itself
- as hexarelin, a GHRP-6 ‘superanalog’ with some fascinating properties, most particularly including the reported ability to normalise long-term GH production and secretion (ie, beyond termination of hexarelin).

I will be taking these in the form of products by IBE: Ectotropin (100mcg d-lysate-3 GHRP-6), and Hexatropin (100mcg GHRP-6 & 100mcg hexarelin)

[BodyWizard]

VITALS: 54, male, 6’ 2“, 200# ~20% bf


BASICS:
Ectotropin 20 doses, 5 on / 2 off (28 days) PM dosing
Hexarelin 140 doses, 5 on / 2 off (180 days) PM dosing
Oratropin not 100% sure how I want to use the OT

NOTE: I have run into several studies concluding that frequent but irregular/unpredictable dosing of Hexarelin leads to the highest stable IGF-1 levels, so even though I'm following their recommended 5 on, 2 off dosing, I’ll also be mixing it up as things wear on.


START DOSE
12/04/05, before bed 120mcg ectotropin

DIET
clean, balanced, whole-food
maintenance calories = 3600

given the ghrelin-antagonism of the ectotropin, and the one-two punch of Hexatropin’s GHRP/hexarelin combo, I plan on listening to my body where food selection, quantity & frequency are concerned - while staying within sight of maintenance cals!


BLOODWORK
sad to say, there’s no starting bloodwork, simply because I can’t afford it - I pay $460 each month for health insurance, and for my trouble & expense, I get a co-pay, cheaper prescriptions (no compounding pharmacies), and hospitalization: no coverage for any testing at all, including that ordered by doctors. Whether there will be bloodwork down the line depends on how the economic chain holds together.


TRAINING
since the goal is rejuvenation (to whatever extent may be possible), I plan to begin at the beginning, with bodyweight: calisthenics, floor exercises, walking / running, plus farmer carries. Will also be doing some yoga, some tai-chi & chi kung & general balance / reaction stuff. Early focus will be on relatively brief bursts of intense, whole-body activity spaced throughout the day, with walking, running & carrying beginning to build endurance

As things develop, I’ll be cutting back on the yoga & adding in other more vigorous activities, such as stick & staff work, roadwork, tumbling & weighted work: deadlifts, dumbbells, kettlebells.

By 4 months, I plan to introduce a focused weight training regimen alongside the speed & flexibility work.

My idea is to take advantage of the opportunity to rebuild strength from the bottom up & inside out, and to mimic childhood development as a guide to normal youthful physical activity; this way, I intend to establish a solid and unified base of general fitness and build from there, ramping up the intensity and complexity and all the while keeping a mix of activities in play. Sounds grandiose but let’s see how it goes.


TRACKING POINTS:
In addition the usual of weight & bodyfat & calories, I’ll also be tracking such exotica as circumferential measurements, hair color and thickness, skin tone and texture, floaters & general visual reactivity & acuity, changes in perceived tinnitus, changes in quality & degree of joint pain, speed of growth (nails, hair), miles walked, miles run, times for distances, and so on. Granted, much of this will be hard to quantify, but I’ll do what I can. Photos will help.

I also reserve the right to begin tracking other items/changes as I think of them.


MARKERS
these are things I'm looking to achieve over the next 8 months:

- 3 regulation pull-ups in 30 seconds
- 10 regulation push-ups in 30 seconds
- run a mile in 6 minutes
- kettlebell snatches without injury (last time I tried snatches, I *badly* re-injured my right shoulder on just 3 reps @ 12kg)
- general joint stability
- lack of pain in joints
- good range-of-motion in joints
- no need for shoulder surgery
- lose the 'water-balloon' torso
- normalisation of the endocrine system generally, GH & sex-complex specifically; optimisation, if possible.
- bodyfat below 15%
- able to put 50 lbs overhead stably & without pain
- no more depression

don't know how reasonable any of this is, really; none of it seems too extreme.

Yeesh - I gotta post this before it turns into a book!

[MadJimF]

Sounds great, I hope to see great progress with this. I've been thinking about going the same route, and would be nice to see how it works out ahead of time.

Good Luck, will follow...

[B5150]

Originally Posted by BodyWizard

I promise not to cry!

So, I do it for me, so I can have a life I can stand to live in.
I do it for my daughter, who wants so much for her children to know their grandpa.
I do it because I just no damn good at giving up.

It's a good thing I made no such promise. You are a strong man regardless. Here is to your success at all the above.

[snakebyte05]

Good luck in this, I will be following along with this thread. You seem very dedicated and I believe you will get what you are looking for out of this.

[BodyWizard]

Dose 1: Sunday 12/04
searched thru my box for the most full syringe I had - one contained a full 6/10s, so I took that for my first dose, last night, right before bed (even though I ended up getting to bed much later than I meant to). Taste is bland & mildly ‘unflavorful’ - no big deal. Had to do much more swallowing than I expected (makes my mouth water). Lights out immediately after, but couldn’t go to sleep: too busy having goop in my mouth to doze off.

Dose 3: Tuesday 12/06
took it relatively early tonight - 8:30; same taste, same watery mouth - I just swallow, remembering that D-lys3 antagonises ghrelin receptors in the stomach specifically. Strange thing: I’m still up 4 hours later, and I don’t feel stimulated, but I DO feel good; not all grandpa-like & creaky, that is. I feel surprisingly bouncy for the hour & my age. Still, I’m going to bed; only stayed up to catch this last note.

Took a short while to get to sleep last night; mind seemed more active (usually, I just lie down & I’m out for the night). This morning I retain some of last night’s bounciness, but generally, I notice a feeling of having more energy. People are always quick to call any such thing “CNS stimulation”, so let me quickly say that this is NO such thing.

Dose 5: 12/08
Took it late, after brushing teeth & all, stayed up maybe 30 minutes then went to bed. Went to sleep easily, slept soundly, woke up feeling - I dunno, normal, maybe even rested

Had a good day today: clear & crisp & time well used and everything appropriately dealt with. Feel capable of much activity. Tonight is my first off-night - no dose tonight.

I can feel the effects of the Ectotropin - or rather the effects of the increased GH in my system, and while thy’re not especially strong, they are fairly clear and distinct: A sense of being engaged, focused - not just mentally, but physically, like my body is hanging together tighter, holding itself together better; not a tension, but an integration, a working-together. Movements are less painful, less slow, less halting. No idea if this image will translate, but it's weirdly like being steam-driven, and finally having enough pressure in the boiler to move energetically, not slow & sluggish. Like the old 'spring in the step'; I doubt it shows, but I can feel it. there's more of me recruited in every movement. I feel much more energetic: without pushing, or feeling speedy in any way, I'm getting more done than I was.

Could be placebo thinking, but this coincided with the first real cold snap, and the cold usually aggravates the arthritis in my hands, but they've been - and are now - substantially pain-free all week.

I've posted this elsewhere, but just to bring it into this thread: I notice little - if any - lessening of appetite w/ Ectotropin; I could almost argue that it's *grown*, if anything.

I will correct one thing: I don't want my off-days to consume every weekend day, so I'll mix it to skip Saturday & Sunday instead.

[BodyWizard]

Originally Posted by B5150

It's a good thing I made no such promise.

say, then, "I promise not to make anyone's shoulder soggy"; I'm certainly no stranger to tears.

Originally Posted by B5150

You are a strong man regardless. Here is to your success at all the above.

Thank you, Brian - your support is most welcome! I hope you'll chime in often as the 'experiment' develops.

[400runner]

IBE, thats freaking awesome. you are a nice person.

[jasonschaffin]

Originally Posted by 400runner

IBE, thats freaking awesome. you are a nice person.

Agreed. Helping this fellow out and running the best sale ever. IBE rocks the house!

[Cosmo]

Wow, great thread. Anxiously awaiting results.

[DAdams91982]

Damn... Thats some good **** IBE. Now just cant wait to hear about the venture BodyWizard.

Adams

[bioman]

Very nice IBE, very nice indeed.


Keep on truckin BW, there's no greater joy than reclaiming your health by your own hand. I'm confident you will.

[UGLY]

Excellent log. I will be following your progress very closely. Good luck!

Originally Posted by IBE

since your post caused tears to us at IBE you will no longer have to pay for any tropins. We want you to stay on as long as you want to try to bring you back the life you deserve.....Merry Xmas bro and good luck.

PS. call us when you need more kits and we will ship them asap

Well done. Very classy IBE!

[BodyWizard]

Originally Posted by IBE

since your post caused tears to us at IBE you will no longer have to pay for any tropins. We want you to stay on as long as you want to try to bring you back the life you deserve.....Merry Xmas bro and good luck.

PS. call us when you need more kits and we will ship them asap

I am stunned nearly speechless -
but not too stunned to say
THANK YOU, IBE
for your astounding generosity - may it return to you seven-fold!!!

I keep thinking I should say something else, but all I come up with is: thank you!

[Niko]

I wish you the very best BodyWizard!

IBE, way to step up! You just made doing business with you that much better.