Common side effects and what helps
Care and safety · 5 min read
Most side effects show up at the start or right after a dose increase and fade over a couple of weeks. The first fix is usually the same: stay at the dose you tolerate longer before stepping up, or go back one step. Anything in Problems and red flags means stop and get help instead.
Log side effects in your daily check-in. The Journal and Helix can then show whether they cluster after dose changes.
GLP-1s (semaglutide, tirzepatide, retatrutide)
- Nausea: the most common one, mostly in the days after a step up. Eat smaller meals, slowly, and stop when you feel full; go easy on greasy and fried food; don't lie down right after eating. The drug labels allow staying on a dose longer before the next step.
- Constipation: water, fiber and movement; magnesium citrate is a common over-the-counter help. Diarrhea or vomiting: replace fluids and salts, since dehydration can strain the kidneys.
- Losing muscle with the fat: lift weights 2–4 times a week and hit your protein target (Food → Targets sets one from your goal weight).
- Heartburn or burping: smaller, earlier dinners.
- Fatigue or dizziness: often too little food or fluid; check calories and water.
Severe belly pain that won't go away (sometimes into the back), pain under the right ribs with fever or yellow eyes, or a lump or hoarseness in the neck: see a doctor. The first can be pancreatitis, the second the gallbladder; the labels warn about both.
GH peptides (CJC-1295, ipamorelin, tesamorelin, MK-677, GHRPs)
- Puffiness or water retention: common in the first weeks; usually settles. Less salt helps.
- Tingling or numb hands, stiff joints: a sign of too much GH effect. Lower the dose or take a few days off.
- Hunger: strong with GHRP-6 and MK-677, milder with ipamorelin.
- Sleepiness: one reason most people dose at bedtime.
- Higher blood sugar: GH works against insulin, so fasting glucose and HbA1c belong in your blood tests (Health → Labs lists them).
BPC-157 and TB-500
- Few side effects are reported, but there are almost no human studies, so "none reported" is not "proven safe".
- Injection-site stinging or redness: rotate sites, let the liquid warm up, push slowly.
- Nausea with oral BPC-157: take it with food.
- Cancer: both help grow new blood vessels in animal studies. People with a history of cancer are usually told to avoid them.
PT-141 and Melanotan
- Nausea and flushing: very common with PT-141 (about 4 in 10 in the approved drug's trials). Start low, and some take it well before bed.
- Blood pressure rises for several hours after a dose: avoid them with high blood pressure or heart disease.
- Darker moles, freckles or new moles (Melanotan): get moles checked before starting and stop if one changes.
NAD+
- Flushing, cramping, chest tightness or nausea while injecting: push slower or use a smaller dose. IV drips are given over hours for the same reason.
- Trouble sleeping: dose in the morning.
- Headache: water and electrolytes.
General how-to information, not medical advice. Follow your prescriber's instructions where they differ.