Happy Friday, Friends! 👋
Another busy one in the free community: over 60 new posts and over 1,000 comments. First, some news I have been chasing for years: Europe finally has a new vetted seller. Then everything new in The Daily Peptide app in case you missed last week's update, NAD+ answered thirty different ways, an honest "this did nothing for me" thread, a 135 pound turnaround with an unexpected problem at the end, and the vial math question six of you asked this week, which is also this week's EP Basics. Oh, and the book club starts tomorrow with Atomic Habits. Let's get into it
Not in the community yet? Every link below lands inside the free group:
🇪🇺 Europe, Finally: A New Vetted Seller
For years the most common message in my inbox from Europe has been "who do you trust over there besides DN Lab Research (code EP15)?" I finally have a real answer. Crystal Peptides is now a vetted seller in our community, with a great selection, and it passed the same bar we hold everyone else to. And I have one more in the works that I hope to announce in the next week or two.
✅ Why it made the list
Lyophilised and vialed in Europe. Same principle as our U.S. sellers: when the batch is made and filled locally, the testing actually represents the vial in your hand.
Endotoxin testing ✅ · Sterility testing ✅ · Purity testing ✅ · Heavy metal testing ✅
Free shipping on orders over €200 ✅
Batch-specific third-party results are on their Lab Tests page. Delivery is 1 to 7 business days inside the EU. They also deliver to the UK+
Use code Exploringpeptides at checkout.
Research Use Only! ⚠️
📱 The Daily Peptide App: Did You Catch the Big Update?
Last Friday we shipped the biggest update The Daily Peptide has ever had, and judging by the comments a lot of you are still discovering it. Almost all of it comes down to one idea: less typing, more tracking.
🆕 What is new
📸 Snap your plate (Pro). Take a photo of your meal and the AI estimates the protein, carbs, fat and calories. Ate half? One slider scales the whole meal, or tap any number and fix it before you save.
⚖️ Snap your scale (Pro). A photo of your bathroom scale or body composition screen, the app reads the numbers, one tap logs it all.
🧊 Your peptide stash in your pocket (Pro). A brand new Inventory: what you have, how many, when it expires, and where it is stored, synced across your devices. The digital version of my thermos and label setup.
📤 Export your data (Pro). Your logs in a file you can keep, back up, or share with your coach or doctor.
Plus: archive finished plans instead of deleting them, edit any logged entry (now with notes and which side you pinned), swipeable lifestyle cards in Statistics, short guided tours for new people, and a faster app overall.
🔧 Had trouble getting in after the update? Fixed on both Android and iPhone. Update the app from Google Play or the App Store and you are good.
🔜 Next up: Health app integration, so your wearables feed straight into the app and you can start connecting the dots, like a bad night of sleep and a late pin.
How to get Pro: on its own it is $20, or it comes included with the Exploring Peptides Membership at $15 a month, together with the guest Q&As and the deep dive classrooms.
🔁 Did You Miss This? The 5 Threads That Got the Group Talking
Ranked by how much you all liked and commented, not by me.
1. "NAD+. How do you dose it? How often?"
Reka asked the simplest question of the week and got 30 answers, and almost no two were the same. One member climbs a daily ladder starting low for two weeks. Christiane preloads small daily amounts for a week or two, then drops to two or three times a week. Others run it once a week in 12 week blocks, and one member swears by daily. The honest takeaway: there is no single NAD+ protocol, it tends to give people energy so mornings are popular, and starting low tells you more than copying someone else's number. The classroom has cheat sheets for both the 500 mg and 1000 mg vials. Remember the EP-10 Framework Post i did earlier this week!
2. "Can I add Epitalon to everything I'm already running?"
Sandi wanted to start Epitalon on top of an existing stack, mostly for sleep and the anti-aging angle. The useful part was the shape of how members use it: short cycles, not forever. Christiane described daily use for about 20 days, two or three times a year, and pointed out that a smaller vial often fits that cycle better than a huge one. She also dropped the Exploring Peptides wiki and articles, which more of you should know exist.
3. From 295 to 160, and now he can't gain
David went from 295 to 160 pounds in a year with Tirzepatide and lifting four times a week. Now he is on a very low dose, eating around 2,400 calories of clean food, and the scale will not go back up. It is the problem nobody plans for at the end of a cut. The group's answers: the appetite effect can linger even at low doses spread out, so stretching or stopping may be the move, protein closer to a gram per pound, train close to failure, and check hormones and bloodwork. A good reminder that the finish line has its own learning curve.
4. "Literally does nothing. Throwing this one out."
Ray gave PE-22-28 an honest one star, and I love that he posted it. Not every peptide works for every person, and the "did nothing" posts are as useful as the wins. The replies were just as honest: others described it as an extremely subtle peptide that took a couple of weeks to notice at all, nothing like a prescription, and the nasal route did not suit Ray at all. If you have a "did nothing" of your own, that thread is the place for it. But one factor is that a vial can be bad, sourcing as always is the important factor!
5. "How are you all labeling pre-filled syringes?"
Kristy runs several peptides at different doses and times of day, and asked how people keep pre-filled syringes straight. Twenty-one practical answers. The winner: label the container, not the syringe. Separate opaque pencil cases or zip bags per peptide, a strip of tape and a Sharpie on each. Some use syringes with a paper cover you can write on. And a lot of you have simply moved to pens, which stack neatly in the fridge in their own labelled cases.
Also worth a scroll:
💉 KLOW: where are you pinning it? The consensus was glutes and outer thighs, because that is where it burns least. Pairs well with the red and sore site thread.
⚖️ "How do I know which GLP-1 is right for me?" A clear explainer on how Tirz and Reta actually differ, and why Tirz often wins on appetite at lower doses.
✈️ Flying across the U.S. with peptides. Fourteen replies from people who have done it, and not one TSA horror story.
🤷 5-Amino not working for anyone else? Turns out several of you felt nothing either. Subtle and hit or miss is the honest summary.
🩸 Where do you go to make sense of your bloodwork? Lab services, telehealth and AI tools, with honest reviews in both directions.
Research Use Only! ⚠️
❓ Best Questions of the Week, Answered
These came up more than once, so they get a proper answer here.
"My vial is a different size than the guide. How much water do I add?"
Six of you asked a version of this in one week: a 50 mg MOTS-c, a 30 mg SS-31, a bigger KLOW vial, a 12 mg Reta, Cartalax, SLU-PP. Here is the short answer. The amount of water does not change how much peptide is in the vial. It only changes how strong each unit is. Use enough to dissolve it fully, then pick an amount that lands your draw on a whole number of units you can actually read. Members like somewhere between 5 and 25 units. The exceptions are the spicy ones, GHK-Cu, glutathione and unbuffered NAD+ which none of our vetted vendors carry so should be a non-issue, where more water means less sting. EP Basics below walks through the math step by step.
"How long does it keep once it's mixed?"
A 1000 mg NAD+ vial versus two 500s, unopened bac water, a long flight. Same question underneath. Powder lasts far longer than liquid. Once reconstituted, think weeks in the fridge, not months, protected from light. Opened bacteriostatic water is generally good for about a month. Unopened bac water does not need the fridge, it is the opened vial you want cold, because every pin through the stopper is a chance to bring something in. The practical rule: buy the vial size you will finish while it is fresh, and keep the rest as powder.
"Who do I buy from in the UK, in Europe, or made in the U.S.?"
Two posts from a new UK member, a "made in the U.S." question, a reputable GLP-1 question, and two people unable to find a product where they expected it. The answer is the same short list, on purpose. We only recommend sellers whose batches are controlled where they are made and filled, because then the test describes the vial in your hand. In the U.S. that is Skye and Limitless. In Europe it is DN Lab Research (Discount Code: EP15) and now Crystal Peptides (above) Discount Code: Exploringpeptides. UK members, check delivery with them directly. Everything, with codes, is on the private resource page.
"CJC and Ipamorelin: morning, night, or both?"
Two people asked within days. The approach most members follow: about two hours after your last meal and before bed, so the release lines up with the growth hormone pulse you already get in deep sleep, usually five days on and two off in 12 week blocks. Some members also take a fasted morning dose and wait a while before eating. And as always with this class, get a baseline IGF-1 level first and retest after the cycle, so you know whether it is doing anything.
Research Use Only! ⚠️
📈 What Everyone Was Talking About
Out of 52 member posts this week:
GLP-1s and weight were the biggest cluster, about a quarter. Which GLP-1, switching from Zep to Reta, fatigue and hunger on Tirz and Reta, the pill version, and maintenance.
Recovery and inflammation came second. KLOW from every angle, KPV pairings, Cartalax for joints, BPC and TB-500 for a pulled back.
Mitochondria and longevity. NAD+, SS-31, MOTS-c, Epitalon, bioregulators, 5-Amino and SLU-PP.
The practical stuff. Vial sizes and water, labeling, storage, flying, and UK customs.
Where to buy. UK, Europe and U.S. sourcing questions, which is exactly why the news at the top matters.
The good stuff. Jason's Baby Foot saga reached day 10 and he reports it is working, a Happy Friday positivity post, and his ragweed season update.
Christiane answered over 150 of your comments this week, Cindy put in over 70, and Heather about 50. Rhonda and Melinda were right behind them. This group answers itself now, and it still makes my week. 🙏
📚 Book club starts tomorrow. You voted for Atomic Habits, and we meet inside the post every Saturday. Grab a copy and join us here.
🧪 EP Basics: The Calculator, and Why Vial Size Changes the Math
Week five of the rotating block, and the timing is perfect, because this was the question of the week. Mechanical only. The numbers are examples to show the math, not doses. (Not advice, just how it is done.)
Part 1: The three numbers
What is in the vial. The milligrams on the label, say 10 mg.
How much water you add. Say 2 mL of bac water.
Concentration is the first divided by the second. 10 mg in 2 mL is 5 mg per mL. Every other number comes from this one.
Part 2: From mL to units
On a U-100 insulin syringe, 100 units is 1 mL. So 1 unit is 0.01 mL.
Units times concentration tells you what you drew. At 5 mg per mL, 10 units is 0.1 mL, which holds 0.5 mg, or 500 mcg.
The calculator does this in either direction. Put in the vial size, the water and the amount you want, and it tells you the units. That is all it is doing.
Part 3: Changing vial size without changing your draw
Same concentration means same units. 10 mg in 2 mL and 20 mg in 4 mL are both 5 mg per mL, so your draw does not change.
Bigger vial, same water, stronger liquid. 30 mg in 2 mL is 15 mg per mL. Your old number of units now holds three times as much. This is the mistake to avoid when you switch sizes.
A vial only holds so much. If you cannot add enough water to match your old concentration, that is fine. Accept the stronger concentration and recalculate the units. Never reuse the old number.
Aim for a draw you can read. A whole number, comfortably above the tiny marks. More water for the ones that sting.
Write the concentration on the vial. Future you, half awake, will thank you.
Research Use Only! ⚠️
⏰ Before You Go
No live vendor sale this week. Agelixir is still sold out, and we are working hard on the restock for the end of October. Join the waitlist on the product page to get the email the moment it is back.
Same codes as always: Skye code Exploringpeptides, Scantifix code Exploringpeptides (15% there too), Limitless code EP20, for Europe DN Lab Research code EP15 and Crystal Peptides code Exploringpeptides, and for Canada BioSlab code EP10.
And if this recap was useful, hit reply and tell me. If a thread you loved got left out, tell me that too. Five issues in and I am still shaping this around what you actually read.
❄️ My Long-Term Storage Approach
(Not advice, just my own system for research peps.) I've shared this before, but it's worth revisiting:
2 to 4 × HydraPeak 32oz thermoses with peptide inserts
2 to 3 of them for freezer storage (1 to 3 years)
One for fridge storage (6 to 12 months)
Everything labeled, rotated, and calmly managed
I use a Dymo labeler, but tons of labeling machines work great for this. You can also just use a pen and mark the sticker on the vial. Anxiety-free prep! ❄️
⚠️ Research Use Only.
Disclaimer: This email is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or veterinary advice. Products discussed are intended for research use only, are not approved for human consumption, and should be handled in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Community threads are member experiences, not recommendations, and nothing here is a protocol to follow. Decisions about hormones, medications, bloodwork, pregnancy, or any health condition belong with a licensed clinician.
Have a great weekend, Friends! 💦
Stay Curious 🕵️
Tk - Exploring Peptides