My reta experience

[vancitybb]

For as long as you have been on it, 2mg is way too low. You won't get the results. Why are you baby-stepping it so much, man? Go up 2mg a week until you are losing TOO MUCH weight per week. Like more than 2 pounds a week. Don't cut carbs at all, man. Just don't eat shit ones. Eat MORE carbs. I'm on 6mg a week, and that's a fairly mild effect, 1-2 pounds a week. Usually more like 1-1.5/week, and I do work out but don't track calories at all. Just eat what I want, even eat fast food sometimes. Doesn't matter cuz the control you have on reta makes not snacking and not overeating easy. Once you get on a higher dose, it WILL be hard to eat a whole "normal" plate of food. I usually turn the plate away with at least a few bites left. I just can't finish it. No side effects at all on this dose, except for mild constipation, which is worth it. Up your dose, bro - you could get to 180-200 if you really wanted to and be lean as fuck booooiiiiii. Just keep your protein as high as possible. I acknowledge that all my advice could be wrong.

Yeah... don't do this. I was up to 5mg 2x per week, so a total of 10mg weekly. I figured "time to bump up to 6mg x2". Took my first shot of 6mg and holy hell did i ever get sick! Disgusting sulphuric burps, constant diarrhea, some vomiting and severe dehydration. This lasted for 4 fucking days after my shot. Reta can be a cruel bitch if you don't respect her. I still can't believe how hard that "small" bump in dose kicked my ass. I'm now off reta entirely, and will be starting at like 0.25mg/wk next time I cut.

 

[animal-inside]

Yeah... don't do this. I was up to 5mg 2x per week, so a total of 10mg weekly. I figured "time to bump up to 6mg x2". Took my first shot of 6mg and holy hell did i ever get sick! Disgusting sulphuric burps, constant diarrhea, some vomiting and severe dehydration. This lasted for 4 fucking days after my shot. Reta can be a cruel bitch if you don't respect her. I still can't believe how hard that "small" bump in dose kicked my ass. I'm now off reta entirely, and will be starting at like 0.25mg/wk next time I cut.

Why 0.25? Did you try it before and see results, or is it the start of a taper to a dose you see results at?

 

[vancitybb]

Why 0.25? Did you try it before and see results, or is it the start of a taper to a dose you see results at?

Because I'm simply terrified of shitting myself again for 4 straight days. I actually started at 0.5mg 2x per week this time, and titrated up to 5mg 2x, before finally trying 6mg and flying too close to the sun. Gonna be real cautious after this wretched experience.

 

[Devson]

You don't even know the half of it lol...

Bad insulin sensitivty from my experiences causes flat muscles 24/7 even with eating carbs because the glycogen isn;t in the muscles and it can't pull water in... it means very hard to burn fat: insulin stops liposis.. and as long as your blood sugar is higher than what your body wants, its going to be pumping out insulin... It means when you try to add carbs to build muscle, it just leads to more sugar building up in your blood instead of going to your muscles/energy where you want it to be..

It's just shit.. which is why I've been trying quite a few years to get some insulin sensity back or at least hold on to what I got..


I'm not sure if I'll ever get to it.. but another big interest I have wit reta is that if it can be used to shuttle carbs to be used for energy and/or get it to convert carbs to glycogen in the muscles.. It would be a blessing for me if i can eat more carbs again and have them be used for gylcogen instead of sit in my blood... If reta is ever approved for humans and has little side effects short/long term and it can help with this, I'll be all over it.

It is expected to finish trials this year and be marketed. Eli Lily and Company are already going after the UGL market for reta now. Could be a good stock to invest in but it's expensive. Also some people are not as thrilled with reta anymore.

What about getting prescribed insulin? I'd talk to your doctor about how many carbs you eat, say you tried low carb and it's too hard. I'd imagine a very very low dosage of long acting insulin might help aid you. Metformin is another alternative. I would use a low dosage though because I've heard it can be hard to gain muscle on.

My levels are like .1 or .2 over the reference range. My A1C is within range just barely. I still am able to lose fat and gain muscle quite well but I have to put in a lot of effort with counting calories and such. I don't have trouble with getting great pumps though which is odd like my pumps are better than the skinny guys even at times or at least on par.

HGH isn't good for insulin sensitivity just FYI.

If you haven't had your T3, T4, free T4 and TSH checked then get those checked. Even if your TSH and T4 are fine it doesn't mean you don't have a thyroid disease.

There's so much to these things like I know people who had high estrogen but low estrogen symptoms and it was because they were low in a chemical that is used to move estrogen through the body. They had to get some crazy blood work to find that out. A form of Inositol was the cure. Luckily they kept on pushing.

 

[animal-inside]

It is expected to finish trials this year and be marketed. Eli Lily and Company are already going after the UGL market for reta now. Could be a good stock to invest in but it's expensive. Also some people are not as thrilled with reta anymore.

What about getting prescribed insulin? I'd talk to your doctor about how many carbs you eat, say you tried low carb and it's too hard. I'd imagine a very very low dosage of long acting insulin might help aid you. Metformin is another alternative. I would use a low dosage though because I've heard it can be hard to gain muscle on.

I've tried to talk to many doctors about it.. They simply don't understand how people like us lift, eat, train etc.. Its like as long as I don't have those magical 911 symtoms of type 2, they don't give a shit.. My buddy went through the same bullshit.. high blood sugar, but no symptoms.. no doctors would anything because he had no symtpoms other than bad blood sugar.. they did sweet fuck all until one day he woke up and couldn't see.. like his vision was fucked.. went to the ER and now he's on metaformin for life at the minium.

I do have a endo appointment that I am on a wait list for.. It will be worth talking to an endo about for sure..

My levels are like .1 or .2 over the reference range. My A1C is within range just barely. I still am able to lose fat and gain muscle quite well but I have to put in a lot of effort with counting calories and such. I don't have trouble with getting great pumps though which is odd like my pumps are better than the skinny guys even at times or at least on par.

My a1c has gotten a touch better over the last few years, but by like 0.1... But in order to get my A1c under 6.0, I'm on a loose keto diet. nothing like being 250lbs, not super fat and I can only handle 100grams of carbs a day or Al1c is over 6... for the muslce mass I carry, the active lifestlye I life, the heavy weight lifting I do and the strict diet I follow, I should be able to handle more than 100grams of carbs.

I did eat about 200-250 grams of carbs for a month last fall.. wow was it nice to recover better, less body aches, more energy etc.. but blood sugars were deffinitely up through out the day. It's pretty crazy how my body reacts to go from 100 grams to 200/250 grams of carbs a day.. I really hoped it would level out, but it didn't.. and I put on some body fat for sure.. I think I went from 248ish to 258/260 in those 3 months. Nothign else changed other than a bit more carbs.

HGH isn't good for insulin sensitivity just FYI.

I don't use it anymore.. I really liked 2units a day for 3 or 4 months to help heal.. but I haven't touched it in years.

If you haven't had your T3, T4, free T4 and TSH checked then get those checked. Even if your TSH and T4 are fine it doesn't mean you don't have a thyroid disease.

There's so much to these things like I know people who had high estrogen but low estrogen symptoms and it was because they were low in a chemical that is used to move estrogen through the body. They had to get some crazy blood work to find that out. A form of Inositol was the cure. Luckily they kept on pushing.

I'm on 150 mcg of synthroid.. been on it for almost 10 years.. my TSH is usually 0.9-1.10.. so my levels are good. The doctor that put me on it was positive my blood sugar issues would go away once I found the dose I needed to be on to bring my TSH from 2.5 to 1.0. He got me to 1.0 and we kept testing my blood sugars and they didnt budge..

 

[Devson]

I've tried to talk to many doctors about it.. They simply don't understand how people like us lift, eat, train etc.. Its like as long as I don't have those magical 911 symtoms of type 2, they don't give a shit.. My buddy went through the same bullshit.. high blood sugar, but no symptoms.. no doctors would anything because he had no symtpoms other than bad blood sugar.. they did sweet fuck all until one day he woke up and couldn't see.. like his vision was fucked.. went to the ER and now he's on metaformin for life at the minium.

I do have a endo appointment that I am on a wait list for.. It will be worth talking to an endo about for sure..



My a1c has gotten a touch better over the last few years, but by like 0.1... But in order to get my A1c under 6.0, I'm on a loose keto diet. nothing like being 250lbs, not super fat and I can only handle 100grams of carbs a day or Al1c is over 6... for the muslce mass I carry, the active lifestlye I life, the heavy weight lifting I do and the strict diet I follow, I should be able to handle more than 100grams of carbs.

I did eat about 200-250 grams of carbs for a month last fall.. wow was it nice to recover better, less body aches, more energy etc.. but blood sugars were deffinitely up through out the day. It's pretty crazy how my body reacts to go from 100 grams to 200/250 grams of carbs a day.. I really hoped it would level out, but it didn't.. and I put on some body fat for sure.. I think I went from 248ish to 258/260 in those 3 months. Nothign else changed other than a bit more carbs.



I don't use it anymore.. I really liked 2units a day for 3 or 4 months to help heal.. but I haven't touched it in years.




I'm on 150 mcg of synthroid.. been on it for almost 10 years.. my TSH is usually 0.9-1.10.. so my levels are good. The doctor that put me on it was positive my blood sugar issues would go away once I found the dose I needed to be on to bring my TSH from 2.5 to 1.0. He got me to 1.0 and we kept testing my blood sugars and they didnt budge..

Yeah it's kind of funny how doctors want your honesty but they aren't willing to be alright with you building muscle. Our medical system allows us to prescribe drugs so we can drink soda and eat chips but if you want to eat 6 sweet potatoes a day God forbid that.

I feel like I could actually find a doctor to prescribe me insulin if I purposely sent my range off the deep end up that's not worth it to me. Have you tried insulin? 250lbs is definitely very heavy, like that is what 300lb bodybuilders usually are when they are leaner. If you aren't that size then I'd definitely lean out as that often can affect insulin sensitivity but also you'd be more likely to get a script for something I feel like.

 

[animal-inside]

Yeah it's kind of funny how doctors want your honesty but they aren't willing to be alright with you building muscle. Our medical system allows us to prescribe drugs so we can drink soda and eat chips but if you want to eat 6 sweet potatoes a day God forbid that.

Im guessing its more lack of knowledge than anything.. plus doctors are bound by policies.. "I can not prescribe XX until your blood work shows XX for a A1C" etc..

I feel like I could actually find a doctor to prescribe me insulin if I purposely sent my range off the deep end up that's not worth it to me. Have you tried insulin? 250lbs is definitely very heavy, like that is what 300lb bodybuilders usually are when they are leaner. If you aren't that size then I'd definitely lean out as that often can affect insulin sensitivity but also you'd be more likely to get a script for something I feel like.

Never tried insulin.. Scares me.. The fear I'm sure is partially due to lack knowledge and also horror stories you hear..

I'm at 240 now.. I'm also 6'2.. I'd guess I would see lots of ab deffinition at around 220.. I can see them coming in now at 240... I do have some fat to loose for sure, and its coming off.. I gave up trying to gain muscle and be big when I was 290/300lbs about 6 years ago.. Lost lots of fat but, my insulin sensitity has gotten a bit better I think, but no real big improvements.

 

[animal-inside]

If anyone is following...

Last Wednesday i did 1mg in one shot instead of dividing it into 2. My blood sugars did drop down to around low 5 for a bit and then by the end of the 7 days, they crept back up to 6. I lifted tonight chest/shoulder/tri and came home and blood sugar was 5.7.

So I started 1.5 mg tonight.

Body weight right around 240lbs still. But I do notice loss in strength, no pumps, lower energy.. All day long I feel great, but when I hit the gym I got nothing in the tank and strength has been going down. I know lowoer energy, losing streng is a given on a reduced calorie diet and cutting carbs, but I think using Reta makes it so you have to approach your diet differently. I'm going to have to track blood sugar/weight/energy levels day by day since moving to 1.5 mg and add cals/carbs accordingly.

I'll be happy to get to 230, so only 10 more to go.. but I don't want to drop 10lbs too fast and have it be more muscle than fat.


When I was younger and did aggressive cuts I don;t think the energy/strength drops were as harsh.. I would also cut on 400mg prop or something similar.. Right now I'm mg 100mg TRT script and another 50mg prop per week.

 

[animal-inside]

After 2 days on 1.5 mg my blood sugar is back to where it was before reta.. Same diet, same lifting, same daily routines etc.. I'm getting 5.7-6.3 for readings on my low carb diet.

wondering if I need to give 1.5mg more time to start to see results or if adding 0.5 mg after being on 1mg for over a month wasnt enough of a jump to do anything.

 

[Sorbate]

After 2 days on 1.5 mg my blood sugar is back to where it was before reta.. Same diet, same lifting, same daily routines etc.. I'm getting 5.7-6.3 for readings on my low carb diet.

wondering if I need to give 1.5mg more time to start to see results or if adding 0.5 mg after being on 1mg for over a month wasnt enough of a jump to do anything.

Waht is you A1C or glucose readings lets say middle of the day after you haven’t eaten for like 3 hours?

 

[animal-inside]

Waht is you A1C or glucose readings lets say middle of the day after you haven’t eaten for like 3 hours?

weird.. I replied yesterday but my reply is gone..I don;t have my A1c, thats blood work for average glucose over a few months.. I just have my instant blood sugar numbers.

My instant depends on what I've been eating for carbs, but basically

1) last meal is around 9:30pm.. First meal is at 10:00 am.. before reta, my blood sugar would be 5.7-6.0 right before that first meal.. When 1mg worked on me, blood sugars were often under 5.0 for the same test. Now that 1mg of reta isnt working for me, my blodo sugars are back to 5.7-6.0... this morning they were 5.9 for that same time of day test.

2) 3 hours after I have eaten my numbers before reta can be 5.7-6.3 depending if previous meal had carbs or not.. if carbs, over 6 every time.. no carbs, they can be around that 5.7ish.. When 1mg reta was working those numbers would be around 5 or under.

 

[animal-inside]

Here has been my readings today

-woke up at 7:30

- had coffee.. no sugar/carbs

-checked blood sugar at 9:30: 5.7.

- breakfast at 10am... 2 whole eggs, 1/2 cup egg white.. 2 peices of homemade sourdough bread.

-went and cut firewood from 10:45 until 3:00 pm.. blood sugar is 6.4.. I was a bit shocked so I checked it 3 times.. I got 6.4, 6.3 and a 6.5..
*I ate and drank NOTHING since 10am.
*cutting firewood for me is pretty Intense.. we have 3 feet of snow, so I use my snowmobile and drive 5 mins to the bush, jump off and wade through 3 feet of snow to cut a big tamarac tree down.. then I fill the sled up and run it 5 mins home and unload the wood.. I did 4.5 loads.. my sled is huge.. 2 of my sled loads is a touch more than 1 heaping regular pick up box..
*the only down time for cutting wood is the 5 mins drive back to my house..

So you'd think a bit more than 4 hours of heavy lifting, wading through 3 feet of snow would easily eat up the carbs from the 2 peices of sourdough I had for breakfast.. I'm also in a calorie deficit diet.

Keep in mind I'm on 1.5mg reta as well. I know the 1mg dose is no longer effective, but it still needs to be considered..

 

[Sorbate]

weird.. I replied yesterday but my reply is gone..I don;t have my A1c, thats blood work for average glucose over a few months.. I just have my instant blood sugar numbers.

My instant depends on what I've been eating for carbs, but basically

1) last meal is around 9:30pm.. First meal is at 10:00 am.. before reta, my blood sugar would be 5.7-6.0 right before that first meal.. When 1mg worked on me, blood sugars were often under 5.0 for the same test. Now that 1mg of reta isnt working for me, my blodo sugars are back to 5.7-6.0... this morning they were 5.9 for that same time of day test.

2) 3 hours after I have eaten my numbers before reta can be 5.7-6.3 depending if previous meal had carbs or not.. if carbs, over 6 every time.. no carbs, they can be around that 5.7ish.. When 1mg reta was working those numbers would be around 5 or under.

I’m thinking maybe those higher numbers are normal for you. Each one of us are a bit different, but you are not at numbers like any diabetic I know.

If they stay the same for multiple years, and you feel fine, maybe it’s time to not worry about it?

 

[biguglynewf]

Here has been my readings today

-woke up at 7:30

- had coffee.. no sugar/carbs

-checked blood sugar at 9:30: 5.7.

- breakfast at 10am... 2 whole eggs, 1/2 cup egg white.. 2 peices of homemade sourdough bread.

-went and cut firewood from 10:45 until 3:00 pm.. blood sugar is 6.4.. I was a bit shocked so I checked it 3 times.. I got 6.4, 6.3 and a 6.5..
*I ate and drank NOTHING since 10am.
*cutting firewood for me is pretty Intense.. we have 3 feet of snow, so I use my snowmobile and drive 5 mins to the bush, jump off and wade through 3 feet of snow to cut a big tamarac tree down.. then I fill the sled up and run it 5 mins home and unload the wood.. I did 4.5 loads.. my sled is huge.. 2 of my sled loads is a touch more than 1 heaping regular pick up box..
*the only down time for cutting wood is the 5 mins drive back to my house..

So you'd think a bit more than 4 hours of heavy lifting, wading through 3 feet of snow would easily eat up the carbs from the 2 peices of sourdough I had for breakfast.. I'm also in a calorie deficit diet.

Keep in mind I'm on 1.5mg reta as well. I know the 1mg dose is no longer effective, but it still needs to be considered..

Fuck me.....that's frustrating!

 

[animal-inside]

I’m thinking maybe those higher numbers are normal for you. Each one of us are a bit different, but you are not at numbers like any diabetic I know.

If they stay the same for multiple years, and you feel fine, maybe it’s time to not worry about it?

I thought at one point my numbers might just be naturally higher, but I don't think that's correct because I've been tracking my numbers for awhile and I just can't drop fat with having blood sugars like I do.. Well I can, but i end up losing so much muscle with a touch of fat and even then it takes a LONG time to have the scale budge. That tells me my blood sugar is too high and my insulin receptors suck..

Another tell I see is that if I do keto diet for a week and then have a quick carb load. My muscles don't puff out because the insulin isn't shoving my sudden glucose surge into my muscles as glycogen. If I do keto for a week and a quick carbs load, I see my blood sugar go up, but not much muscle fullness if any..

I know my blood sugar numbers are actually good.. I am keeping them in a fairly healthy range.. but its what I need to do to keep them there that's fucked.. I can only eat about 150 grams of carbs per day and it has to be stuff like oatmeal, apples etc... if i don;t eat that way, my numbers easily hit type 2 requirements.

When I say this to a doctor they just tell me "Great! Keep doing what your doing".. But there's not much i can do to try to shed body fat when my carbs/cals are already low.. And then the factor of trying to lift heavy with eating like this.. it breaks me down lol.. but doctors don't get the lifting weights.. they don't get the wanting to burn some fat, but not drop all the muscle.

 

[animal-inside]

This is way reta had so much appeal to me.. I hope it can let me eat a bit more carbs and have them go to glycogen in my muscles instead of marinate in my blood.. I hoped it would help loose weight without having to do keto again.

Edit: I just reread my posts.. I've had to edit them because of so many errors. Spelling mistakes, using the wrong words etc.. I need to do a better job with my writing when I post on here.

 

[animal-inside]

Found this chart.. I stay in the range for people without diabetes when I'm very low carb/keto with heavy lifting.... I don't think you supposed to have to eat that way to stay in the normal ranges.



[td]Time of check[/td] [td]Goal ranges for people without diabetes[/td] [td]Goal ranges for people with diabetes[/td]

Before breakfast (fasting)	< 5.5 mmol/L (<100 mg/dl)	3.9–7.2 mmol/L (70–130 mg/dl)
Before lunch, supper and snack	< 6.1 mmol/L (<110 mg/dl)	3.9–7.2 mmol/L (70–130 mg/dl)
Two hours after meals	< 7.8 mmol/L (<140 mg/dl)	< 10.0 mmol/L (<180 mg/dl)
Bedtime	< 6.7 mmol/L (<120 mg/dl)	5.0–8.3 mmol/L (90- 150 mg/dl)
A1C (also known as HbA1c)	< 6%	< 7%

 

[animal-inside]

the chart got messed up when I copied and pasted it..
first column - time
second colum- numbers for non diabetic
third column: goals for diabetics

 

[animal-inside]

I bumped up to 2mg yesterday from 1.5mg.. Going to 1.5 didn't seem to do anything.

Awake at 7am and had coffee.. went to work
First meal 10am- 40gram protien and about 50 gram carb with a bit of fat.
Second meal 12 noon- protien and fat
Third meal 2:15pm- protien and fat.

I came home at 5pm and checked blood sugars- 5.9.. I have a busy job, always on my feet.. not heavy lifting etc, but no down time.. always moving..

I'll monitor what 2mg does on the blood sugar for the week and go from there.

Haven;t lost a pound since the 1mg reta stopped keeping my blood sugars in the low 5's/ high 4's.

 

[Hussell]

I have a question, I started Reta 3 weeks ago .5mg twice a week, towards the end of last week my sweets craving completely disappeared, the boys bring in camp cookies and before I would cave and have one but I'm noticing now I have zero interest in any sweets which is great.

This week I am noticing I am not thirsty and have to remind myself to drink my water, has anyone else noticed this.