Jan 6 (edited) • Muscle Building
⚠️🚨IGF‑1 LR3, Low Blood Sugar & Why I’m Pausing It
Today was the first time since adding IGF‑1 into my protocol that I clearly felt the “low blood sugar” side of this peptide combination, and looking back at what I took, it makes sense why it happened.
Yesterday evening I trained around 5:30–6:00 p.m. and took my usual post‑workout IGF‑1 LR3 injection. That alone has a functional half‑life in the 20–30 hour range, which means a lot of it was still active in my system overnight. This morning, I went to train at 7:00 a.m. with my friend Rich, so I ended up working out just a little over 12 hours after that last IGF‑1 dose.
Because this was my first time back at that gym since starting this stack and it was a chest day, I brought IGF‑1 LR3 and PEG‑MGF with me. After some cardio to warm up, I pinned IGF‑1 pre‑workout, then when we finished lifting I went into the empty locker area and pinned PEG‑MGF. So at that point I had:
- Residual IGF‑1 LR3 from the prior night still active
- A fresh pre‑workout IGF‑1 LR3 dose on top of it
- A post‑workout PEG‑MGF dose layered in as well
Up to that moment I still felt fine. The trouble started later when I added the rest of my normal peptide stack for the day.
Around lunchtime I took my Retatrutide as usual, but this time I also dosed my CJC‑1295 and Ipamorelin at the same time, like I typically do. So now the picture looked like this:
- IGF‑1 LR3 stacked (two doses inside ~12 hours)
- PEG‑MGF on board
- Retatrutide (incretin‑style peptide affecting appetite and glucose handling)
- CJC‑1295 + Ipamorelin (GH secretagogues that can also influence blood sugar and insulin dynamics)
Individually, I’ve tolerated all of these well. Together, overlapped this tightly, they were too much.
Not long after that midday stack, my blood sugar started behaving strangely. It wasn’t a simple “low and stays low”; it was bouncing in a way I could both see and feel. My glucose readings would jump and drop within minutes – for example, from the 60s up into the 90s, then back down into the high 60s, then up again into the low 110s. I could feel those swings in real time: eyes tracking a bit off, feeling slightly weak, and getting lightheaded when I bent down and stood back up. Mentally I could still function, but I knew my system was wobbling.
It’s important for the journal (and for anyone reading this later) to understand that this wasn’t just “Retatrutide did something weird.” All of the following were in play at once:
- IGF‑1 LR3 increases glucose uptake into tissues and can mimic parts of insulin’s action.
- CJC‑1295 + Ipamorelin stimulate growth hormone release, which can acutely shift glucose and insulin dynamics.
- Retatrutide, as a multi‑receptor incretin agonist, affects appetite, gastric emptying, and how the body handles glucose.
Stacked intelligently and spaced out, these are powerful tools. Stacked too close together, they can absolutely produce real physiological effects like the low‑blood‑sugar episode I had today. That’s important for credibility: these compounds are not fake, not “snake oil,” and not placebo. They are potent enough that if you overlay them incorrectly, your body will react in noticeable and sometimes uncomfortable ways.
Once I realized what was happening, I treated it as a hypoglycemia management situation and tested how my body responded to food. I ate some potato soup, an energy bar, and – for the first time since starting this protocol – a can of regular Coke. Immediately after eating, my blood sugar rose into the low 110s, which is consistent with a normal post‑meal spike for me. About 30 minutes after that, it drifted back down into the 80s and, just as importantly, stayed there instead of whipping up and down. Subjectively, I started to feel normal again. For the last hour or so I’ve felt stable, which suggests that:
- Enough time has passed that the worst of the stacked IGF‑1 effect has faded
- The acute GH secretagogue effects from CJC/Ipamorelin have worn off
- Retatrutide has settled into its usual, predictable pattern for the day
All of that together seems to have allowed my blood sugar to stabilize again.
As far as next steps, I’m treating today as my clear sign to pull back on IGF‑1 LR3. I’ve been using it for most of the cycle with only a short break, and this is the first time it has tipped me into a truly uncomfortable blood sugar situation. The plan now is:
- Stop IGF‑1 LR3 completely and give myself roughly four weeks off
- Let my insulin and glucose regulation operate without the extra IGF‑1 push
- Keep training, diet, Retatrutide, and GH peptides consistent so I can see the impact of removing IGF‑1 alone
In five days I’ll also hit the halfway point of this 16‑week protocol and take my first full break day from the stack. After that, I’ll restart with a schedule that is not “every day, everything,” but more like 6 days on / 1 day off or 5 days on / 2 days off, depending on how I feel and what the data shows.
The big takeaway for this journal entry is simple: these peptides are real. They work. And when you layer multiple powerful agents that all touch glucose, insulin, and growth pathways, you have to respect the pharmacology. Nothing happened today that made me feel like I needed to go to the hospital, but the discomfort, the glucose swings, and the way I could feel those numbers in my body are enough to remind me that “more” is not always better, and timing matters just as much as total dose.
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⚠️🚨IGF‑1 LR3, Low Blood Sugar & Why I’m Pausing It
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