Experience With BPC-157

As many of you know, I’m riddled with damage. In fact, the entire reason I ventured down the journey to invent hydrogen tablets was an attempt to ameliorate my own issues. Hydrogen water greatly aided certain aspects, such as my pain and sleep, and has even significantly increased my range of motion and mobility, but it has not healed all of my damages, some of which are irreversible.

What are the issues that continue to plague me? First, my shoulder is only getting worse. I had arthroscopic surgery in May 2019, and my shoulder became less functional afterward, likely due to a tear that occurred during rehab post-surgery.

I have a full tear in my labrum and my glenohumeral joint (shoulder) has no remaining cartilage, it is just bone on a mangled labrum. I also have significant fraying of my rotator cuff, several cysts, and the newest development is a partial tear of the long head of my bicep tendon.

I also have an issue with my hip. It has never been properly diagnosed, but none of the physio I have done for it has ever amounted to any benefit. My left hip flexor feels like it has a sharp pin in it. In many movements, I have very good mobility and flexibility, but for one specific movement, namely extending my hip out, or turning it over, it locks, and I feel a sharp pain.

This is a big deal for throwing kicks with my right leg, as the left hip pushes forward and then turns over. It has meant that I struggle to throw low kicks and can barely throw a roundhouse body kick with my right leg. When I do, it hurts my left hip.

Finally, my stomach has never quite recovered from the multiple ulcers I developed due to excessive use of the NSAID naproxen.

Before venturing into full shoulder replacement, which would make me the youngest person my orthopedic surgeon has ever known to have it done or be a candidate, I decided to give BPC-157 a try. I didn’t have any hopes for my labral tear or lack of cartilage but was eager to see if it could help heal my tendon issues.

What is the BPC-157?

BPC-157 is a synthetic peptide, a short chain of amino acids, and is derived from a protein found in our stomach which plays a protective role. Many claims that BPC-157 is not being studied rigorously because it is “naturally found in our stomach and so money cannot be made on it,” but this is simply not true. BPC-157, as mentioned, is a synthetic peptide and is patented.

What is the Science Behind BPC-157?

There is very little published research on the synthetic peptide BPC-157. There is a single human study with sparse details regarding rectally administered BPC-157 for ulcerative colitis and an additional registered clinical trial that has not been published, despite beginning in 2015 with estimated completion in 2016. The positive data is limited to rodents, where BPC-157 has shown to improve healing time in numerous trials on skeletal muscle, ligaments, and tendons.

My BPC-157 Protocol:

I injected a total of 20 mg BPC-157 over 36 days subcutaneously using insulin needles. For the first 30 days I alternated day-to-day injecting into my left shoulder, and my left hip near the pain spot, drawing additional water once administered and squirting it orally, to not lose ~10% that would have remained after administration. This equals about 500 μg into the injection site per day, and ~55 μg orally. I then orally administered the final 6 days.

My BPC-157 Results:

Shoulder

My shoulder experienced marginal, but noticeable benefits in strength and stability. I did not expect BPC-157 to have any benefits regarding my joint or labral tear and was not expecting miracles.

Pain reduction is very hard to gauge as there is constant pain. My range of motion has not improved in any way; however, I have seen notable and measurable improvements in my strength and stability.

Namely, 5-6 weeks ago, I could not throw a jab with my left arm, or rather, I could throw a very weak jab, but after thrown, my arm wouldn’t retract properly. I also had a hard time throwing left arm punches even on my heavy bag, as the shoulder lacked enough stability to react to something as seemingly small as the movement of the bag when contact was made. This led to, at some point in my workouts, jarring and hurting my left shoulder if I momentarily forgot about the issue.

After the BPC-157, I can now throw left jabs with more power, and my arm retracts properly, but I cannot throw a “double jab”, meaning quickly throwing two punches in succession. It wasn’t magic but has been a tangible improvement. Moreover, I can throw body hooks with more power and have not been hurting my shoulder from odd collisions with the moving bag. I am basically back to where I was pre-surgery, before the partial tear of the long head bicep tendon.

Hip
Unfortunately, improvements in my hip, which I was most hopeful for, have been non-existent. The sharp pain and loss of very localized and specific motions have not been reduced in any detectable way, despite continuing on with my physiotherapist’s exercises throughout the protocol.

Stomach
I tried to pay very close attention to any changes in my stomach issues. My day-to-day stomach issues seem to have lessened substantially, however, following my once-a-week “treat day,” where I drink some wine and eat whatever I please, usually involving cheese and desserts, there have been no improvements.

Before the ulcers, I had a stomach of steel and nothing bothered it, eating much more than I do now, so I am still extremely far from my old baseline. BPC-157 seemed to help my stomach marginally, which is something.

After the ulcers, drinking a single glass of wine would have made me nauseous, hugging the toilet. A magnesium-based prescription medication prescribed to me, which I took for over double the recommended time, saw improvements but never a complete restoration.

BPC-157 seems to have inched me forward slightly, so this is something I will consider taking again in a few months, focusing on my stomach.

Parting Thoughts on BPC-157

Clearly not magical or miraculous, and not a molecule “held down by Big Pharma” as some claim, but possibly effective to some capacity. I noted varying benefits, issue dependent, and will be self-experimenting in the future.

I cannot recommend others do what I have, as BPC-157 cannot be sold for human use, but will say if you do find a source or way to obtain it and are adamant at trying, make sure you educate yourself on disinfecting injection sites and the vials, and make sure you double and triple check your math on reconstitution with sterile water.

Also, do not expect miracles.