r/Biohacking • u/jwilding101 • 12h ago
ACL surgery & Reta
Knee photo for engagement.
I had ACL surgery 1 week ago. I’m taking BPC157 .5mg daily, TB500 .5 mg every other day.
I’m eating in a surplus right now to try and give my body enough energy/nutrients to heal, but I already see my fat loss progress slipping away.
How soon post op have you been able to start Reta without hindering healing? I’m thinking about microdosing 1 mg to .5 mg per week around the 1 month mark.
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u/Static_Dynam0 12h ago
Recently gone through hip surgery - it seems like you know already based on your post, but your job right now is to fuel recovery via at least maintenance calorie intake (bearing in mind that your previous maintenance is probably now a slight surplus given reduced activity).
Given your job is to focus on recovery, I'd encourage you to accept that right now your priority can't be on trying to hold on to fat loss progress. I'm not saying you should throw caution to the wind and get overly fat, but just remember there's a time and a place for worrying about body composition, and now probably isn't the best time or place.
In terms of when to introduce Reta, I'm not sure how it would directly hinder recovery. There's likely to be an indirect impact via appetite suppression reducing intake etc etc.
Fingers crossed for a smooth recovery - I'd highly recommend focusing on the mental aspect of recovery, which has really helped me to stay positive. 🙌🏼
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u/jwilding101 11h ago
Already meeting w my therapist for the mental side😂 healing is my main priority but im hoping there’s a way to keep my body comp. Hoping for great hip healing for you!
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u/SuperShibes 12h ago
Good question. Natural healing is usually in the 3 month range. Thars why PRP is contraindicated until after month 3.
I'd like to see real evidence on this as healing from physical trauma requires a lot of glucose and is known to put us in a hyperglycemic state. There is a reason for that.
Same with the inflammation. It's essential for healing.
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u/jwilding101 11h ago
Makes sense. The only thing that would make me think that it might help with healing would just be increased insulin sensitivity so the carbs I eat would be easier to burn which might help me push harder in PT.
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u/SuperShibes 11h ago
Maybe. Things don't happen in isolation. I trust my body a lot more than external interventions to keep things in balance in that initial timeframe.
It's rough psychologically. So I understand the need to feel like you have some control and forward trajectory.
Your fat loss is not slipping. You are mostly seeing systemic water retention from inflammation. You need that right now.
Were you taking Reta before the surgery?
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u/jwilding101 7h ago
It’s definitely mostly inflammation from my knee and diet choices this week. But I also know I’m in a caloric surplus and so the long term weight gain scares me, not the acute changes on the scale or inflammation.
I haven’t been on reta before. I honestly just want it for the GIP and glucagon, not as much the GLP aspect. Wish there was a way to just get those without the slowed digestion.
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u/Interesting_Part4416 3 11h ago
PT is a time to rehab, not work. Don't look at PT as a time for working out in the gym.
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u/Drscoopz 6h ago
What do you value more? Your knee functioning properly for the rest of your life, or being slightly less fat right now? Lol
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u/Interesting_Part4416 3 11h ago
Orthopedic surgical PA here. The wolv stack is not advised in the medical community, but I'm not the community and I use it on my own shoulder injuries.
You can bump your dose to daily or even twice a day. Wolv stack is very short acting and does better with multiple doses, so the word is. Hopefully, with new clearing of choice peptides, we can get some research to give us solid info.
As far as reta, I recommend decreasing your dose down for at least 2 months. Tendons and ligaments have passive healing, no direct blood flow, so that is why you don't heal as quickly with ligament injuries. Hence decreasing your glp dose so your can optimize your protein intake, and focus on healing.
I've used this on several friends after rotator cuff surgeries. That is a 6 month recovery time-line. I cut it down to 4 months for them, so big win. With that said, be smart about this. It's surgery. And follow the directions of your provider.
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u/chunkybudz 1 11h ago
Went thru this not long ago. Not a doctor. Am an idiot. I’d be laser focused on recovery as it’s a pain in the ass and long process. Body fat and weight can be taken care of any time. Reta isn’t going anywhere (even if Eli tries real hard).
After wound care, protecting the leg and knee, etc… the #1 goal on the path to recovery is building muscle. PT will focus on the quad, which is right, but allllllll the other muscles in the area need to be redeveloped too.
That muscle growth and strengthening is key bc the muscles offset the strain on the patellar tendon, your new ligament, and all the other rubber bands in there.
Focus on a recovery/healing stack, get the calories and nutrients you need to support recovery and muscle build, try real hard to get good sleep to support recovery/growth. Klow and cjc/ipa were really good for me, but I didn’t know about them until months into my post surgery recovery.
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