Injectable Ecdysterone: The Full Story (for now...)

 

Injectable Ecdysterone: The Full Story

(For full demonstration/updates etc. visit this free patreon post- https://www.patreon.com/posts/126529949  )

Long time listeners may be sick of me telling my story of how I came to formulate a viable injectable ecdysterone. But, in brief, Ecdy and turk were hot, there was controversy on quality control/potency via an expose on reddit from Nootropics Depot. Vigorous Steve put out a call for anyone who could successfully make an injectable, and I got to work.

A few factors that made this task difficult were/are:

1) Quality control: Am I working with what I think I'm working with. As I've stated many times, I went through six wholesale suppliers before finding an honest and reliable source. I developed my own extraction process to pull out bulk plant matter to dry and weigh against claimed potency numbers. The supplier I've been using for the last 2.5 years has consistently sent me 90% concentrate, with the lowest potency received being 87% by my method. Other suppliers sent me concentrates with as low as 12% plant sterones. So, yes, I know I'm receiving the proper product at this point in time. (show vid where I display the "gunk" I extracted from bad concentrate)

2) Solubility: Ecdysterone is NOT soluble in oil at all. And, it's only barely soluble in water, i.e. about 1 mg/ml- and no one wants to inject 100 ml to get their daily dose. Once I began encapsulating the ecdysterone concentrate in hpbcd (hydroxy propyl beta-cyclodextrin) this problem was essentially solved. This is the same process we use to make "Get Pumped" more potent and bioavailable. Once complexed in this way, the small amounts of "normal" solvents such as benzyl alcohol, are enough to keep a high concentration in solution- even over 100 mg/ml. As a side note- here's a video where I purchased and injected a 10 mg/ml injectable ecdy from a popular peptide site. It did nothing. They've since stopped selling it.

3) Effective time in the system: Ecdy/plant sterones work by stimulating the IGF-1 pathway via the estrogen receptor. Anything that stimulates this pathway of growth needs time in the system to do its magic. Regular 70 amino acid IGF-1 with an 8 min half life? Pointless. Increlex brand IGF-1 with an extended release and 6 hour half-life? Life changing. Oxytocin, ecdysterone, various growth factors- all need to be "slow release" to really do their thing effectively.

But, how do you make a slow release product from a water-based injectable?

My first attempts were simply copying the liquid portion of the rare and potent IGF-1 produt,Increlex. I used the exact same blend of solvents, salts, and liquid and found I had less pain on injection (a sign of slower release) and less of a pump from the injection- another sign of a slow drip vs. a big burst of product.

But, the big breakthrough came from creating a hydrogel form. It is still very experimental- being fine tuned. But, I have learned how to create a hydrogel that releases as slow as a castor oil based shot. Using this method I found I had even less "pump" overall, but actual, quickly noticeable muscle growth. A bit less potent than slow release oxytocin or IGF-1 (mg for mcg) but similar in effect.

4) And here's what brings us up to present day- Post injection pain:

Nobody wants a shot that's a literal pain in the ass. While the last few versions have had almost no initial post injection pain, the real party starts 2 days after the shot. Holy Cow is there some nice soreness at that point. (apologies to my fellow guinea pigs trying this with me, my bad guys)

So, what's going on here? I'm using 90% concentrate and attempting to filter out that final 10% of plant matter that ISN'T plant sterones. In the case of my bulk powder 45% is beta ecdysterone, another 45% is a mix of various other sterones- turkesterone, alpha-ecdysterone etc. And the final 10 is plant parts and roots- i.e. some fiber, and likely not very soluble. So, I do a fair amount of filtering to remove this portion. But, in the grand scheme of things, my humble efforts are not as effective at distillation, filtration etc. as a professional lab would be.

So, what happens is, for the first day or so, the actual ecdy and hydrogel are absorbed from the injection and slowly make their way into the system. That (likely) just leaves the left over plant fibers to be broken down last by the body. And, the body finds this irritating, literally. So, you get a sore spot. No good.

On one hand I make/have the only actually viable injectable plant sterones that exist. Seriously, every other one I've encountered (and there haven't been many) have been laughable- see example above. So, that's something. But, frankly, it's not quite "there", still too much pain for the benefit- especially when oxytocin will do the same task with less hassle.

But, I still want to make an effective, useable version so interested parties can do their own experiments. So, I went all the way back to where this all started - Nootropics Depot.

I ordered their 50% ecdysterone concentrate powder. Why? Why would I go from 90% to 50% to have LESS plant material in the shot? Well, their powder is tested at 50% beta-ecdysterone via hplc against a pharmceutical standard. In other words, it's truly 50% beta-ecdysterone meaning the other 50% or darn near, is the various "other" sterones. It's likely 98% vs. my 87-93% powder. And, that 8-10% is a game changer for filtering, purity, and ass pain.

So, as sort of a re-do of last week's experiment, I'll be showing how I make this particular batch and how it comes out- all the hands on stuff- on a public/free patreon vid, link in description. While I am still testing and refining, this really should be the last major hurdle for this as a viable product.

The current versions- including this batch work best at 200 mg/ml. There are effects that come specifically from the "other" plant material. But, even in cyanotis, my source plant, this includes aggression- something I don't feel from the sublingual form. And, I could stand to do without it personally. I prefer to be chill. So, I won't miss the aggression or the glute pain from the plant matter. And, I fully expect to see "MOST" of the positive IGF-1 pathway growth effects I've seen from other batches. So, We'll see.

Head over to patreon to check that video out. I also have updates on my injectable epicatechin experience and other bits and pieces in that same casual vid. To support my work, please consider buying a bottle of "Get Pumped", the sublingual form of my complexed and potent sterone concentrate. You receive a free sample bottle for yourself or a friend with every bottle purchased now. I'm hoping that some will choose to be generous and share with a friend to spread the word! Take care and I'll see you back here next week.