Lose Skin: HGH/Secretagogues?

[The Answ3r]

Unfortunately, losing that much weight almost always comes with a price - loose skin. All the info you’ve been reading or sharing honestly doesn’t matter much in the real world. If your genetics are on your side and you fall into that lucky 1%, maybe you’ll get away with minimal excess skin. But for most people, it sticks around and the only real fix is surgery.

I’m helping a close friend completely turn his life around. In just 1 year and 9 months, he went from 280 lbs (127 kg) to 170 lbs (77 kg) at 5’7” (170 cm). I’ll tell you straight - he has loose skin on his stomach, and his chest is hollowed out. Standing upright, he looks decent in clothes, but when he bends forward, the extra skin is very obvious.

The good news? You’ve got time. Time to put money aside and mentally prepare for the surgery if it ends up being necessary. I already mentioned in another thread - you’re overloading yourself with too much information that doesn’t actually help right now. Sure, you can throw in GH if you want, but focus on dropping the weight first. Then keep it off for 6–8 months and reassess. That’s when you’ll know how much skin needs to go - if any.

Don’t turn a simple task into a complicated science project. No offense meant - just saying it like it is. You’re already on Reta and TRT - the tools are there. Now put your head down, work, and stop cluttering your mind with stuff that doesn’t matter at this stage.

 

[TheDieselZ]

Look into Ghk-cu peptide injections.

 

[Liter O' Test]

hgh may grow your skin so not ideal

 

[krakmonkey]

give GHK-CU and KPV a shot some people had success but with such a huge weight loss its probably just going to improve it and not completely remove it, though even to improve it expect 2-3months to maybe see some changes

 

[SpicyMeatball]

Unfortunately, losing that much weight almost always comes with a price - loose skin. All the info you’ve been reading or sharing honestly doesn’t matter much in the real world. If your genetics are on your side and you fall into that lucky 1%, maybe you’ll get away with minimal excess skin. But for most people, it sticks around and the only real fix is surgery.

I’m helping a close friend completely turn his life around. In just 1 year and 9 months, he went from 280 lbs (127 kg) to 170 lbs (77 kg) at 5’7” (170 cm). I’ll tell you straight - he has loose skin on his stomach, and his chest is hollowed out. Standing upright, he looks decent in clothes, but when he bends forward, the extra skin is very obvious.

The good news? You’ve got time. Time to put money aside and mentally prepare for the surgery if it ends up being necessary. I already mentioned in another thread - you’re overloading yourself with too much information that doesn’t actually help right now. Sure, you can throw in GH if you want, but focus on dropping the weight first. Then keep it off for 6–8 months and reassess. That’s when you’ll know how much skin needs to go - if any.

Don’t turn a simple task into a complicated science project. No offense meant - just saying it like it is. You’re already on Reta and TRT - the tools are there. Now put your head down, work, and stop cluttering your mind with stuff that doesn’t matter at this stage.

and get as trim as you can before the surgery, don't rush into it, since if you get it too early you'll just need another if you lose more. and it's not a small surgery.

 

[Mushy404]

hgh may grow your skin so not ideal

What are you basing this off of?

 

[Mushy404]

Look into Ghk-cu peptide injections.

give GHK-CU and KPV a shot some people had success but with such a huge weight loss its probably just going to improve it and not completely remove it, though even to improve it expect 2-3months to maybe see some changes

Have heard of this but not looked into it.
Will do so soon, thanks

 

[adrenalytic]

Have heard of this but not looked into it.
Will do so soon, thanks

I can confirm from personal experience that GHK-Cu does a decent job at smoothing out crepey skin (after several months of consistent use) but again, it is no magic bullet. I've also recently taken to making a serum so I can attack the problem externally as well as internally. Results TBD.

 

[sionnach]

I don't think there's a magic bullet or as easy a fix as skin removal surgery, but that's an extremely brutal one and I'd try everything already mentioned here before going that route. I do think the autophagy from long term fasting is the best bet, but
A. That's guaranteed atrophy, really shitty for whatever gains you've had up to that point
B. Even Angus Barbieri had loose skin leftover from his legendary 392 day fast.

I tell my previously fatty gymbros - stretch marks and loose skin are a trophy of what you've learned from your mistakes, and a reminder not to make them again. Not saying to accept your fate and forego self improvement, but a reality check takes a bit of the sting out when vanity shows up.

 

[TheDieselZ]

Have heard of this but not looked into it.
Will do so soon, thanks

I took K-GLOW blend combo (ghk cu, tb4, bpc, kpv) with hgh and my skin tightened a lot.

 

[sionnach]

I took K-GLOW blend combo (ghk cu, tb4, bpc, kpv) with hgh and my skin tightened a lot.

Many anecdotal reports of this via extra blood flow to the skin. Did you find that it worked systemically or moreso localized near the injection site?

 

[TheDieselZ]

Many anecdotal reports of this via extra blood flow to the skin. Did you find that it worked systemically or moreso localized near the injection site?

I do most of my shots in my upper thigh or belly not to localize but out of convenience. I think with sub q it’ll be absorbed and go into effect everywhere.

 

[Mushy404]

I don't think there's a magic bullet or as easy a fix as skin removal surgery, but that's an extremely brutal one and I'd try everything already mentioned here before going that route. I do think the autophagy from long term fasting is the best bet, but
A. That's guaranteed atrophy, really shitty for whatever gains you've had up to that point
B. Even Angus Barbieri had loose skin leftover from his legendary 392 day fast.

I tell my previously fatty gymbros - stretch marks and loose skin are a trophy of what you've learned from your mistakes, and a reminder not to make them again. Not saying to accept your fate and forego self improvement, but a reality check takes a bit of the sting out when vanity shows up.

Well this is my point.
Some people are saying that I am trying to cross a bridge that I haven't come to yet, but in reality, I have.

Sure, loose skin wont be a thing until I lose the weight, but NOW is the time to implement things that may (or may not) help. I'm not hard up - not wealthy either - but I can absolutely afford a year supply of GH/Tesa/Ipa. Increasing autophagy by fasting also.

Plus there's other benefits to it too. My recent IGF test shows me at the bottom of the normal range (10.7 nmol/L). In fact, at 38 I am in the 50+ year old range - likely obesity has something to do with it. There's also a possibility that my endogenous GH is even lower, as the reason I got the recent test was due to it showing up extremely low back in 2024 and my TRT doc pointed it out and said could be potential pituitary failure. I was on Tesa/Ipa for a few weeks and only stopped it a week or less before the test. So while the Ipa may not have influenced the result, apparently the Tesa may have if taken for 4+ weeks and then tested within 10 days or so of stopping - which I believe was the case.

Anyway - I'm probably adding more Tesa/Ipa very soon because even if we assume my low normal result is accurate, I could absolutely benefit from a bit more. Plus, Tesa/Ipa will compliment natural pulsation. Exogenous GH will shut down my natural production, and is more likely to bring side effects (GH to be reconsidered later in the fat loss journey).

I've accepted that surgery is happening. I just want to TRY to reduce the hideousness of it while I wait to get the surgery.

I have started a progress thread for anyone interested: Mushy's [Reta] Fat Loss Progress

 

[sionnach]

Sounds like you've got a plan. I'll check out the other thread.

 

[Liter O' Test]

Well this is my point.
Some people are saying that I am trying to cross a bridge that I haven't come to yet, but in reality, I have.

Sure, loose skin wont be a thing until I lose the weight, but NOW is the time to implement things that may (or may not) help. I'm not hard up - not wealthy either - but I can absolutely afford a year supply of GH/Tesa/Ipa. Increasing autophagy by fasting also.

Plus there's other benefits to it too. My recent IGF test shows me at the bottom of the normal range (10.7 nmol/L). In fact, at 38 I am in the 50+ year old range - likely obesity has something to do with it. There's also a possibility that my endogenous GH is even lower, as the reason I got the recent test was due to it showing up extremely low back in 2024 and my TRT doc pointed it out and said could be potential pituitary failure. I was on Tesa/Ipa for a few weeks and only stopped it a week or less before the test. So while the Ipa may not have influenced the result, apparently the Tesa may have if taken for 4+ weeks and then tested within 10 days or so of stopping - which I believe was the case.

Anyway - I'm probably adding more Tesa/Ipa very soon because even if we assume my low normal result is accurate, I could absolutely benefit from a bit more. Plus, Tesa/Ipa will compliment natural pulsation. Exogenous GH will shut down my natural production, and is more likely to bring side effects (GH to be reconsidered later in the fat loss journey).

I've accepted that surgery is happening. I just want to TRY to reduce the hideousness of it while I wait to get the surgery.

I have started a progress thread for anyone interested: Mushy's [Reta] Fat Loss Progress

hgh is not anti aging

 

[krakmonkey]

hgh is not anti aging

yout hgh production reduces as you age, how is it not anti aging?

 

[krakmonkey]

Well this is my point.
Some people are saying that I am trying to cross a bridge that I haven't come to yet, but in reality, I have.

Sure, loose skin wont be a thing until I lose the weight, but NOW is the time to implement things that may (or may not) help. I'm not hard up - not wealthy either - but I can absolutely afford a year supply of GH/Tesa/Ipa. Increasing autophagy by fasting also.

Plus there's other benefits to it too. My recent IGF test shows me at the bottom of the normal range (10.7 nmol/L). In fact, at 38 I am in the 50+ year old range - likely obesity has something to do with it. There's also a possibility that my endogenous GH is even lower, as the reason I got the recent test was due to it showing up extremely low back in 2024 and my TRT doc pointed it out and said could be potential pituitary failure. I was on Tesa/Ipa for a few weeks and only stopped it a week or less before the test. So while the Ipa may not have influenced the result, apparently the Tesa may have if taken for 4+ weeks and then tested within 10 days or so of stopping - which I believe was the case.

Anyway - I'm probably adding more Tesa/Ipa very soon because even if we assume my low normal result is accurate, I could absolutely benefit from a bit more. Plus, Tesa/Ipa will compliment natural pulsation. Exogenous GH will shut down my natural production, and is more likely to bring side effects (GH to be reconsidered later in the fat loss journey).

I've accepted that surgery is happening. I just want to TRY to reduce the hideousness of it while I wait to get the surgery.

I have started a progress thread for anyone interested: Mushy's [Reta] Fat Loss Progress

a replacement dose or even optimal GH levels of you in your 20s would shut you down in theory but GH also kicks back into production after a few days so there is little risk if your then worried about stopping GH

 

[Liter O' Test]

yout hgh production reduces as you age, how is it not anti aging?

what does anti aging mean to you

 

[setters]

Thanks for the reply.

For me, it's not a query on whether I can prevent lose skin (I'm going to get it), but rather how I can reduce it.

I'm 38, male and somewhere around 375lbs at 5ft 10 (180cm).
I was 410lbs at my heaviest about 1 year ago but wasnt at that weight for long. Got down to 370 with just a keto diet, but recently went up to 390lbs.

Currently taking Retatrutide, started 2 weeks ago, currently at 2mg/week but bumping up to 4mg in a few days.

From my research, it is my understanding that HGH and Secretagogues can help reduce the amount of lose skin I get, along with a topical called tretinoin.

Taken from my original post...
It's my understanding that HGH stimulates:

• IGF‑1 → increases fibroblast activity → promotes collagen + elastin synthesis in the dermis
• Protein synthesis + nitrogen retention → supports muscle growth, which helps "fill out" skin
• Cell turnover and skin thickness
• Improves hydration and dermal volume

The best thing you can do is lose slowly. The second best thing you can do is be young but you can’t control that one. I lost 70 pounds in my 20s and have zero loose skin. Was not an issue at all.

 

[krakmonkey]

what does anti aging mean to you

reversing aging affects to more optimal levels (which probably most have around their early 20s)

wether it's hormonal I.e. testosterone/gh production reducing over your life

visual i.e. skin