Peptides are short chains of amino acids prescribed individually after consultation and baseline labs. This is the part of the clinic where being precise about what is and is not established matters most, so that is where we start.
A peptide is a short chain of amino acids - shorter than a protein, long enough to act as a signalling molecule. Insulin is a peptide. So is the semaglutide class. The word covers an enormous range of very different compounds, which is why “peptide therapy” on its own describes a category rather than a treatment.
Some peptides are FDA-approved for specific indications. Many of the ones people come in asking about are not, and are prescribed off-label and dispensed through licensed compounding pharmacies. A subset have been placed on the FDA's restricted compounding lists and we will not source them at all. During your consultation we will tell you which of these three categories anything under discussion falls into, and what the evidence for it does and does not show.
Nothing is prescribed off a menu. You have a consultation, we draw baseline labs, and a clinician decides whether a peptide protocol is appropriate at all - including deciding that it is not. If it is, you get a written protocol naming the compound, the dose, the route, the duration, the pharmacy, the cost, and the date we re-test.
Peptide protocols are not appropriate during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and active or recent malignancy rules out several classes outright. Some peptides interact with medications you may already be taking. Bring your full medication list, including anything you buy over the counter, to the consultation - this is the single most useful thing you can do to make the appointment productive.
Baseline bloodwork before, and a repeat of the same panel on a set date after. Which markers depends on the protocol. The point of re-testing on a schedule is that it can come back unchanged, and if it does we would rather change the plan than sell you another cycle of it.
8306 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 777, Beverly Hills, CA 90211