Field Guides / Guide 19

The Peptide Dictionary

Every term this space throws at beginners, defined in one place — units, apparatus, protocol words, and the jargon that makes forums unreadable.

This space has a vocabulary problem — three different unit systems, apparatus jargon, and forum shorthand, all assumed knowledge. Here's the whole dictionary. Skim it once; return whenever a term bounces.

Units (the ones that cause 10× errors)

• mg (milligram) — what's printed on the vial: total peptide inside.
• mcg (microgram) — what protocols dose in. 1 mg = 1,000 mcg. The single most important conversion on this site: reading mg where a protocol says mcg is a 1,000× error, and a slipped decimal in the syringe math is the classic 10× error — the calculator exists to prevent both.
• "Units" (on a syringe) — volume marks on a U-100 insulin syringe: 100 units = 1 ml. Units measure liquid drawn, NOT peptide — how much peptide is in your units depends entirely on how much water you mixed.
• IU (international unit) — a potency measure used for some hormones (HGH historically). Almost nothing on this site doses in IU; if a source does, that's a conversion conversation, not an assumption.

Apparatus

• Bacteriostatic (bac) water — sterile water + 0.9% benzyl alcohol; the preservative is why a mixed vial lasts ~4 weeks instead of days.
• U-100 insulin syringe — the standard dosing tool: 29–31 gauge, half-inch or shorter, 100 units = 1 ml.
• Septum — the rubber stopper you draw through. Wipe it every time.
• Lyophilized — freeze-dried. The stable powder form peptides ship in.
• Sharps container — where every needle goes, no exceptions.

Protocol words

• Reconstitution — adding water back to powder (the guide).
• SubQ (subcutaneous) — injection into the fat layer; the route for nearly everything here. IM (intramuscular) — deeper, rarely needed (why).
• Protocol — the full plan: compounds, doses, schedule, duration. Yours prints from the Protocol Builder.
• Stack / program — compounds run together on purpose (the logic).
• Cycle — a defined run with a start and end (8–24 weeks here), often followed by reassessment.
• Titration — climbing a dose ladder step by step; the GLP-1 class's law (planner).
• Loading phase — a short higher-frequency start some compounds use (the tanning peptides, TB-500 historically).
• 5 on / 2 off — five days dosing, two days rest, weekly (GHK-Cu's rhythm).
• Course — a fixed short run repeated periodically (epithalon's 15 days, 1–2× a year).
• Half-life — how long a compound stays active; why some things dose daily and the GLP-1s dose weekly.

Compound-class jargon

• GH axis / secretagogue — the system (and the compounds that stimulate it) governing your natural growth-hormone pulse (the head-to-head).
• GHRH analog vs GHRP — the two sides of that stimulation: "release more per pulse" (CJC-1295, sermorelin) vs "pulse more" (ipamorelin) — why the blend exists.
• GLP-1 / GIP / glucagon agonists — the weight-compound mechanisms; one, two, or all three is the sema/tirze/reta difference (compared).
• Blend — multiple compounds in one vial, mixed once, drawn once (Glow, Klow, BPC/TB).
• Research chemical / RUO — the legal category everything here occupies: legal to buy for research, not FDA-approved for human use.
• COA — Certificate of Analysis; the only quality control that exists (how to read one).
• The Wolverine stack — forum name for BPC-157 + TB-500, the recovery pairing this site runs as a blend.
• PCT (post-cycle therapy) — a steroid-world recovery concept; the reason you won't find a PCT page here is the whole point.

Anything still unclear, ask the AI — defining terms mid-conversation is exactly what it's for.

Research protocols, not a prescription — talk to a physician before touching anything.