Illegal

Okay, back into one of those grey areas (oooo, see what I did there). That’s right: we’re talking peptides again. And this one feels important to share.

I’ve been on prescription Mounjaro, aka Tirzepatide, for over a year to manage my MODY diabetes. For those who don’t know: MODY is a rare, genetic form of diabetes. Not T1, not T2, something in between, but it still asks for a lot of the same treatment playbook. I don’t need insulin (yet!), and after four prescribed meds and one off-label one, I finally got my insurance to approve something that’s still early in proving itself for my specific type. Call me a rebel, but it works, and it’s always played nicely with my running life.

Since surgery, my blood sugar has been, what’s the medical term, oh yeah, wack. A full-on rollercoaster. I’ve gone strict on carbs, since I don’t need them the way I do when I’m active, and it’s still cray-cray. (Yes, I know the Oreos don’t help. I swear I eat very few.) I’ve also gone back to lifting heavy, which has stopped being optional as I watch my poor surgical leg dwindle toward bone.

So I did what any unchained soul who spends too much time in the grey market would do: I swapped my weekly Tirzepatide for Retatrutide. It does everything Tirz does, then it cranks up the metabolism, spares muscle, controls my blood sugar, and makes better use of carbs. Two and a half weeks in, it’s outperforming my trusty Tirz on every front. And then, today, Eli Lilly turned around and sued several of the vendors who sell it. They’d been content firing off cease-and-desist letters; now, after working with the FDA to lock down the coming patents and reclassify it, they’ve escalated to lawsuits. It’s been a whole storyline on the socials, with vendors freaking out and promising to go underground and/or pull Reta entirely.

Anyway: this is my blog, and I want to be honest about how I’m actually approaching this recovery. For me, these last two weeks have helped. I’m lifting heavier. I’m eating carbs without wrecking my poor pancreas. I’m sparing the muscle I can’t afford to lose. I’m sleeping like a baby, and I’ve got more energy. Will I stay on it? Genuinely don’t know. But for now, illegal suits me, and I’m not about to sabotage the progress I’ve fought this hard for.