Steroids Source Talk | Anabolic Steroid Forum - View Single Post - IGF-1 LR3 Overview

admin · #3 (**permalink**) 12-09-2015, 08:13 PM

Sterility
Without a doubt, sterility is a major concern with injections. You have to be conscious of bacteria and other infectious agents at all times when performing injections or other procedures that require sterility (such as reconstitutions and making 0.6% AA).

Bacteria (and viruses, and spores, etc) are invisible to the naked eye. Yet they are everywhere. It is very important that you acquire sterile alcohol prep pads (make sure it says ***8220;sterile***8221; before you buy them). They are extremely cheap and effective.

Wash your hands! Before attempting anything requiring sterile technique, wash your hands and dry them with a clean paper towel (not the dirty towel hanging in the bathroom!). For optimal sterility, you may purchase exam gloves (latex or non-latex) and, after putting them on, you can dump some isopropyl alcohol (IPA) onto them and rub your hands together thoroughly. Now you really have sterile hands. Exam gloves are very inexpensive as is the bottle of IPA. IPA can be purchased for ~$1/bottle in the grocery store where the band-aids and whatnot.

I recommend you use a fresh syringe for each injection. Yes, some choose to use one syringe, but my feeling is that the syringes are so inexpensive and the risk of cross-contamination from one injection site to the other isn***8217;t worth the risk. Furthermore, every time your syringe needle has to penetrate something (rubber stoppers in vials, skin, etc) it dulls the tip. Thus, maximum comfort is also achieved with fresh syringes.

This topic of ***8220;one or two syringes***8221; can be argued, but if it***8217;s your first time, play it safe and get off to a great start by using 2!

Pre-injection Aspiration
Pre-injection aspiration is what you do after the needle has penetrated the muscle. You must gently and slightly pull back on the needle***8217;s plunger to see if you have hit a vein/artery.

Either of two things will happen upon aspiration: A) bubbles/air and/or clear liquid will appear in the syringe (this is good), or B) blood will appear (bad).

If A) occurs, proceed with your injection. If B) occurs, then simply withdraw the needle, and re-pin a different location in that same muscle. You do NOT want to inject your solution into a vein/artery! This may result in very serious consequences. Don***8217;t worry, you can avoid this by simply aspirating slightly. Have faith in yourself.

Injection Procedure
First, do not get all worked up over injecting IGF-1. Easier said than done, I know. But the reality is, the insulin syringes are extremely gentle. Also, millions of people around the world, including women and children, use these syringes daily to treat Diabetes. So you know it can***8217;t be that bad (seriously)! I highly recommend watching a couple videos on youtube regarding intramuscular (IM) injections to get a general idea of how they***8217;re done if you***8217;ve never witnessed them!

Back-Loading With Bacteriostatic Water (BW)
Back-loading is a process in which you dilute the IGF-1/AA solution that is in your syringe. The point is to dilute the acidity to a point that it will no longer cause tissue necrosis (death/damage) or pain upon injection. It is recommended to dilute no less than 4:1 (4 parts BW to 1 part IGF-1/AA).

Example: If you are injecting 40mcg bilat, IM, you will have two syringes each with 20mcg IGF-1. Assume you want to draw 2 IU IGF-1. You will draw 2 IUs of the IGF-1/AA solution, then draw 2x4 = 8 IUs of BW (four times the amount of IGF-1/AA solution). The total number of IUs in each syringe will be 2 + 8 = 10 IUs. It will not hurt you if you decide to back-load with more BW. It is a personal preference.

***Use my Excel-based ***8220;IGF-1***8221; calculator to determine how many IUs you will need for a particular insulin syringe (1cc, 0.5cc, 0.3cc).

Recommended Best Injection Method: Injecting bilaterally, post workout, intramuscularly (Bilat, PWO, IM)

Items you will need
1. Alcohol prep pads
2. 2 insulin syringes
3. Bacteriostatic water (BW)
4. Optional: exam gloves
5. Optional: IPA (to rub gloves with and to clean the surrounding area)

Injection Directions
1. Wash your hands thoroughly
2. Optional: put on exam gloves and rub with IPA until dry
3. Using an alcohol swab, clean the tops of both the IGF-1 vial and the BW vial.
4. Using a fresh alcohol swab, thoroughly clean the injection sites (let dry)
5. Fill each syringe with the appropriate amount of IGF-1/AA solution
a. Do NOT touch the needles to anything but sterile surfaces!
b. It is recommended that you clean/sanitize the area/surfaces you***8217;re working in, in case you mindlessly touch a needle to a table (or other area).
6. Back-loading: Draw up the necessary amount of BW into each syringe.
a. Tilt the needle up and down so the bubble(s) rise and fall, which mixes the solution slightly
7. With the needle pointing up, flick the syringe body to get the bubbles to rise to the needle
8. Slowly expel the air; be careful to not quirt liquid out as this wastes IGF-1
a. It takes >3mL of air to cause harm; small volumes of accidentally injected air will most likely be absorbed by muscle tissue
9. Insert syringe and aspirate by slightly pulling up on the plunger to see if you have hit a vessel. If you see blood, remove needle, and try again (no need to change syringes). If you do NOT see blood, proceed to inject.
10. Perform ***8220;7.***8221; thru ***8220;9***8221; above on other side.
11. Discard sharps in appropriate container

Glossary

Acetic Acid (AA): An acid that, when diluted to 0.6%, will act as a preservative for your IGF-1. An off-the-shelf version of 5% AA is distilled white vinegar; your IGF-1 may be supplied in acetic acid (usually 0.6%)

Aspiration: The technique of checking to see if your inserted needle is in a blood vessel. It is performed by gently pulling up on the syringe plunger until you either see bubbles/air/clear liquid, or blood. If you see blood, remove needle, and re-try the insertion.

Back-loading: The process of diluting your IGF-1/AA with bacteriostatic water, prior to injection. The purpose is to dilute the acidity of the AA so it doesn***8217;t cause tissue damage and so it doesn***8217;t cause injection burn/discomfort.
A. Draw desired amount of IGF-1/AA solution
B. Back-load with BW: draw desired amount of BW

Bacteriostatic Water (BW): This is water for injection (sterile) that has benzoyl alcohol (BA) added to it to ward of contamination. You use BW to dilute your IGF-1/AA solution prior to injection (aka, ***8220;back-loading***8221.

Bilateral Injection (bilat): An injection which involves the administration of IGF-1 in equal amounts to each side of the body. If you are injecting 40mcg IGF-1 into the biceps bilaterally, you will be injecting 20mcg into each bicep (left & right side).

Distilled Water: Has virtually all of its impurities removed through distillation. Distillation involves boiling the water and then condensing the steam into a clean cup, leaving nearly all of the solid contaminants behind. This is NOT sterile water. It can be purchased in any grocery store in the ***8220;water***8221; isle.

Endogenous: Substances that originate from within an organism, tissue, or cell. It is the opposite of exogenous

Exogenous: Refers to an action or object coming from outside a system. It is the opposite of endogenous.

IM: Intramuscular; typically refers to the type of injection where you inject a substance directly into muscle tissue

IGF-1 lr3: A peptide that is responsible for new muscle tissue development; it is synthetic and has a much longer circulatory life than endogenous IGF-1

Lyophilized: The form in which IGF-1 is typically supplied; this is a freeze-dried protein which is performed in a vacuum; appearance may range from a fine, loose white powder, to a white solid ***8220;paste***8221;-type substance

PWO: Post Work Out; refers to the time period when the administration of IGF-1 is thought to be the most effective (immediately PWO).

Reconstitution: The addition of 0.6% acetic acid to lyophilized IGF-1r3 to get it into solution. Typically one reconstitutes using 1mL or 2mL of acetic acid, yielding 1mg/mL or 2mg/mL of IGF-1/AA.

Sub-q: Subcutaneous; typically refers to the type of injection where you inject a substance under the skin; this results in systemic distribution of substances.