Peptide Basics
What peptides are, their side effects, what therapy costs, and how compounding and the recent rule changes work.
How compounding pharmacies actually work, 503A, 503B, and why the rules differ by drug
A plain-English explainer of how compounding pharmacies work: what a compounded medication is, the difference between 503A patient-specific compounding and 503B outsourcing facilities, the ingredient lists that decide what a pharmacy can use, the drug-shortage exception (now closed for GLP-1s), and the questions to ask about any compounded product.
Is peptide therapy worth it? It depends entirely on which peptide
Peptide therapy is not one decision. For approved GLP-1 medicines like Wegovy and Zepbound the evidence and cost/benefit case is strong and well-documented; for peptides like BPC-157 the human evidence is thin and the real cost includes product-quality and safety unknowns. Here is how to think it through, including what users report.
How much does peptide and GLP-1 therapy cost in 2026? A sourced price index
What people actually pay for peptide and GLP-1 therapy in 2026, and why the same drug can cost a few hundred dollars or many thousands: dated, sourced prices for tesamorelin (Egrifta), Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and telehealth TRT, plus what drives the bill and what users say about cost.
Peptide side effects: what the evidence actually shows
A cross-therapy overview of peptide side effects: the documented, labeled risks of the approved GLP-1 drugs, the largely unknown human safety of research peptides, the contamination risk of unregulated injectables, and the side effects users most often report.
Are peptides legal? What each peptide's status actually means
A plain-English explainer of where BPC-157, TB-500, CJC-1295, tesamorelin, retatrutide and other peptides stand in the US as of October 12, 2026: what 'not FDA-approved', 'compounded', 'off-label', 'investigational' and 'research use only' mean, with one status line per substance. Not legal advice.
What are peptides? A plain-English guide to the science, the approved drugs, and the research peptides
Peptides are short chains of amino acids. Some carry full FDA approval and you already know them, insulin, and GLP-1 medicines like semaglutide. Others are unapproved 'research use only' compounds sold online. Here is the honest landscape, with sources.