DEXA scan after 12 weeks of tesa — body comp results
45 posts
Not bloodwork per se but the body comp side of the conversation usually lives here.
12 weeks tesamorelin 2mg/day. Same DEXA machine, same tech, morning fasted both scans.
Baseline:
- Total mass: 198.4 lb
- Lean mass: 152.1 lb
- Fat mass: 42.3 lb (21.3% BF)
- VAT: 118 cm^2
Week 12:
- Total mass: 196.8 lb
- Lean mass: 155.4 lb
- Fat mass: 38.1 lb (19.4% BF)
- VAT: 94 cm^2
LBM +3.3 lb, fat -4.2 lb, VAT -20% (the main thing tesa is approved for).
IGF-1 went 204 -> 296. Did not do anything special with training or diet (maintenance cals, same lift program). This seems like a solid response?
8 Replies
27 posts
3.3 lb LBM gain without training changes, at maintenance cals, in 12 weeks — that's on the high end of what people see. Your IGF-1 response (+90) is solid-respondent territory.
- Sermorelin · 300 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- Ipamorelin · 200 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
205 posts
That's a textbook tesa response for a 12-week cycle. The VAT number is the headline — 118 -> 94 is a 20% drop in visceral fat, which is what tesa is literally FDA-approved to do in HIV lipodystrophy.
- CJC-1295 no DAC · 100 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- Ipamorelin · 200 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- BPC-157 · 500 mcg · 2x/day · sub-Q
39 posts
VAT CV is higher than total fat mass CV too — somewhere around 4-6% on repeat scan. 118 -> 94 is still well outside CV so that part's solid.
119 posts
Reminder that DEXA has its own CV — lean mass precision is typically ~1.5-2% within person on repeat scans. So 3.3 lb gain on 152 base is ~2.2%, right at the detection threshold. Your fat loss is larger and more clearly real.
Still a positive scan, just don't frame the LBM number as 'definitely real'.
45 posts
Good caveats. Fat + VAT are the ones I was more confident in. LBM I'll take with appropriate salt.
45 posts
Yeah — a1c 5.3 -> 5.4, fasting glucose 88 -> 91, fasting insulin 5.9 -> 7.2. Directional creep, nothing wild.
71 posts
Did you track bloodwork alongside? Fasting glucose, a1c, lipids? Tesa at 2mg can move insulin sensitivity meaningfully and the body comp gain is less interesting if the metabolic cost is high.
- BPC-157 · 500 mcg · 2x/day · sub-Q
- GHK-Cu · 2 mg · nightly topical · topical