Instructions for Reconstituting Peptides
— How do you reconstitute proteins and peptides?
You never actually open the little bottles containing the protein/peptide or bacteriostatic water: instead you transfer bacteriostatic water by pushing a hypodermic needle through the rubber stopper (after having removed the protective metal cap), and drawing water out into the syringe.
What you do is draw out 1 or 2 ml of bac water from the bac water bottle, inject that into the bottle containing the dried protein/peptide, give it a shake to dissolve all the protein/peptide into the water, then draw that water back out again into the syringe, and then inject it into the bottle of bacteriostatic water.
So now all you protein/peptide is dissolved in the bacteriostatic water bottle. If you had say 5000 mcg of protein/peptide to begin with, and if your bac water bottle is 30 ml in size, you will now have 5000 ÷ 30 = 167 mcg of protein/peptide per ml in the bac water bottle.
If you search YouTube for "reconstituting peptides", you will see some videos showing how it is done. For example:
— What needles do you use (size, length) for injections?
I use very fine 30 gauge hypodermic needles which are only 0.3 mm thick (shown in the attached image). If you are using Luer Slip syringes, make sure you get the corresponding Luer Slip needles to go with them. As opposed to Luer Lock, which is an alternative system of connecting needle to syringe.
You can buy 30 gauge sterile needles here in the UK:
https://www.medisave.co.uk/search/?q=30+gauge+needle
In the US search here for needles:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=shop&q=30+gauge+needle
I find when you push the needle through the rubber stopper of the bac water + protein/peptide bottle, in order to draw out your dose for injection, surprisingly the rubber blunts the sharp edge of the needle at bit, which then makes it harder to push the needle cleanly into your skin.
So I use two needles, one to draw out the dose from the bac water bottle into the syringe, and then I change the needle on the syringe for a fresh one before injecting.
— Where do you inject?
A good place to inject is into subcutaneous fat on the belly, in the areas 2 inches left or right of the belly button.
— Where do you buy your bacterial sterile water/sterile vials?
The high-quality major brand is Hospira bacteriostatic water, so you can Google for websites which sell this. It the UK it can be quite expensive, eg, $15 for one 30 ml bottle.
In the UK I buy mine here:
https://www.bacteriostatic-water-uk.com
In the US you can buy here:
https://www.bacteriostaticwater.com/products/bacteriostatic-water-30ml
You can get plain bacteriostatic water or sodium chloride bacteriostatic water. However, sodium chloride is not recommended due to its tendency to cause precipitates with acetate salts.
— How do you store the bacteriostatic water containing the protein or peptide?
One you have reconstituted the dry protein or peptide with bacteriostatic water, it should be kept in the fridge (but try not to let the water freeze).
Hospira say that after reconstituting, their bacteriostatic water is safe for 28 days, before bacteria slowly builds up in the bac water bottle. Bacteriostatic water has an antibacterial preservative that slows bacterial growth, but eventually the bacteria will build up. However, I've sometimes kept reconstituted proteins/peptides for about 2 months in the fridge, and have injected them without apparent issue.
If you are going to try to extent the lifespan of these bacteriostatic water bottles in the fridge, I would suggest placing them in the coldest part of the fridge, where the temperature is below 5°C (below 5°C bacteria grow much more slowly). Next to the cooling element at the back of the fridge is typically around 5°C.
But try to make sure the liquid does not freeze, as this might be harmful to the protein or peptide (you can freeze dry lyophilised proteins/peptides, but once reconstituted by dissolving into water, freezing/thawing may stress and damage the protein/peptide).
I bought a digital fridge thermometer with max and min temperature recording, in order to ensure that the temperature in the area I stored my bacteriostatic water bottles was below 5°C, but remained above 0°C.
Another way to help reduce the bacterial levels in the bottle is to disinfect the rubber stopper with alcohol just before you push the hypodermic needle through the top. That helps prevent bacteria entering the bottle via the needle. I usually disinfect my rubber tops in this way before pushing in the needle.
