What you need, and how to mix it
The kit for turning a vial of freeze-dried powder into something you can measure a dose from, and the order to do it in.
What you need
Five things cover it. The last two are only for people dosing from a reusable pen.
Peptide vial
Freeze-dried powder
What you are mixing. It arrives as a dry cake in the bottom of the vial.
Bacteriostatic water
Usually a 30 mL vial
The liquid you mix in. The 0.9% benzyl alcohol in it is what lets a mixed vial keep for weeks. Plain sterile water and saline are not the same thing.
Mixing syringe
3 mL barrel, 23G × 1 inch, Luer-lock
Draws the water and adds it to the powder. The wide barrel measures millilitres properly, and the longer needle reaches the bottom of a water vial.
See an example listingDosing syringe
1 mL, 32G × 5/16 inch (8 mm)
Draws and injects the dose. Marked in 100 units, which is what the calculator gives you. The short, very fine needle is for subcutaneous use.
See an example listingAlcohol prep pads
70% isopropyl, individually wrapped
One fresh pad per stopper, every time, and one for the skin. Buy far more than you think you need.
See an example listingOnly if you use a pen
Pen needles
32G × 4 mm
Screw onto the pen for each injection. One per injection — they are single use.
See an example listingPen cartridges
3 mL sterile glass, empty
Mix into the cartridge, then load it into a reusable pen instead of drawing every dose with a syringe.
See an example listingAlso worth having: a rigid sharps container, and more alcohol pads than you expect to use. The links point at the exact items this guide was written around.
Mixing a vial
Read it through once before you start. The only step you cannot undo is how much water goes in.
- 1
Let the vial reach room temperature
Take it out of the fridge about 20 minutes before you start. Wash your hands and clear a clean, flat surface.
- 2
Work out the water volume first
Decide the volume before a needle goes near the vial — it sets your concentration, and you cannot change it afterwards. Use the calculator to pick a volume that puts your dose on an easy number of units.
- 3
Wipe both stoppers
A fresh alcohol pad on the peptide vial's stopper, another on the water's. Let them air dry — a wet stopper drags alcohol into the vial.
- 4
Draw the water
Put the 23G needle on the 3 mL syringe and draw your measured volume of bacteriostatic water. Flick out any large air bubbles.
- 5
Add it slowly, down the glass
Angle the needle so the water runs down the inside wall of the vial rather than jetting onto the powder. Let the vacuum pull it in; do not force the plunger.
- 6
Swirl — never shake
Roll or swirl the vial gently, or set it down and wait. Most powders dissolve in one to three minutes. It should end up clear, with nothing floating in it.
- 7
Label it right away
Write the concentration and the date you mixed it on the vial. The calculator prints label text you can copy.
- 8
Store it cold
Mixed vials live in the fridge, roughly 2–8 °C, not in the door. Keep them out of light.
- 9
Draw each dose with a clean needle
Wipe the stopper again, draw your units with the 1 mL syringe, and push the air out. With a pen, fill a cartridge instead and fit a fresh pen needle for every injection.
- 10
Put sharps in a sharps container
Never re-cap and reuse a needle, and never put one in household rubbish. A rigid sharps bin costs a few dollars.
If something looks wrong
Cloudy, or bits floating. A properly mixed vial is clear. Cloudiness, strands or specks that will not dissolve mean something is wrong with the vial or the water. Do not use it.
Foam on top. Usually just shaking or a fast squirt. Let it stand for a few minutes and it settles.
Still powder after ten minutes. Swirl again and give it longer. Warmth from your hand helps. Never heat it.
The units come out tiny. Your concentration is too high to measure accurately — more water next time. The calculator flags that before you mix.