Novel wellbeing and repair peptide use in the UK: Netnographic findings

Abstract

Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in synthetic peptides hormones promoted for wellbeing enhancement purposes, including BPC-157, TB-500 and CJC-1295. With these drugs increasingly accessible through online platforms such as e-commerce sites, this research seeks to understand user experiences of taking these drugs, and the ways in which digital forum spaces facilitate the development of a shared folk pharmacology and further indigenous harm reduction.

Data is drawn from a netnography of peptide-related forum posts, encompassing 493 unique threads totalling almost 15,000 posts. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.

Findings are split into two major sections, encompassing motivations for peptide use, and online folk pharmacology. In the first of these sections, findings explored include: Peptide use for the purposes of injury rehabilitation, including post-surgery recovery; Everyday wellbeing use of peptides, including for anti-ageing, with a particular focus on older men wishing to return to gym training for aesthetic and general health purposes; And the relationship between seeking black market peptides following negative experiences with healthcare providers for wellbeing-related issues.

In the second section, key themes relate to: Community knowledge exchange regarding use, including community distribution of harm reduction information; Community understandings of the limits to utility of peptides, and experiences of product not working as anticipated; And information sharing regarding product quality, and potential harms relating to ‘scam’ sellers and substituted or poor-quality product.

Conclusions show that an emergent folk pharmacology relating to peptides has developed in forum spaces, which informs and encourages use. Many older men appear to be taking peptides for everyday wellbeing purposes, suggesting a need for specific focus on this population in public health work. Issues with healthcare providers appeared to lead users to accessing black market peptides, suggesting specific education for healthcare practitioners around peptides may be important to pursue.