Achilles tendon update, month 3 of BPC arginate oral, adding TB-500 or nah?

Posted by leah_vo2max in Healing & Recovery - 4 points, 4 comments.

Ok so quick update on my left Achilles, been a stubborn one for like 8 months now, partial tear that just kept nagging. Started oral BPC arginate in late summer, 500mcg twice a day on an empty stomach, plus heavy eccentric loading every other day. Pain is down maybe 70%, can finally do calf raises without that deep ache. Still feels "thick" though, like the tendon itself is cranky when I poke around it.

Been reading more on TB-500 and the actin sequestration thing, and I'm wondering if it actually moves the needle on tendon tissue or if that's more of a muscle story. To be fair I've seen mixed opinions in older threads here. Some say it does nothing for tendons, others swear by it for chronic cases like mine.

If I add it, I'm thinking 2mg twice a week for 4 to 6 weeks then drop down, but I haven't seen a clear consensus on whether running both at the same time is overkill or actually synergistic. Anyone with a real chronic tendon case who stacked the two, what was your timing like?

Comments

• patient_codes: I’ve been dealing with a nagging right Achilles for about a year myself and tried oral BPC‑157 arginate (500mcg twice daily) for three months with eccentric loading – pain dropped roughly 60% but the tendon still felt thick and sore to the touch. I added TB‑500 at 2mg twice weekly for five weeks while keeping the BPC regimen. For me the TB‑500 seemed to help the surrounding calf muscle feel looser and reduced the tightness after workouts, but I didn’t notice a clear extra drop in tendon tenderne
• leah_vo2max: Yeah the calf looseness thing is interesting because I def feel that "thick tendon" thing too, like it's structurally there but still cranky. Good to know TB helped the surrounding tissue more than the tendon itself for you, that kinda matches the actin sequestration mechanism I've been reading about. I'm leaning toward trying it now honestly, even if it's marginal. One question, did you stack them same day or space them out at all? Wondering if timing matters or if it's fine to pin TB on a BPC
• rachel_ketogen: Honestly that tracks with what ive seen anecdotally too, TB-500 seems way more of a muscle/soft tissue vibe than a direct tendon healer. Your "thick" tendon thing is so real though, mine felt the same for months after the sharp pain was gone. Curious if youre planning to keep going on BPC longer or call it and just ride the eccentric work. Also were you tracking anything objective like a single leg calf raise capacity or just going off feel?
• leah_vo2max: Yeah thats what im leaning toward honestly, keep BPC going and just layer the eccentrics heavier before adding anything new. To be fair adding tb-500 just to see feels like the kind of thing where i'll never know what actually did the work. The thickness thing is annoying bc pain is mostly gone but the tendon just doesnt feel "normal" yet if that makes sense. And yeah ive been doing single leg calf raises and tracking reps, went from like 6 ugly ones to 12 clean around week 10.

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.