Melanotan II - 6 week self-experiment log, full breakdown including the stuff nobody talks about
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2026 12:45 pm
okay so I've been sitting on this write-up for a while because I wanted to actually have enough data points before posting and also because honestly some of the sides I experienced made me want to think carefully about how I framed this. but after listening to the Huberman adjacent stuff on melanocortin receptors and doing a deep dive into some of the older Examine.com write-ups I feel like I have enough context to share this responsibly.
background on me: I'm a fairly experienced biohacker, been in the peptide space for about 3 years, I've run BPC-157, TB-500, some DSIP for sleep optimization, and a few nootropic peptides. I came to MT2 specifically because I was curious about the MC1R and MC4R receptor stuff, the photoprotection angle, and also honestly because I live in a climate where I get very little natural UV exposure for like 5 months of the year and I was concerned about the skin damage I might be doing cramming in UV during the summer to compensate. I framed this entire experiment through the lens of harm reduction which I think is the only intellectually honest way to approach it.
SOURCING
I sourced from Limitless Life Nootropics which I've used before for a few other peptides and found their QC documentation to be more thorough than most. They provide COAs and the reconstitution guides are solid. I've also seen them discussed favorably on the Optimized Geek community and a few reddit threads that aren't completely unhinged. I'm NOT going to say this is a recommendation because sourcing is deeply personal and everyone needs to do their own due diligence. quality varies wildly in this space and I've had bad experiences with vendors I won't name.
PROTOCOL
I started at 100mcg to assess tolerance which I cannot stress enough is the only sane way to start this compound. I had read too many horror stories of people going straight to 500-1000mcg and then having a terrible time. I kept it at 100mcg for the first week, EOD, subQ into the abdomen. BW-reconstituted at the standard concentration, kept refrigerated, used within 4 weeks.
week 1-2: 100mcg EOD
week 3-4: bumped to 200mcg EOD
week 5-6: stayed at 200mcg, moved to twice weekly as I felt I had reached a reasonable saturation point
I was doing 10-15 minute tanning bed sessions 2x per week during this period which is how most people run it for the tanning application. I want to be transparent that I'm not doing this to get extremely tan, more for the photoprotective hypothesis and the mood/libido adjacent effects I had read about.
THE POSITIVES - and there are genuinely compelling ones
okay so the tanning response is real and it is remarkable. like I cannot overstate how different the melanin response is compared to my baseline. I am naturally quite fair, Fitzpatrick type II, and I have NEVER been able to develop meaningful color from tanning bed exposure alone. within about 10-12 days of starting the protocol I started noticing color in a way that felt qualitatively different. by week 4 I had color that friends were commenting on and asking if I'd been on vacation. for someone who has literally never tanned this was kind of wild to experience.
the mood lift is real. I don't know if this is MC4R mediated or what exactly the mechanism is but there's a consistent subtle elevation in mood, kind of like a very mild microdose quality, not stimulating, just a sense of wellbeing that tracked with the dosing days. I've seen this discussed in terms of the melanocortin system's relationship to dopamine pathways and it makes sense from a systems biology perspective. Rhonda Patrick has touched on UV exposure and serotonin and I think there's something in that broader framework that connects.
appetite suppression was notable. I wasn't expecting this but it's a well documented MC4R effect and I definitely experienced it. actually made intermittent fasting easier on dosing days. for people who do metabolic protocols this might be an interesting ancillary effect.
THE NEGATIVES - and I want to be really thorough here
nausea. oh my god the nausea. this is the thing that nobody fully prepares you for at the beginning. even at 100mcg on my very first injection I had a solid 45 minutes of pretty significant nausea. it improved dramatically over the first two weeks, by week 3 it was essentially gone, but those first several doses were uncomfortable. I managed it by dosing at night before sleep which is the standard advice and it helped but didn't eliminate it.
flushing and facial redness. I had noticeable flushing on dosing days, particularly in the first few weeks. my face would get visibly red and warm for an hour or two post injection. not painful but noticeable and mildly annoying if you have anything social going on.
the libido effects were more pronounced than I anticipated and I want to flag this because I think it's underreported in terms of being potentially disruptive rather than just being a fun side effect. I'm a woman and the MC4R agonism stuff hits differently hormonally and it was intense enough in weeks 3-4 that it was actually kind of distracting. it modulated, thankfully.
moles. this is the big one and I would be doing everyone a disservice if I glossed over it. I had existing moles that noticeably darkened. I did baseline photography before starting specifically because I had read this was possible and I'm glad I did. none of them changed shape or border characteristics that I could identify, and I've since had a dermatologist look and everything came back fine, but this needs to be taken SERIOUSLY. if you have a history of atypical nevi or any melanoma family history I genuinely think the risk profile here is different and you should think very hard about whether this makes sense for you. the photoprotection argument starts to get complicated when you're also potentially stimulating melanocyte activity in existing lesions.
HONEST OVERALL TAKE
I think MT2 is one of the more interesting and also more double-edged peptides in the research space. the mechanism is genuinely fascinating, the tanning results are legit and I understand why people are drawn to it, but I think it gets undersold in terms of the complexity of its side effect profile and the mole issue in particular deserves way more airtime than it gets in most forum discussions.
would I run it again? probably for a shorter loading phase with better UV management rather than tanning beds. the tanning bed component adds UV damage variables that feel counterproductive to the harm reduction framing I started with and honestly Ben Greenfield's whole spectrum light work made me rethink artificial UV exposure in general.
happy to answer questions. I logged everything so I have pretty granular data if anyone wants specifics on timing or anything else.
background on me: I'm a fairly experienced biohacker, been in the peptide space for about 3 years, I've run BPC-157, TB-500, some DSIP for sleep optimization, and a few nootropic peptides. I came to MT2 specifically because I was curious about the MC1R and MC4R receptor stuff, the photoprotection angle, and also honestly because I live in a climate where I get very little natural UV exposure for like 5 months of the year and I was concerned about the skin damage I might be doing cramming in UV during the summer to compensate. I framed this entire experiment through the lens of harm reduction which I think is the only intellectually honest way to approach it.
SOURCING
I sourced from Limitless Life Nootropics which I've used before for a few other peptides and found their QC documentation to be more thorough than most. They provide COAs and the reconstitution guides are solid. I've also seen them discussed favorably on the Optimized Geek community and a few reddit threads that aren't completely unhinged. I'm NOT going to say this is a recommendation because sourcing is deeply personal and everyone needs to do their own due diligence. quality varies wildly in this space and I've had bad experiences with vendors I won't name.
PROTOCOL
I started at 100mcg to assess tolerance which I cannot stress enough is the only sane way to start this compound. I had read too many horror stories of people going straight to 500-1000mcg and then having a terrible time. I kept it at 100mcg for the first week, EOD, subQ into the abdomen. BW-reconstituted at the standard concentration, kept refrigerated, used within 4 weeks.
week 1-2: 100mcg EOD
week 3-4: bumped to 200mcg EOD
week 5-6: stayed at 200mcg, moved to twice weekly as I felt I had reached a reasonable saturation point
I was doing 10-15 minute tanning bed sessions 2x per week during this period which is how most people run it for the tanning application. I want to be transparent that I'm not doing this to get extremely tan, more for the photoprotective hypothesis and the mood/libido adjacent effects I had read about.
THE POSITIVES - and there are genuinely compelling ones
okay so the tanning response is real and it is remarkable. like I cannot overstate how different the melanin response is compared to my baseline. I am naturally quite fair, Fitzpatrick type II, and I have NEVER been able to develop meaningful color from tanning bed exposure alone. within about 10-12 days of starting the protocol I started noticing color in a way that felt qualitatively different. by week 4 I had color that friends were commenting on and asking if I'd been on vacation. for someone who has literally never tanned this was kind of wild to experience.
the mood lift is real. I don't know if this is MC4R mediated or what exactly the mechanism is but there's a consistent subtle elevation in mood, kind of like a very mild microdose quality, not stimulating, just a sense of wellbeing that tracked with the dosing days. I've seen this discussed in terms of the melanocortin system's relationship to dopamine pathways and it makes sense from a systems biology perspective. Rhonda Patrick has touched on UV exposure and serotonin and I think there's something in that broader framework that connects.
appetite suppression was notable. I wasn't expecting this but it's a well documented MC4R effect and I definitely experienced it. actually made intermittent fasting easier on dosing days. for people who do metabolic protocols this might be an interesting ancillary effect.
THE NEGATIVES - and I want to be really thorough here
nausea. oh my god the nausea. this is the thing that nobody fully prepares you for at the beginning. even at 100mcg on my very first injection I had a solid 45 minutes of pretty significant nausea. it improved dramatically over the first two weeks, by week 3 it was essentially gone, but those first several doses were uncomfortable. I managed it by dosing at night before sleep which is the standard advice and it helped but didn't eliminate it.
flushing and facial redness. I had noticeable flushing on dosing days, particularly in the first few weeks. my face would get visibly red and warm for an hour or two post injection. not painful but noticeable and mildly annoying if you have anything social going on.
the libido effects were more pronounced than I anticipated and I want to flag this because I think it's underreported in terms of being potentially disruptive rather than just being a fun side effect. I'm a woman and the MC4R agonism stuff hits differently hormonally and it was intense enough in weeks 3-4 that it was actually kind of distracting. it modulated, thankfully.
moles. this is the big one and I would be doing everyone a disservice if I glossed over it. I had existing moles that noticeably darkened. I did baseline photography before starting specifically because I had read this was possible and I'm glad I did. none of them changed shape or border characteristics that I could identify, and I've since had a dermatologist look and everything came back fine, but this needs to be taken SERIOUSLY. if you have a history of atypical nevi or any melanoma family history I genuinely think the risk profile here is different and you should think very hard about whether this makes sense for you. the photoprotection argument starts to get complicated when you're also potentially stimulating melanocyte activity in existing lesions.
HONEST OVERALL TAKE
I think MT2 is one of the more interesting and also more double-edged peptides in the research space. the mechanism is genuinely fascinating, the tanning results are legit and I understand why people are drawn to it, but I think it gets undersold in terms of the complexity of its side effect profile and the mole issue in particular deserves way more airtime than it gets in most forum discussions.
would I run it again? probably for a shorter loading phase with better UV management rather than tanning beds. the tanning bed component adds UV damage variables that feel counterproductive to the harm reduction framing I started with and honestly Ben Greenfield's whole spectrum light work made me rethink artificial UV exposure in general.
happy to answer questions. I logged everything so I have pretty granular data if anyone wants specifics on timing or anything else.