I know I have been missing in action for quite awhile, but I have some important information that I wanted to share with you all. People have asked me from time to time if there are any long-term or short-term dangers associated with taking Melanotan. I have always maintained that it is non-toxic to the human body as has been documented in the original Epitan Clincal Phase I/II trials. However, most of these safety trials were performed using the "melanotan-1" version of the drug, which is a linear polypeptide and only slightly different from the natural human a-MSH hormone. On the other hand, melanotan II is a more radical departure from the afore-mentioned polypeptide. This polypeptide is cyclic and it is this shape that enables it to bind more tightly to all of the melanocortin receptors than the linear version, which binds best to the melanocortin receptor (MC-1R) found on melanocyte cells.
 
Because melanotan II is a foreign substance to the body, it invokes an immune system response akin to an allergic reaction. Many of the so-called side-effects you have either heard about or experienced yourself are due to an abundant overdose of melanotan II in your blood. Wheezing, sneezing, congestion, facial flushing, and nausea are all possible symptoms. But your immune system must first be taught to recognize the melanotan II peptide before you might actually experience these side-effects ... which is why first time users usually don't have any adverse reactions. Upon first introduction (or perhaps over several events), your immune system produces a quantity of antibodies that are capable of recognizing the melanotan II peptide. These antibodies attach to the surfaces of Mast cells in the tissue and Basophils in the bloodstream. When next they encounter the specific foreign substance to which they were designed to detect, they release powerful chemicals such as histamine and heparin into the bloodstream. And it is this release of chemicals which causes the side-effects of the drug.
 
The degree to which the side-effects occur is directly proportional to how much peptide is in the bloodstream at one time. In the extreme case, anaphylactic shock is a possibility. This is a life-threatening condition characterized by swelling of body tissues, including the throat and hands, headache, uncontrollable itching, constriction of the airways and gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea, and a sudden drop in blood pressure. Since most of these dangers stem from the release of the amino acid derivative, histamine, by cells of the immune system, it is my suggestion that some form of anti-histamine be used as a preventive for those people who are especially sensitive to taking melanotan II. Just as well, much lower concentrations of the injected drug would also lessen the side-effects. For those taking notes, extrapolation of this principle out to its limits explains why a slow-release formulation of the drug is so invaluable and so necessary.
 
There are several types of anti-histamine on the market today including Zyrtec, Allegra, Claritin, Clarinex, and Benadryl. But these drugs can be divided into 1st generation and 2nd generation types. Older drugs such as Benadryl are less selective to the Histamine (H1) receptor and thus, generally cause certain side-effects such as drowiness and/or dizziness and dry mouth. In fact, many over-the-counter sleep aids contain the same active ingredients as Benadryl. The newer 2nd generation anti-histamines are far more selective to H1 and have an improved tolerability profile. The anti-histamine thought to work best is Zyrtec and Allegra. Allegra is non-sedating while Zyrtec may cause some drowiness in certain individuals. Claritin and Clarinex are minimally sedative.
 
In order to achieve the protection afforded by the anti-histamine, you will want to take it about 45-60 minutes before delivery of melanotan II. What you will achieve by doing this is a blocking of the Histamine receptors such that when Histamine is released into the bloodstream due to an allergen response, it has no where to attach and you will thus ward off an allergic reaction.
 

Excellent info Endy.  We all had a hunch that this may be the case, but were hoping it was not.
 
Hence a glaring question..  if we build up antibodies to melanotan II, does that not mean with time the melanotan II antibody concentration will increase to the point of making melanotan II ineffective?    Will we build up a tolerance, so to say, to melanotan II and have to take a higher dose to get the same results?  If so, is there a way to stop this from happening?

Hi Endy,
 
I agree with you in large part that the body could make antibodies to anything.  However, you say that first time users are the ones who don't experience side effects, and that the longer term users are the ones who report side effects.  
 
In my experience of observing many logs, most of the success stories here reported side effects from the initial shot (flushing, cramping, etc).  However, most of those people got away from the side effects with time.  
 
I took Melanotan before my trial with melanotan II and had the worst flushing.  Much worse than I experienced using melanotan II.  Therefore, while I think your general theory has plenty of merit, it also has a lot of unexplained gaps.

Response to MSHie: In this case, your immune system is reacting as if it had an allergy to Melanotan. An allergy is an "exaggerated and sometimes harmful reaction to external substances, called allergens". In an allergic reaction, the immune system mistakenly identifies a harmless substance as a harmful one. For example, some people have allergies to grass, pollen, or dander from pets. The allergy does not go away with the build up of antibodies, but it does cause a reaction when the person comes into contact with these substances. So in this situation, the anitbodies are not binding to and neutralizing Melanotan, but they will induce an immune system response when activated.
 
Response to wmt: Hmmm, could be the result of other factors but too hard to tell on limited information. I don't think its a tolerance issue though. Do you have any side-effects at all? Have you tried other suppliers? If you do so, do not dose that high initially ... take it slow and see how you react. If you are not having any side-effects at all that would be special at this level of dosing.
 
Response to long2btan: I didn't quite say that ... I used the qualifier "usually" first-timers don't experience side effects. However, everybody responds differently and to varying degrees as not all immune systems are alike. Most people who do experience bad side-effects will probably decrease their dosing levels and thus, their experiences may change for the better. But a good poll to take would be to ask if anybody kept their dosing levels constant and what was their side-effects profile during that period?
 
Melanotan is shaped differently from Melanotan II. It also has a slightly different sequence of amino acids and attaches almost exclusively to the MC-1R. For these reasons, the body's reaction to it will be different. Another possible factor for your differing reactions is ... what were your dosage levels with Melanotan vs. Melanotan II? They most definitely should not have been the same since mg for mg, the peptide count varies significantly by weight.
 
However, I am not ruling out that the immune system might first identify melanotan-1/II as an alergen and then over time perceive it as not so harmful. I will have to look into that a little more. There could be an increased tolerability to the Melanotan allergen with constant use.

Quote from endymion96 on 05/23/07 at 21:02:57:

Well, this is the theory behind immunotherapy, isn't it? Constant exposure to an allergen, slowly increasing the amounts over time, causes the body to become gradually more accustomed to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunotherapy#Allergies
 
I have a friendly immunologist who is very interested in melanotan II - I'll see if I can get in touch with him.

Bulletman -- I know you say you never had them before your trials, but don't forget there is a lot of things about your skin you didn't know about before you started taking melanotan II because you are paying such darn close attention to it now.  Trust me, I know.  Everything you notice now is new -- regardless of whether or not you had it before.  Also, the darkness contrast makes things visible that you couldn't have possibly seen before.  Finally, if you've been tanning in tanning beds it's possible you've contracted some tinea versicolor.  Not full blown -- but spots here and there.   I'm not trying to say you are completely wrong, I'm just saying there are other possible explanations that must be completely excluded before you conlcude that melanotan II is the culprit.  Before starting this trial, I never noticed those spots on me or anyone else for that matter.  However, now I can find paler spots and "white" spots here and there on the darker areas.  I see them on other people too.  
 
For everyone's sake I just hope you're wrong.  
 
There have been a few people on here who have taken it a long time and reported back with blood tests.  Thank goodness the few that have posted were positive.

If you don't believe me then tell me why antihistamines work to relieve side-effects like facial flushing. I'm not saying I'm the be all end all, but I do have 4 years of experience with this drug. Also, many of the side-effects fit the bill including how soon they come on and subside. A simple blood test would prove my point absolutely. I've had 2 done recently.
 
Although its true I'm not an MD, I have been studying in the fields of Immunology, Biochemistry, and dabbling in Dermatology for a few years. My degrees are in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, but I am working on the Biochem degree currently ... which is part of the reason I'm not around much these days.

This is a very interesting topic and should be looked at further.  Although, I am a bit confused by the title, "Overdosin".  I would assume that if you are going to have an allergic reaction to the melanotan II that it will happen regardless of the quantity you take.  The symptoms may be less with a lesser amount and more with a greater amount but I don't understand what this has to do with overdosing?
I have had some similar reactions before, runny nose, itchy eyes, even some times I have felt like I had a full blown cold coming on.  The strange thing is that this happens randomly and not every time or started at a certain point or started from the beginning and then went away.  I have had this reaction probably 5 to 15 times out of, oh my gosh, ahhh, over 100 injections?  The first time it happened I remember that it was at the beginning of a new batch of melanotan II so I though it may have been something in the melanotan II.  But then later I had this happen to me from a batch that I had already been taking but did not have that effect.  However, in recollection, I got the allergy type effect when I was taking that same batch after having missed for some time.  The melanotan II had sat in my fridge for an extended period.  The melanotan II still worked but it did give me a very runny, stuffed up nose, having a cold kind of feeling that went away the next morning.
I would think that there are multiple possibilities here, reaction to the melanotan II itself and possibly a reaction to some build up of bacteria in the melanotan II.  Note that it is near impossible for the melanotan II to have zero bacteria in it.  Labs, in different countries, do need to abide by production procedures that limit the total amount of bacteria that can be in any compound.  For example, it may be something like "less than 50EU/mg".  This is an extremely small amount but given the right conditions even this can grow.  This of course brings up a whole other reason for great care in storing and transportation of the melanotan II.
It would be a good idea for people who are experiencing any cold or allergy type symptoms to report here:
To the best of your knowledge, how old is your melanotan II
Who is your supplier
What are your symptoms
How are you storing your melanotan II
Do you have these symptoms every time?
If not, did they have a starting or stopping point?
Did they coincide with any particular batch?
Because these symptoms, at least for me, if and when I get them, appear to come and go with the half life of the melanotan II, I would say it is definitely some kind of allergic reaction that I have had.  I will try some antihistamine next time it happens.
Thanks for bringing this up endymion and it is great to hear from you again.

Bullet -- couple more things.  I just read your original post and can already say one thing with almost 100% certainty.  If you honestly think that before you got tan you had not a single white spot (or ligher spots) on your body, I'm bold enough to say you're wrong.  I have not seen a single person yet when looking with close inspection that doesn't have white spots or spots with ligher pigmentation than the majority of their skin.  I look at people of all colors now and see white or lighter spots randomly on virtually all of them.  Would I (or they) have ever noticed before I actually started looking, absolutely not.  If you would have asked me 2 months ago if I had white spots, I would have said no.  I would have been wrong.  
 
It's defintiely more severe on some people, but seems to be a phenomenon present on most people.  
 
Couple of questions.  How long have you been taking melanotan II?  How much do you take each time?  How much bac water do you use per shot?  Are you still taking it?

Hi Bullet -- thanks for the info.  I'll leave that subject alone and pick up on a more relevent subject.  What are the methods you're using to correct those spots??