Peptide therapy in San Diego
Peptides are short chains of amino acids — the same building blocks as proteins, in much smaller strings. The body uses them constantly as signalling molecules; insulin is a peptide, and so are several well-established medicines.
The category marketed as "peptide therapy" is a different and much broader thing, and it is one where an honest page reads quite differently from most of what is online. This is that page.
What a peptide actually is
A signal. Peptides bind receptors and tell cells to do something — release a hormone, initiate a repair process, modulate an immune response. They are specific in a way that most supplements are not, which is precisely why several have become genuine medicines.
It also means the category is not one thing. Individual peptides differ from one another as much as any two unrelated drugs do, and a claim about "peptides" as a group is not a claim about anything.
⚠️ The regulatory position, stated plainly
Some peptides are FDA-approved medicines with established indications. Many marketed under "peptide therapy" are not — they are research compounds, or compounded preparations, and several have been the subject of specific FDA action restricting their use in compounding.
That position also changes. A compound available through a compounding pharmacy one year may not be the next.
So this page does not list compounds, does not claim outcomes, and does not tell you what you will be given. What is appropriate — if anything is — depends on your assessment, your goals and the regulatory status of the specific compound at the time you are seen. Anyone publishing a fixed menu with a list of benefits attached is telling you something they cannot know.
What the consultation covers
What you are actually trying to solve, in specific terms rather than as a general goal
Full medical history, current medications and supplements
Whether a conventional, established treatment addresses the same thing — because frequently one does
Whether blood work is needed before anything is considered
What is realistic, what is unproven, and what is not appropriate to offer at all
The claims we are not going to make
Peptide therapy is marketed for weight loss, muscle growth, injury recovery, sleep, cognition, immune function, skin quality and longevity. For most of those, for most compounds, the human evidence is either preliminary or absent.
We are not going to repeat those claims, and a clinic that lists them all is worth being skeptical about. If you have read something specific and want to know what is behind it, bring it to the consultation — that is a genuinely useful conversation and a better use of an appointment than a treatment chosen in advance.
When a conventional answer is the better one
A great deal of what people come to this category hoping to solve — fatigue, poor sleep, difficulty losing weight, slow recovery — has causes that are worth ruling out first, and treatments with far more evidence behind them.
If that is where the consultation lands, that is where it lands. The physician-supervised weight-management program and the hair, nutrition and wellness pages linked below cover several of the more common ones.
Questions about peptide therapy
What is peptide therapy?
Peptides are short chains of amino acids that act as signalling molecules, binding receptors and prompting a specific cellular response. "Peptide therapy" covers a wide range of individual compounds that differ from one another substantially, so it is not a single treatment with a single set of effects.
Are peptides FDA-approved?
Some are approved medicines with established indications. Many compounds marketed under peptide therapy are not, and several have been the subject of specific FDA action restricting their use in compounding. The position varies by compound and changes over time, which is why this is assessed at consultation rather than listed as a menu.
What does peptide therapy treat?
It is marketed for weight loss, recovery, sleep, cognition, immune function and skin quality. For most compounds and most of those uses the human evidence is preliminary or absent, and we do not repeat claims we cannot support. What may be appropriate for you is a consultation question.
Why do I need a consultation before peptide therapy?
Because the appropriate answer depends on what you are trying to solve, your medical history and medications, and the regulatory status of any specific compound at the time. Frequently a conventional treatment addresses the same problem with far more evidence behind it.
Is peptide therapy safe?
That depends entirely on the individual compound, and for compounds without established human data it cannot be answered confidently. This is the honest reason the assessment comes before anything else.
Related treatments
Board-certified — American Board of Internal Medicine
Last reviewed August 8, 2026
You are quoted before anything begins.
Tell us what you're considering and we'll tell you honestly whether peptide therapy is the right treatment for it.