Q: “What’s the best way to use Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG)?”
Blog Entry #20
By Admin – Steroidal.com
A: Firstly, HCG is a peptide hormone used mainly in fertility for both men and women. HCG mimics luteinizing hormone (LH) in males and females in the body. In females HCG stimulates the release of progesterone, which is a very important hormone for pregnancy. In males, it mimics LH levels, which are responsible primarily for testosterone production. In the medical community males are given HCG to treat hypogonadism (low testosterone). HCG is injected via an intramuscular injection or subcutaneous which then go on to stimulate the leydig cells for testosterone synthesis and steroli cells for steroidogenisis.
This is all applicable because when anabolic steroids are used, they will stop the pituitary from secreting LH, thus rendering the testes dormant and dysfunctioning from no direct stimulation. HCG can then be used during the steroid cycle to prevent this testicular dysfunction. Although other drugs or supplement products may claim to stop “shutdown” occurring, they are ineffective and do not directly stimulat the testes like HCG does.
HCG can therefore be used at a low dose for the duration of the steroid cycle to maintain testicular size and function. We believe at Steroidal.com that this is the best way to use HCG – on cycle. 125-500ius can be injected two to three times weekly. As well as causing a rise in natural testosterone after HCG administration, testicular estrogen and progesterone can rise causing side effects, so combine its use with an aromatase inhibitor, such as, Aromasin or Arimidex.
The second method of using HCG, is to use it during post cycle therapy (PCT), or to correct the testes and bring them back online due to “shutdown” or not being stimulated on cycle. This may occur when HCG is not used at all during the steroid cycle lasting more than 4-6 weeks. Using HCG like this is for treating a problem that’s occurred because adequate planning has not go into using it as a preventative drug (used on cycle). A larger initial HCG dosage would be needed to shock the testes into producing testosterone again. HCG doses of 1,000-2,500ius can be used two to three days apart. This is because every day or every other day HCG use is not as effective. PCT is often not just HCG alone, an AI is often used to control excess estrogen and selective-estrogen-receptor modulator (SERM), such as, Tamoxifen or Clomid to help kick start the bodies own LH.
Organon makes one of the most popular and easily obtainable HCG products called Pregnyl. This comes both in a 1,500iu and 5,000 vials. Pregnly, the same as all HCG, needs to be reconstituted with sterile water. Pregnyl comes with this sterile water to make mixing easy. Due to instability, after reconstitution, HCG needs to be refrigerated and will last to around 45 days before losing potency. However, recent research has claimed that it can also be frozen prolonging its life expectancy.
So to recap:
- HCG used on cycle at 125-500ius two to three times per week split evenly, injected IM or subcutaneous + an AI
- HCG used during or leading to PCT at 1,000-2,500ius every two to three days + an AI + SERM
For more information on HCG click here and more information on PCT, click here.