HGH vs. CJC/IPA vs. Tesamorelin
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Hgh will replace your own stuff and shut down. So gotta keep taking it....If you decide to get off it you’ll be shut down and miserable until it recovers and maybe it doesn’t go back to the original baseline.
This isn't like axing your HPG axis by taking Test. If you had a healthy pituitary before, 'coming off' will usually be smooth and your natural endogenous amounts will kick back in quickly from what I'm reading and hearing.
@hunt_ak maybe I didn’t explain my thoughts that it does suppress and coming off will rebound naturally maybe that’s 3 days or week will those ranges originally still hold? If you’re a 20s something guy maybe it rebounds but a middle aged man who knows?
So if you’re middle aged and have a raw score of say 200ish if you try 2-3ius and see your igf surge to 300 and decide it’s not for you due to the hand pain or bloat, where does that leave you in your original good range?
That’s my question and I haven’t seen anyone post IGF ranges confirming this. I only see the general idea that it rebounds in 48-72hours. Maybe that works in your 20s or 30s idk.
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@vpep Yea I was dosing CJC/IPA at 150/150 mcg nightly and getting good results. I bumped it up to 200/200 mcg but started noticing some joint soreness, so I backed it down.
I’m currently 2.5 weeks off CJC/IPA to give myself a break from the IPA, but I ran tesa during the past two weeks and let me tell you, the water retention and bloating were real. I started at 0.5mg for a couple of days, then moved up to 1mg. For the last couple of days, I tried 1.5 mg and started getting the joint soreness in my wrists and other areas again.
I finished two vials of tesa, and I don’t think I’ll be going back to it. After another couple of weeks off, I’ll probably hop back on CJC/IPA. It’s cheaper, I slept better on it, probably because of the IPA, and I had good results once I found the right dose.
@blueskies27 Tesa messes a lot of people up it seems to be person to person. I have friends and family that got bad joint pain and one who developed carpel tunnel a known side effect. It went away after a week or two once they stopped. As a result it’s a no go from me. I have had great blood results on CJC/IPa and Kispepin cycling them. But everyone is different. Some exercise a lot more than others, some not at all. Some have low body fat, others high etc etc so the impact will be different.
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@blueskies27 Tesa messes a lot of people up it seems to be person to person. I have friends and family that got bad joint pain and one who developed carpel tunnel a known side effect. It went away after a week or two once they stopped. As a result it’s a no go from me. I have had great blood results on CJC/IPa and Kispepin cycling them. But everyone is different. Some exercise a lot more than others, some not at all. Some have low body fat, others high etc etc so the impact will be different.
@Stevepep I tried a different brand of CJC, still it is the same awful sleep effect. Stress level raises, HRV tanks.
Tesamorelin has no such effect. Knees and wrists not hurt anymore after 2 weeks. Also it raises IGF-1 better than CJC even at 1 mg.There it is, after 4 days of CJC
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@Stevepep I tried a different brand of CJC, still it is the same awful sleep effect. Stress level raises, HRV tanks.
Tesamorelin has no such effect. Knees and wrists not hurt anymore after 2 weeks. Also it raises IGF-1 better than CJC even at 1 mg.There it is, after 4 days of CJC
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@Stevepep I tried a different brand of CJC, still it is the same awful sleep effect. Stress level raises, HRV tanks.
Tesamorelin has no such effect. Knees and wrists not hurt anymore after 2 weeks. Also it raises IGF-1 better than CJC even at 1 mg.There it is, after 4 days of CJC
@vpep it. Like I said everyone is different. It’s so dependent on so many others factors so is heart rate value. Being over weight has a major impact, not doing extended cardio has a major impact, resistance training etc. My IGF-1 and all my t levels went from out of range to optimum. My body fat is down to 15pct and I exercise like my life depends on it and track everything. Monthly blood work, Hume scale every day. Dexa scan every month. I want to know what works and what doesn’t. I don’t want to mess with Tesa and mess up my routine because I can’t lift heavy or run like I do because of inflammation. And what I am doing is working. So like I say stick to what works for you. Tesa is so that great stick with it
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@vpep I had similar experience with it too and stopped. Maybe morning dose is better for us that cant take it at night?
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@Stevepep I tried a different brand of CJC, still it is the same awful sleep effect. Stress level raises, HRV tanks.
Tesamorelin has no such effect. Knees and wrists not hurt anymore after 2 weeks. Also it raises IGF-1 better than CJC even at 1 mg.There it is, after 4 days of CJC
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@vpep it. Like I said everyone is different. It’s so dependent on so many others factors so is heart rate value. Being over weight has a major impact, not doing extended cardio has a major impact, resistance training etc. My IGF-1 and all my t levels went from out of range to optimum. My body fat is down to 15pct and I exercise like my life depends on it and track everything. Monthly blood work, Hume scale every day. Dexa scan every month. I want to know what works and what doesn’t. I don’t want to mess with Tesa and mess up my routine because I can’t lift heavy or run like I do because of inflammation. And what I am doing is working. So like I say stick to what works for you. Tesa is so that great stick with it
@Stevepep Funny thing. I have no clue now what is my fat %. Hume Pod (I tried 2 devices) consistently show 12%. 2 DEXA scans think it is 27-28%. Another high end scale (Withings Body Scan) think it's 17%. I exercise a lot and do a lot of tests, like you, for the same reason. I guess, I have to stick with Tesa. I have yet a third brand of CJC to try just to make sure.
Why do you use kisspeptin in this sense? -
Reading this thread felt like reading my own notes. Similar age, similar weight, similar goal of staying lean without dropping muscle, and I went down the same path from a nightly stack to splitting things differently in the mornings.
The honest answer I keep arriving at is that convenience is a real variable and people underrate it. A protocol you actually follow beats a better one you skip, and once the number of steps goes up, my consistency goes down. That has driven more of my decisions than anything else. But literally mate, we have almost the same profile in that I'm about 32, fluctuate between 165-168 lbs, probably about the same body fat %, currently still on reta but that amount flucates weekly, I've run that similar stack before just not with the SS-31 which I'm going to start in a week or so, along with the MOTS-c I'm already running, and have found that pairing that and the NAD+ with 5-Amino-1mq is really the sweet spot - But ya for many months now have typically been running the Tesa/Ipa in the morning and then the CJC/Ipa at nights though the past few months was running the CJC/IPA morning and night but Tesa is the sicker one its just more expensive and runs out sooner - And outside of my questions I can probably infer that you've been asking yourself the same ones I've been asking myself: How do I take this to the next level but still stay lean/ripped/jacked and not turn into a muscley monster that many dudes just end up looking ridiculous as. So that's why I personally have been researching the HGH route, the different types, with the understanding that this is exogenous now so was looking at the same exact 1-2 iu dosage - Because what I think you're arriving at and the same here my dude is like: How can I go from 2-4 pins / a day to 1 but get the same results, if not better? That is the age-old question my friend and I will keep searching for an answer - Let me know if you find one sooner!
Also, just genuinely curious what made you consider the switch: convenience, cost, or something you noticed in how you were responding?
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I’m looking for some guidance on where to go next with HGH versus CJC/IPA or tesamorelin.
I’m 34 years old, 166lbs, and around 14% body fat. I started at 185lbs about three months ago when I began using peptides. I’m currently taking a low dose of Reta and have run several protocols, including a Mito stack (SS-31, MOTS-c, and NAD+), 12 weeks of KLOW, and approximately 14 weeks of CJC/IPA at 200/200 mcg nightly, fasted before bed.
During the CJC/IPA cycle, my IGF-1 increased from 182 to 218 ng/mL, and my Z-score increased from 0.5 to 0.9.
I’m currently taking a break from CJC/IPA and debating among three options:
- Run tesamorelin alone for at least four weeks.
- Try HGH during the break from secretagogues.
- Start back with CJC/IPA long term after completing my break.
HGH is appealing, and I’m curious whether it would provide noticeably better recovery, sleep, body-composition, or muscle preservation benefits than the secretagogues. If I tried it, I would likely use only 1–2 IU daily, either fasted in the morning or before bed.
For those who have tried both HGH and secretagogues, did HGH provide enough additional benefit to justify the added risks and monitoring? How quickly did your IGF-1 return to baseline after stopping? Would you recommend trying HGH, using tesamorelin alone, or simply returning to CJC/IPA?
Any experiences, recommendations, or things I should consider would be greatly appreciated.
@blueskies27 Consider Ipamorelin PM before bed, HGH in a fasted state in AM (before a workout is ideal), for muscle (male or female, although wildly different dosing) testosterone or its metabolites.
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Reading this thread felt like reading my own notes. Similar age, similar weight, similar goal of staying lean without dropping muscle, and I went down the same path from a nightly stack to splitting things differently in the mornings.
The honest answer I keep arriving at is that convenience is a real variable and people underrate it. A protocol you actually follow beats a better one you skip, and once the number of steps goes up, my consistency goes down. That has driven more of my decisions than anything else. But literally mate, we have almost the same profile in that I'm about 32, fluctuate between 165-168 lbs, probably about the same body fat %, currently still on reta but that amount flucates weekly, I've run that similar stack before just not with the SS-31 which I'm going to start in a week or so, along with the MOTS-c I'm already running, and have found that pairing that and the NAD+ with 5-Amino-1mq is really the sweet spot - But ya for many months now have typically been running the Tesa/Ipa in the morning and then the CJC/Ipa at nights though the past few months was running the CJC/IPA morning and night but Tesa is the sicker one its just more expensive and runs out sooner - And outside of my questions I can probably infer that you've been asking yourself the same ones I've been asking myself: How do I take this to the next level but still stay lean/ripped/jacked and not turn into a muscley monster that many dudes just end up looking ridiculous as. So that's why I personally have been researching the HGH route, the different types, with the understanding that this is exogenous now so was looking at the same exact 1-2 iu dosage - Because what I think you're arriving at and the same here my dude is like: How can I go from 2-4 pins / a day to 1 but get the same results, if not better? That is the age-old question my friend and I will keep searching for an answer - Let me know if you find one sooner!
Also, just genuinely curious what made you consider the switch: convenience, cost, or something you noticed in how you were responding?
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@Stevepep Funny thing. I have no clue now what is my fat %. Hume Pod (I tried 2 devices) consistently show 12%. 2 DEXA scans think it is 27-28%. Another high end scale (Withings Body Scan) think it's 17%. I exercise a lot and do a lot of tests, like you, for the same reason. I guess, I have to stick with Tesa. I have yet a third brand of CJC to try just to make sure.
Why do you use kisspeptin in this sense?@vpep it’s weird same on Hume people seem to get different results my wife and I are almost spot on HuMe v Dexa. Some people confuse body fat with subcutaneous fat pct which is lower and compare it to dexa results. I just did a dexa scan and was 15.2 pct body fat pct the home shows 14.8. My wife was one pct off the Hume is always a tiny bit low.
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@vpep it’s weird same on Hume people seem to get different results my wife and I are almost spot on HuMe v Dexa. Some people confuse body fat with subcutaneous fat pct which is lower and compare it to dexa results. I just did a dexa scan and was 15.2 pct body fat pct the home shows 14.8. My wife was one pct off the Hume is always a tiny bit low.
@Stevepep I don't believe I confuse fat types, I asked Hume support for clarification and help, providing to them all the information. They answered by sending me a replacement scales, which showed the same results. They saw my dexa reports, my other scales values. Finally they just refunded me the money, not even once trying to analyze, guess or even speculate what the problem is here. Now I have two Humes and zero answers.
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@vpep I had similar experience with it too and stopped. Maybe morning dose is better for us that cant take it at night?
@vpep I had similar experience with it too and stopped. Maybe morning dose is better for us that cant take it at night?
You absolutely can use GH peptides in the morning successfully, lots of people do. Your body produces 4 pulses of GH throughout the day as it is, so it isn't unnatural to have GH pulses during awake time.
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@vpep I had similar experience with it too and stopped. Maybe morning dose is better for us that cant take it at night?
You absolutely can use GH peptides in the morning successfully, lots of people do. Your body produces 4 pulses of GH throughout the day as it is, so it isn't unnatural to have GH pulses during awake time.
@Neil-McCauley I used CJC in the morning and it was only insignificantly better than in the evening.
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wrote last edited by [email protected]
As others post, everyone is different. I’ve tried everything you’re asking about and had varied positive results. But you are only 34 and I’d try a TESA/IPA blend (10mg/3mg) first before HGH and see if it works for you. Why try TESA alone when the IPA amplifies it and promotes better sleep and recovery? Start moderately and titrate up. IPA tells the pituitary to do what the TESA is requesting. And do it fasted at bedtime. Not medical advice but only research experience.
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As others post, everyone is different. I’ve tried everything you’re asking about and had varied positive results. But you are only 34 and I’d try a TESA/IPA blend (10mg/3mg) first before HGH and see if it works for you. Why try TESA alone when the IPA amplifies it and promotes better sleep and recovery? Start moderately and titrate up. IPA tells the pituitary to do what the TESA is requesting. And do it fasted at bedtime. Not medical advice but only research experience.
As others post, everyone is different. I’ve tried everything you’re asking about and had varied positive results. But you are only 34 and I’d try a TESA/IPA blend (10mg/3mg) first before HGH and see if it works for you. Why try TESA alone when the IPA amplifies it and promotes better sleep and recovery? Start moderately and titrate up. IPA tells the pituitary to do what the TESA is requesting. And do it fasted at bedtime. Not medical advice but only research experience.
i’d say try them separately since you won’t be able to tell which pep was more effective, i am also on team never blend
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I'm just now researching peptides but I need help to figure what I need out,I got to the gym 4 to 5 days a week, Im on trt 200mg a week,I want to get a little bigger and lose some belly fat, I've thought about getting anavar but can anyone help me with my decision, please and thank you
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