A closer look at Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) (Human chorionic gonadotropin)

MagicallyMinded

Amateur Bodybuilder
A closer look at HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin)

A closer look at HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin)

Chorionic gonadotropin is a hormone found in the female body during the early months of pregnancy (it is produced in the placenta.) It is in fact the pregnancy indicator looked at by over the counter pregnancy test kits, as due to its origin it is not found in the body at any other time. Blood levels of this hormone will become noticeable as early seven days after ovulation. The level will rise evenly, reaching a peak at approximately 2-3 months into gestation. After this point, the hormone level will drop gradually until the point of birth.

As a prescription drug, HCG offers us some interesting benefits. In the United States, there are two popular brands, Pregnyl, made by Organon, and Profasi, made by Serono. These are FDA approved for the treatment of undescended testicles in young boys, hypogonadism (underproduction of testosterone) and as a fertility drug used to aid in inducing ovulation in women. When prepared as a medical item, this hormone comes from the human origin. Although there is often a fear of biological origin products, there is little research to be found regarding pathogen or sterility problems with HCG. The problems seen with human origin growth hormone are certainly not to be repeated with HCG, as this compound is obtained in a much different way.

While HCG offers the female no performance enhancing ability, it does prove very useful to the male steroid user. The obvious use of course being to stimulate the production of endogenous testosterone. The activity of HCG in the male body is due to its ability to mimic LH (luteinizing hormone), a pituitary hormone that stimulates the Leydig’s cells in the testes to manufacture testosterone. Restoring endogenous testosterone production is a special concern at the end of each steroid cycle, a time when a subnormal androgen level (due to steroid induced suppression) could be very costly. The main concern is the action of cortisol, which in many ways is balanced out by the effect of androgens. Cortisol send the opposite message to the muscles as testosterone, or to break down protein in the cell. Left unchecked (by an extremely low testosterone level) in the body, corstisol can quickly strip most of your new muscle mass away.

The main focus with HCG is to restore the normal ability of the testes to respond to endogenous luteinizing hormone. After a long period of inactivity, this ability may have been seriously reduced. In such a state testosterone levels may not reach a normal point, even though the release of endogenous LH has been resumed. Many who have suffered severe testicular shrinkage may be able to relate, as it is often some time before the normal testicle size and feelings of virility are restored if ancillary drugs had not been used, The excessive stimulation brought forth by administration of HCG can likewise cause the testicles to rapidly return to their normal size and level of activity. We are not simply looking for it fix the problem however, as the resulting high testosterone level can itself trigger negative feedback inhibition at the hypothalamus. Estrogen production is also heightened with the use of HCG, due to its ability to increase aromatase activity in the Leydig’s cells. This is due to the main action of HCG, namely the increase of cyclicAMP (a secondary messenger that regulates cellular activity.) When stimulated by HCG, the ability of the testes to aromatize androgens could potentially be heightened several times greater than normal. This also may inhibit testosterone production, so we therefore use HCG only as a quick shock to the testes.

The usual protocol is to inject 1,500-3,000 U.I every 4th or 5th day, for a duration usually no longer than 2 or 3 weeks. If used for too long or at too high a dose, the drug may actually function to desensitize the Leydig’s cells to luteinizing hormone, further hindering a return to homeostasis. Timing the initial dose is also very crucial. If you were coming off a cycle of Sustanon for example, testosterone levels in your blood would likely stay elevated for at least 3 to 4 weeks after your last injection. Taking HCG on the last day of your shot would therefore be useless. Instead one would want to calculate the last week in which androgen levels are likely to be above normal, and begin ancillary drug therapy at this point. In this case HCG would be started around the third or fourth week. Likewise, after ending a cycle of Dianabol (an oral) your blood levels will be sub normal after the third day. Here you may want to begin HCG therapy a few days before you last intake of tablets, giving it a few days to take effect. One would also want to give some thought to the level of suppression that a cycle might have brought about. After an eight week cycle of Equipoise for example, 1,500-2,500 I.U would likely be a sufficient initial dosage. The lower amount of hormonal suppression one associates with this drug would probably not require much more. One the other hand, 750-1000mg of Sustanon per week might incline the user to inject a much larger HCG dose, perhaps as much as 500o I.U for the opening application. It may therefore also be a good idea to reduce the dosage on subsequent shots, so as to step down the intake of HCG during the two or 3 weeks of intake.

As discussed above, HCG acts only to mimic the action of LH. It is likewise not the perfect hormone to combat testosterone suppression, and for this reason it is used most often in conjunction with estrogen antagonists such as Clomid, Nolvadex or Cyclofenil. These drugs have a different effect on the regulating system, namely inhibiting estrogen-induced suppression at the hypothalamus. This of course also helps to restore the release of testosterone, although through a much different mechanism than HCG. A combination of both drugs appears to be very synergistic, HCG providing an immediate effect on the testes (shocking them out of inactivity) while the antiestrogen helps later to block inhibition on the hypothalamus and resume the normal release of gonadotropins from the pituitary. The typical procedure involves giving the Clomid/Nolavdex dose from the start with HCG, but continuing anti-estrogen(s) alone for a few weeks after HCG has been discontinued. This practice should effectively raise testosterone levels, which will hopefully remain stable once Clomid/Nolvadex have been discontinued. While unfortunately there is no way to assure retention of all muscle gains produced by anabolic steroids, using ancillaries to restore a balanced hormonal state is the best way to minimize the loss felt with ending a cycle.
 
truly brilliant..i can't explain the importance which goes hand in hand with this information ..really didn't know much about it and of gonadotropins...so i will look forward in reading more of this thanks...
 
MagicallyMinded said:
The usual protocol is to inject 1,500-3,000 U.I every 4th or 5th day, for a duration usually no longer than 2 or 3 weeks. If used for too long or at too high a dose, the drug may actually function to desensitize the Leydig’s cells to luteinizing hormone, further hindering a return to homeostasis. Timing the initial dose is also very crucial. If you were coming off a cycle of Sustanon for example, testosterone levels in your blood would likely stay elevated for at least 3 to 4 weeks after your last injection. Taking HCG on the last day of your shot would therefore be useless. Instead one would want to calculate the last week in which androgen levels are likely to be above normal, and begin ancillary drug therapy at this point. In this case HCG would be started around the third or fourth week. Likewise, after ending a cycle of Dianabol (an oral) your blood levels will be sub normal after the third day. Here you may want to begin HCG therapy a few days before you last intake of tablets, giving it a few days to take effect. One would also want to give some thought to the level of suppression that a cycle might have brought about. After an eight week cycle of Equipoise for example, 1,500-2,500 I.U would likely be a sufficient initial dosage. The lower amount of hormonal suppression one associates with this drug would probably not require much more. One the other hand, 750-1000mg of Sustanon per week might incline the user to inject a much larger HCG dose, perhaps as much as 500o I.U for the opening application. It may therefore also be a good idea to reduce the dosage on subsequent shots, so as to step down the intake of HCG during the two or 3 weeks of intake.


That is an OLD dosing protocol. New age thinking tell us it is much wiser to use 250-500 IU every 4 or 5 days throughout the cycle itself to prevent atrophy from happening in the first place. This way make recover after the cycle has ended much easier.
 
StoneColdNTO said:
That is an OLD dosing protocol. New age thinking tell us it is much wiser to use 250-500 IU every 4 or 5 days throughout the cycle itself to prevent atrophy from happening in the first place. This way make recover after the cycle has ended much easier.
agreed . preventing atrophy is preferable to curing it .
 
two cycles under my belt an I have never been shut down using what SC said. I mean, I'm not at 100% capacity, maybe 80% - but I've never experienced the shut down some people describe. Maybe I'm lucky, but I don't really chalk it up to to that.
 
StoneColdNTO said:
That is an OLD dosing protocol. New age thinking tell us it is much wiser to use 250-500 IU every 4 or 5 days throughout the cycle itself to prevent atrophy from happening in the first place. This way make recover after the cycle has ended much easier.


Agreed. Used 250iu 2x a week last cycle and experienced no shutdown or atrophy. Its the only way to fly.
 
StoneColdNTO said:
That is an OLD dosing protocol. New age thinking tell us it is much wiser to use 250-500 IU every 4 or 5 days throughout the cycle itself to prevent atrophy from happening in the first place. This way make recover after the cycle has ended much easier.

As i said when I sent you a PM, this article is for a matter of refference, as are many of other articles on this board. Just because you concider these methods to be out of date does by no means make them of any less impotance.

People will aways make their own mind up, no matter what they are told or read, things such as this can be only be of a guidance.
 
MagicallyMinded said:
People will aways make their own mind up, no matter what they are told or read, things such as this can be only be of a guidance.

That really bugs me about steroid use. There is absolutely no consensus.
One article factually points out a certain way to do something, while another just as reputable article factually points out to do the opposite. It can be very confusing for newbs, and even those with experience.

I wish we could just come up with one way of doing things. The problem is that every persons body may respond a little bit differently, so you can't do that. Even with all this information, it still comes down to trial and error.
 
MagicallyMinded said:
As i said when I sent you a PM, this article is for a matter of refference, as are many of other articles on this board. Just because you concider these methods to be out of date does by no means make them of any less impotance.
High doses of hCG risks desensitizing the leydig cells. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, knowing this, most guys will prefer to use a superior protocol instead.
 
outlawtas2 said:
It works great for me. Prevents a lot of shrinkage.

I think lower dose and frequent injection mimics the bodys natural release better which for me equals less change in size from week to week.
 
LiftTillIDie said:
I think lower dose and frequent injection mimics the bodys natural release better which for me equals less change in size from week to week.
so are you saying that this way is somewhat better?
 
sean usmc said:
so are you saying that this way is somewhat better?

When I was doing 500 iu 2x per week I would notice my balls growing after the shot then by the next shot they would be a little smaller again. Maybe it was all in my head but I felt like they have kept a more constant size this time.
 
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