Mr P
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Human Chorionic Gonadotropin - HCG
Posted by IMT on Wednesday, 10 October 2012
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Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) (not to be confused with human growth hormone, or HGH) is a glycoprotein hormone that mimics LH (luteinizing hormone), produced in pregnancy by the developing embryo soon after conception, and later by part of the placenta. Its role is to prevent the disintegration of the corpus luteum of the ovary and to maintain the progesterone production critical for pregnancy in women. It supports the normal development of an egg in a woman's ovary, and stimulates the release of the egg during ovulation.
You're probably asking yourself why you should care about this. But in men, HCG is also used in young boys when their testicles have not dropped down into the scrotum normally. Additionally, HCG is used to increase testicular size after long-term testosterone or anabolic steroid use.
Testosterone replacement therapy triggers the hypothalamus to shut down its production of GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone). Without GnRH, the pituitary gland stops releasing LH. Without LH the testes (testicles or gonads) shut down their production of testosterone. For males HCG closely resembles LH. If the testicles have shrunken after long-term testosterone use, they will likely begin to enlarge and start their testosterone production shortly after HCG therapy is instituted. HCG jump-starts your testes to produce testosterone and to increase their size.
HCG can be extracted from pregnant women's urine or through genetic modification. The product is available by prescription under the brand names Pregnyl, Follutein, Profasi, and Novarel. Novire is another brand but it is a product of recombinant DNA. Compounding pharmacies can also make HCG by prescription in different vial sizes.
HCG is dispensed as a powder contained in vials of 3,500 IUs, 5, 000 IUs or 10, 000 IUs. You can call compounding pharmacies and have them make vials for you with different IU amounts, though. These are usually accompanied by another vial of 1 mL (or cc) of bacteriostatic water to reconstitute the powder into a liquid solution. Bacteriostatic water (water with a preservative that is provided with the prescription) is mixed in with the powder to reconstitute, or dissolve, it before injection. This type of water can preserve the solution for up to 6 weeks when refrigerated. Some patients do not use the 1 mL water vials that come with the commercially (non compounded) available product and instead get their doctors to prescribe 30 cc bottles of bacteriostatic water so that they can dilute the HCG down to a more workable concentration that is more practical for men using lower doses of HCG weekly.
HCG is given as an injection under the skin or intramuscularly (there is still debate on which method is best). The number of IUs per injection will depend on how much bacteriostatic water you add to the dry powder vial. If you add 1 mL to a 5,000 IU powder vial, then you will have 5,000 IUs per mL, so 0.1 mL would be 500 IUs. If you add 2 mL to the 5,000 IU dry powder vial, then you will have 2,500 IUs/mL; 0.1 ml (or cc) in an insulin syringe will equal 250 IUs. If you need to inject 500 IUs, then you inject 0.2 ccs of this mixture. Table 3 provides dilution volumes at different HCG powder/water proportions.
Posted by IMT on Wednesday, 10 October 2012
.
Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) (not to be confused with human growth hormone, or HGH) is a glycoprotein hormone that mimics LH (luteinizing hormone), produced in pregnancy by the developing embryo soon after conception, and later by part of the placenta. Its role is to prevent the disintegration of the corpus luteum of the ovary and to maintain the progesterone production critical for pregnancy in women. It supports the normal development of an egg in a woman's ovary, and stimulates the release of the egg during ovulation.
You're probably asking yourself why you should care about this. But in men, HCG is also used in young boys when their testicles have not dropped down into the scrotum normally. Additionally, HCG is used to increase testicular size after long-term testosterone or anabolic steroid use.
Testosterone replacement therapy triggers the hypothalamus to shut down its production of GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone). Without GnRH, the pituitary gland stops releasing LH. Without LH the testes (testicles or gonads) shut down their production of testosterone. For males HCG closely resembles LH. If the testicles have shrunken after long-term testosterone use, they will likely begin to enlarge and start their testosterone production shortly after HCG therapy is instituted. HCG jump-starts your testes to produce testosterone and to increase their size.
HCG can be extracted from pregnant women's urine or through genetic modification. The product is available by prescription under the brand names Pregnyl, Follutein, Profasi, and Novarel. Novire is another brand but it is a product of recombinant DNA. Compounding pharmacies can also make HCG by prescription in different vial sizes.
HCG is dispensed as a powder contained in vials of 3,500 IUs, 5, 000 IUs or 10, 000 IUs. You can call compounding pharmacies and have them make vials for you with different IU amounts, though. These are usually accompanied by another vial of 1 mL (or cc) of bacteriostatic water to reconstitute the powder into a liquid solution. Bacteriostatic water (water with a preservative that is provided with the prescription) is mixed in with the powder to reconstitute, or dissolve, it before injection. This type of water can preserve the solution for up to 6 weeks when refrigerated. Some patients do not use the 1 mL water vials that come with the commercially (non compounded) available product and instead get their doctors to prescribe 30 cc bottles of bacteriostatic water so that they can dilute the HCG down to a more workable concentration that is more practical for men using lower doses of HCG weekly.
HCG is given as an injection under the skin or intramuscularly (there is still debate on which method is best). The number of IUs per injection will depend on how much bacteriostatic water you add to the dry powder vial. If you add 1 mL to a 5,000 IU powder vial, then you will have 5,000 IUs per mL, so 0.1 mL would be 500 IUs. If you add 2 mL to the 5,000 IU dry powder vial, then you will have 2,500 IUs/mL; 0.1 ml (or cc) in an insulin syringe will equal 250 IUs. If you need to inject 500 IUs, then you inject 0.2 ccs of this mixture. Table 3 provides dilution volumes at different HCG powder/water proportions.
