GH Secretagogues
Also known as CJC-1295, ipamorelin, sermorelin, tesamorelin, GHRP-6
Peptides that ask your pituitary to release its own growth hormone rather than injecting hormone directly. Only a couple have genuine approval.
Tesamorelin is expensive and prescription-only. Grey-market blends run $60–200/month with unverifiable contents.
How it works
GHRH analogues (sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295) and ghrelin-receptor agonists (ipamorelin, GHRP-2/6) stimulate pulsatile GH release from the pituitary. Because release stays pulsatile and subject to somatostatin feedback, peak IGF-1 is lower than with injected GH — which is the safety argument for them, and also the reason effects are smaller.
How it's used
Tesamorelin is approved for HIV-associated lipodystrophy and sermorelin has had diagnostic use; the rest are unapproved and sold as research chemicals. Blends like "CJC-1295/ipamorelin" have no approved protocol and no quality control. All are prohibited in tested sport. If you are chasing body composition, training and protein intake are doing more work than this ever will.
Trade-offs
In favour
- More physiological release pattern than injected GH
- Tesamorelin has real approval and trial data for visceral fat
- Lower acromegaly risk than supraphysiological GH
Against
- Most are unapproved and unregulated
- Effects are modest and reverse on stopping
- Expensive for the return
- Banned in tested sport
Risks and side effects
- Unregulated sourcing and counterfeit product
- Water retention, joint aches, tingling and numbness
- Raised blood glucose and insulin resistance
- Ghrelin agonists sharply increase appetite
- Prolactin and cortisol elevation with older GHRPs
- Any sustained IGF-1 elevation carries the same theoretical proliferation concerns as GH
How good is the evidence?
Tesamorelin has good trial evidence in its licensed indication. The popular grey-market blends have essentially no controlled human data for cosmetic use.
Sources
Sources point to guideline bodies and literature searches rather than single papers, so they stay accurate as the evidence moves.