HCG--Does it expire/lose potency after a few weeks in the refrigerator ?

[German92]

My doc has me taking 300 ml of HCG per week with 100 ml of T cyp. This means my diluted bottle of HCG lasts a while. I have this feeling it loses potency after a while. Also I left my bottle out on the counter one day by mistake. Does anyone know if the stuff stops working if too old or unfridged? I also wonder if my dose is too small and would be interested to know if others take same amount.

 

[Gene Devine]

HCG won't start losing potency until about 90 days after reconstitution so you have nothing to worry about.

Even after 90 days it will lose about 7% of potency per month...again, nothing to worry about.

HCG can be left out of the fridge for days with no impact on potency.

I think there is a lot of internet lure when it comes to HCG potency.

 

[Austinite]

Agree with gene. hCG doesn't "Go Bad". The cold merely preserves its potency.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

HCG is fairly stable at room temperature for short periods of time. 1 week out in the open won't significantly affect the activity of the drug.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

My friend Shaun Noorian responded:

Here's an explanation I did in a post a few years ago on excelmale.com


"Expiration" in the pharmaceutical industry is defined as "The date placed on the container/labels of a drug product designating the time during which a batch of the product is expected to remain within the approved shelf life specifications if stored under defined conditions, and after which it may not be used." In other words a drug will expire once it falls outside it's acceptable specifications of pH, potency, appearance, etc the primary factor being potency. Once the active ingredient falls outside 90 - 110% its potency the medication is considered to be expired. So a drug that has 89% its listed potency is by FDA and USP standards no longer suitable for use.

HCG is an interesting medication though... Unlike most drugs it's acceptable potency range according to its USP monograph is 80 - 125%. This is due to the fact that it is measured in International Units (IU) and not milligrams (mg). Since the analytical test to measure potency in IUs is not as accurate as the test used to measure potency by mass USP gives HCG the wider potency range. This is true of other medications measured in IUs.

Since the acceptable potency range and the therapeutic index for HCG are quite large a compounder can actually make the medication well above 100% and still be within the acceptable limits. Brand name HCG (Pregnyl) actually states a 60 day expiration date on it's HCG and I've tested their vials to be within 95-100% potency. You can imagine how long the expiration date would be if the HCG was made at 115% or even 125% potency.

I know compounders that have done long term stability studies on HCG showing it to be quite stable up to 90 days under refrigeration. To be conservative most compounders place 30-60 day Beyond Use Dates on their preparations just as we do. Since the Beyond Use Date starts the moment the HCG powder touches water it is important to make sure you get your HCG from a pharmacy that Freeze Dries it's HCG to prevent getting a batch that has already been reconstituted and started to degrade.