HCG: How much is too much and is there a too much?

[fifty]

You had one or two days where t and e increased?

 

[M.J]

You had one or two days where t and e increased?

Yes, I had good libido and morning wood out of no where, did test the same day, beside that I had no reaction what’s so ever with hcg, I had maybe 4 test during that month.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

1. Is there a limit to how much HCG one can take per week/ per day?


2. Can HCG be taken indefinitely with no breaks at a dose of say of 2000ius+ total per week?

3. At what point is there diminishing returns regarding the use of HCG with men on T?

In fertility clinics, some men are put om 5000+ IU a week.

I have been using hCG for 11 years and have not seen any decrease in efficacy. I know so since my testicles and sex drive remind me when I forget to inject. I use TRT of 75 mg T plus 500 IU hCG per week. I notice that ED drugs or nitric oxide donors like citrulline make my testicles even fuller with that protocol.

 

[Wolverine]

I guess my testes didn't get the memo. On 270 IU hCG EOD I was still at 0.1 ng/mL, nearly the bottom of LabCorp's scale. I agree it's worth testing to make sure it's not high or low.

It is said here many times, everyone is different. I have googled this issue and progesterone rise seems to be commonplace with HCG. I wish mine would stay low while taking HCG.

 

[Wolverine]

Interesting, I will check my prolactin and progesterone levels in my next lab to see what 500eod is doing to them.
Dr told me usually people older than 35 don’t see much benefits from HCG. One thing strange was while I was on HCG alone I had one or two days where both t and e increased, made me think if something was off in the meds or injection style (I did sq)
Didn't have time to check that just moved to trt.

Thanks MJ. Please let us know the results.

 

[Wolverine]

In fertility clinics, some men are put om 5000+ IU a week.

I have been using hCG for 11 years and have not seen any decrease in efficacy. I know so since my testicles and sex drive remind me when I forget to inject. I use TRT of 75 mg T plus 500 IU hCG per week. I notice that ED drugs or nitric oxide donors like citrulline make my testicles even fuller with that protocol.

Is the 75mg of T and the 500 IU of HCG split into two equal injections per week, or do you you do that amount in one injection per week? Tx

 

[at15]

think he mispoke , nelson's known protocol was 75mg T + 500iu hcg *twice weekly*

 

[M.J]

But why is 500ius the top end? For fertility protocols some guys are injecting 3000ius every other day. Are there any studies that show that 1000ius is unsafe per injection vs 500ius? I know that more doesn’t necessarily equal better but at the same time what is the point where more becomes dentrimental?

I heard dr lipshultz have people on 1000iu hcg EOD, and was recommended by my dr also, but I was concerned what will it do, as I know 500 did not increase e or t at least nothing significant, instead I kept 500eod and added fsh 75iu once a week.

Honestly I should have gone for the 1000 but I just didn’t want to.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

s the 75mg of T and the 500 IU of HCG split into two equal injections per week, or do you you do that amount in one injection per week? Tx

I explain here

Link Removed

 

[at15]

curious, what made you up from 50 to 75?

 

[M.J]

For some reason a lot of my posts has been erased:

@cataceous I don’t know if HCG increase progesterone but I can say for sure my prolactin increased as my baseline around 180/170

Here are the results guys:

Almost 3 month of 500 HCG EOD:
Progesterone: 0.16 nmol/L range (0.16-0.47)
Prolactin: 275 mU/L range (98-456)

I assume if I went lower than this I will be low in progesterone, I could feel 500 was just right when I was on 250 testiculs where a bit smaller.

 

[Cataceous]

For some reason a lot of my posts has been erased:

@cataceous I don’t know if HCG increase progesterone but I can say for sure my prolactin increased as my baseline around 180/170
...

Looks as though my reply also disappeared, in which I wondered whether hCG at reasonable doses actually does raise progesterone in men. It's more accepted that hCG raises estradiol, which in turn may raise prolactin.[1] Interestingly, this reference suggests that prolactin is a proxy for "tissue estrogen stores", which could be a useful parameter independent of serum estradiol.

 

[Gman86]

For some reason a lot of my posts has been erased:

@cataceous I don’t know if HCG increase progesterone but I can say for sure my prolactin increased as my baseline around 180/170

Here are the results guys:

Almost 3 month of 500 HCG EOD:
Progesterone: 0.16 nmol/L range (0.16-0.47)
Prolactin: 275 mU/L range (98-456)

I assume if I went lower than this I will be low in progesterone, I could feel 500 was just right when I was on 250 testiculs where a bit smaller.

500 EOD is a hefty dose. It’s not raising your E2 too much?

 

[M.J]

500 EOD is a hefty dose. It’s not raising your E2 too much?

I have taken 500 eod for one month, beside small rise which happened around second week took my E to 22pg only and T to 16
I had no other reading which show high e or t, I did weekly tests during this time so 500 is defiantly not doing anything to my E.
Even now while I am on trt I don’t feel any rise from hcg all my t reading are consistent with my t dose no spikes, again keep in mind I am doing weekly lab test which end up crashing my ferritin. I stopped that now

 

[M.J]

Looks as though my reply also disappeared, in which I wondered whether hCG at reasonable doses actually does raise progesterone in men. It's more accepted that hCG raises estradiol, which in turn may raise prolactin.[1] Interestingly, this reference suggests that prolactin is a proxy for "tissue estrogen stores", which could be a useful parameter independent of serum estradiol.

Are you sure prolactin is coming from the rise in E, if so this is because of my testosterone injection not HCG. At least this is how I see it.

 

[Wolverine]

Looks as though my reply also disappeared, in which I wondered whether hCG at reasonable doses actually does raise progesterone in men. It's more accepted that hCG raises estradiol, which in turn may raise prolactin.[1] Interestingly, this reference suggests that prolactin is a proxy for "tissue estrogen stores", which could be a useful parameter independent of serum estradiol.

A lot of my posts have been removed too. You had stated that I may have actually been low on progesterone at .2. LabCorp range at the time was 0-.1 ng/ml for men, so I was double the top. LabCorp range now is 0-.5 ng/ml. Is LabCorp range wrong? You had ranges showing men well over 1.0 ng/ml. Tx

 

[Gman86]

I have taken 500 eod for one month, beside small rise which happened around second week took my E to 22pg only and T to 16
I had no other reading which show high e or t, I did weekly tests during this time so 500 is defiantly not doing anything to my E.
Even now while I am on trt I don’t feel any rise from hcg all my t reading are consistent with my t dose no spikes, again keep in mind I am doing weekly test which end up crashing my ferritin. I stopped that now

Awesome to hear that it’s not causing any issues with elevated E2. What do you mean weekly injections crashed your ferritin?

 

[Cataceous]

Are you sure prolactin is coming from the rise in E, if so this is because of my testosterone injection not HCG. At least this is how I see it.

Certainly not sure—just pointing out a potential mechanism that may have some support in the literature.

... You had stated that I may have actually been low on progesterone at .2. LabCorp range at the time was 0-.1 ng/ml for men, so I was double the top. LabCorp range now is 0-.5 ng/ml. Is LabCorp range wrong? You had ranges showing men well over 1.0 ng/ml. Tx

I don't think I would say you're low with 0.2 and a reference range of 0-0.1. The test methods vary, so we do have to consider the lab's normal ranges. That said, I question the usefulness of a test with such limited resolution that the reference range has only two values. LabCorp's newer one going to 0.5 is better even if still coarse. The wider reference range I was citing is from NIH, and may have used yet a different testing method.

 

[M.J]

Awesome to hear that it’s not causing any issues with elevated E2. What do you mean weekly injections crashed your ferritin?

Sorry I mean I did weekly lab tests and donated one time I end up with low ferritin

 

[Gman86]

Sorry I mean I did weekly lab tests and donated one time I end up with low ferritin

Oh ok, that makes sense. My ferritin is also too low, but mine is due to getting labs done too often. And I also have donated once in my entire life, a little less than a year ago. Which looking back, was probably a mistake.