Results are in (HCG potency)

[Gman86]

So the scientist in me that loves verifying things through labs really wants to get that test done to check the efficacy of Empower's HCG while I'm still on it. But the practical part of my brain views it as a waste of time, simply because my testicles are comically small right now while on 1200iu of HCG per week. So I already know that this HCG isn't doing what it's supposed to. I honestly don't need a test to tell me what I already know. Plus my insurance covers labs 100%. So I get them all done through Quest. To get that test done I'd have to see if Quest even offers it. Plus I just had labs done 2 weeks ago. I'd feel bad asking Defy for another lab requisition so soon. They're so good to me. I don't want to take advantage and be a pain in the ass.

My current plan is to get back on Pregnyl asap. A local compounding pharmacy carries it for $150, and has some left in stock. I called Defy earlier this morning to have them send over the prescription. So hopefully I can go pick it up later today and start taking it tomorrow. My testicles are extremely small at the moment. So even though I won't be getting lab work done for another month or two, I will be able to tell if the Pregnyl is doing what it's supposed to be doing very easily. When I was using 1000iu's of Pregnyl per week in conjunction with testosterone, my testicles were at least double the size they are now, possibly triple the size from what I remember. And you have to remember, I'm using 1200iu/ week of Empower's HCG currently, 200iu more per week than when I was using Pregnyl. So there is no way in hell if Empower's HCG worked for me that my testicles should be this small.

So once back on the Pregnyl, I'm going to start using 1000iu/ week. I fully expect my testicles to plump up in a week or two. I'll obv update this thread with whether that happens or not, and any other changes I observe along the way. If my testicles don't increase in size for some reason, I will be completely honest and say so. I have no ties to Pregnyl, even though I feel like a shill for them at this point lol. I am 100% completely unbiased. I'm just trying to put honest information out there from my experiences, so it hopefully saves other people time and energy and money when dialing in their own protocols. A lot of the things I do along my TRT journey I do so that I can continue helping fellow members along theirs.

 

[JPB]

Thanks for posting this it confirms other reports and my own anecdotal experience with compounded hcg.

 

[Churchill]

Everyone keeps saying it’s all compounded hcg that does not work as opposed to pharma. I have taken compounded hcg that worked like a charm so it’s not that. Best one I took came shipped to me premixed in a little cooler.

 

[stx358]

Everyone keeps saying it’s all compounded hcg that does not work as opposed to pharma. I have taken compounded hcg that worked like a charm so it’s not that. Best one I took came shipped to me premixed in a little cooler.

I don't think anyone is saying compounded HCG doesn't work. My experience has been that compounded HCG is not as consistently reliable as brand name and doesn't produce the same lab results. Other's may have different experiences.

 

[stx358]

I have been on TRT for 14 months and HCG for 10 of those 14 months. I had to demand it from my testosterone mill as they never even mentioned it. This board is what educated me on it. I used compounded HCG at first and it did work until I got a bad vial and over two months everything shut down, sensitivity, orgasms, volume - everything. This was backed up by lab tests (Thank goodness for discounted labs). I switched to Pregnyl and was back to my old self in a week or two.

I don't want to overstate the difference. I think compounded works. I just want to be able to trust every single vial and know that the expiration date is legit and am willing to pay for it. After all that we do to be healthy between TRT, supplements, exercise and such the last thing I care about is saving $50. I know I pay more than $150 - to be honest I don't remember and don't even care because I am happy to pay extra for the peace of mind.

Thanks for the reply. Really enjoyed reading your response and experience. You’re probably right about the standards difference. I personally think Empower is one of the top compounding pharmacies in the country, but ya maybe they still just can’t keep up with the standards that big pharmaceutical companies have to adhere to. Empower’s HCG is much cheaper than big brand name HCG, so maybe that comes with a cost unfortunately.

So how long have you been on Pregnyl, and did you notice any objective/ subjective differences between compounded and PREGNYL? Like testicular size, ejaculate volume, ejaculate pressure, orgasm intensity, flaccid penis girth or increase/ decrease in sex drive?

Also, how much do you pay for your Pregnyl at that compounding pharmacy? If you don’t mind me asking. I have a local compounding pharmacy that carries it, and they charge $150 for a 10,000iu bottle of Pregnyl. The cheapest I was ever able to get it was through CVS with a GoodRX coupon. It was $104 with the coupon. Recently, however, CVS has told me that they cannot order it due to Pregnyl being out of stock.

 

[Churchill]

I don't think anyone is saying compounded HCG doesn't work. My experience has been that compounded HCG is not as consistently reliable as brand name and doesn't produce the same lab results. Other's may have different experiences.

I realize that I just mean that the best hcg I ever took was compounded and I have take pharma as well so it leaves me wondering what empower is doing wrong. Empower is a great company and I hope they can figure out what is going wrong.

 

[Gman86]

Everyone keeps saying it's all compounded hcg that does not work as opposed to pharma. I have taken compounded hcg that worked like a charm so it's not that. Best one I took came shipped to me premixed in a little cooler.

stx358 took the words right out of my mouth. Nobody is saying that compounded HCG doesn't work. We're just saying that in a lot of our experiences, most compounded HCG does work as well in regards to stimulating leydig cells in the testicles, and is not as consistent of a product as we've experienced with big pharmaceutical brands of HCG. For instance, here are my labs while on HCG monotherapy with a compounded HCG.



HCG - 2000IU/ week (Monotherapy)

Total T - 348 (250-1100 ng/dL)
Free T - 64.5 (46.0-224.0)
Bio T - 127.0 (110.0-575.0 ng/dL)
SHBG 58 (10-50)
E2 NOT Sensitive - 24
FSH - 0.7
LH - 0.2

You can tell that the HCG is working and isn't fake due to my LH and FSH being zero'd out basically. With those being almost at 0, that means I'm not producing any of my own testosterone. So the level of 348 for my total T was coming almost entirely from the HCG, if not 100% from the HCG. Which means it definitely worked, but was just not very effective. In comparison, on the same dose of Pregnyl of 2,000iu/ week, my total came back around 1200 on two separate blood tests months apart, and from two separate vials of Pregnyl. So not only was Pregnyl much more effective, it also proved to be a very consistent product.

 

[Gman86]

I realize that I just mean that the best hcg I ever took was compounded and I have take pharma as well so it leaves me wondering what empower is doing wrong. Empower is a great company and I hope they can figure out what is going wrong.

Ya exactly. I'm sure there is some good compounded HCG out there. Clearly you have found some that worked very well, so obviously it exists. I'm also wondering how Empower's HCG is underperforming so badly. I know for a fact that they are an excellent compounding pharmacy, so ya I'm really not sure what's going on with their HCG though.

 

[ratbag]

This is a slight variation of this discussion.. I seem to remember a post sometime back where someone said that the quality isn't the issue but that HCG has a huge range of varying strength. I don't use compounded HCG. I use Corion from ReliableRx (really cheap) In my opinion it's very good and every other generic I've tried from offshore doesn't compare. Has anyone here tried Corion HCG? and is it comparable to your compounded HCG or Pregnyl?

 

[Gman86]

This is a slight variation of this discussion.. I seem to remember a post sometime back where someone said that the quality isn't the issue but that HCG has a huge range of varying strength. I don't use compounded HCG. I use Corion from ReliableRx (really cheap) In my opinion it's very good and every other generic I've tried from offshore doesn't compare. Has anyone here tried Corion HCG? and is it comparable to your compounded HCG or Pregnyl?

I was just researching different options for brand named HCG that might be comparable to Pregnyl. Corion was one of the brands that came up. The others were Ovidrel, Ovidac, Hucog and Novarel. But I haven't researched any of them and not sure how much they would cost, so I'm pumped that you have some experience with Corion. So how does ReliableRx work exactly? I am a patient at Defy Medical. They charge $25 to send out prescriptions to places like CVS or Walgreens if I want to use them instead of their compounding pharmacies. I wonder if Defy would be willing to send the prescription to an online website like ReliableRx. That's how it works correct? You just have your doctor send the prescription to the website?

 

[Nelson Vergel]

To say that an overseas site has better quality for a peptide hormone than a US compounding pharmacy is completely ludicrous. All compounding pharmacies usually fill 110% of the dose written on the label and have to go through strict FDA regulations on purity and contaminants.

You also have to remember that HCG is a fragile peptide that degrades under hot temperatures. Shipping it in a trip that lasts weeks from India may expose it to potentially degradation.

I have used compounded HCG from APS and Empower and my testicles remained normal size as my libido was healthy.

Unless you have done lab analysis that can prove me wrong, I will block fake news like this one. Not on my forum!