HCG Alone?

Long story short, I went to a a physician a while back that specialized in hormone replacement therapy. This was hands down the best doctor I ever went to. My test levels were around 400. So, he prescribed me at the time HCG, put me on a cardio/lifting program, diet, suppliemnts etc.

I asked him how long I could stay on the HCG and his response was “I have been on it two years with no issues-straight”.

So, question. I want to take it again because I felt great on the shit, and I know its like and nothing like a true steroid. What concerns should I have?

[quote]designinme wrote:
Long story short, I went to a a physician a while back that specialized in hormone replacement therapy. This was hands down the best doctor I ever went to. My test levels were around 400. So, he prescribed me at the time HCG, put me on a cardio/lifting program, diet, supplements etc.

I asked him how long I could stay on the HCG and his response was “I have been on it two years with no issues-straight”.

So, question. I want to take it again because I felt great on the shit, and I know its like and nothing like a true steroid. What concerns should I have?[/quote]

If your T production was not limited by the testes, but from low LH production, then that might work well. HCG can be inexpensive and injecting SQ with an insulin pin is easy. 250iu EOD SQ has been shown to maintain baseline testicular function in “normal men”. You cannot add HCG to your own LH production, as the HCG will increase T and LH will be turned off via feedback effects. So your production of LH will be shut off.

Note that taking large amounts of HCG for anything but very short term puts one at risk of having their LH receptors down regulated. You do not want to induce any insensitivity to LH or HCG.

KSman is very right…15 years ago it was the big thing in BBing to try and run just HCG for extended periods of time…It turned out to be a very bad idea…You can mess yourself up with no way of recovery…What kind of PCT can you run for HCG?

Desensitization of your testicles to natural and synthetic LH. I would definately try Testosterone at HRT levels before doing this.

[quote]E-man wrote:
Desensitization of your testicles to natural and synthetic LH. I would definitely try Testosterone at HRT levels before doing this.[/quote]

Perhaps the point is, that if you take HCG at levels that stimulate the testes to the same levels that LH in a normal younger man does, then the testes and their receptors are not been overloaded. The 250iu SQ EOD dose was shown to do that. So one might safely assume that that is a safe, prudent and effective dose.

Note that that dose is more than the often prescribed 250iu twice a week to accompany TRT/HRT testosterone. For me, that did not work well, but the 250iu EOD made a big improvement.

Some of the dosing that I see for PCT is a huge amount and might be the last thing that you would want to do if properly understood. Part of the problem is that most HCG available as gear is in ampules that encourage large doses.

I was quite impressed by reading, AR I think, that most PCT levels of HCG could be harmful and that one might be better off using the lower amounts all through the cycle so the testes are never shut down.

As for HCG shutting down the HPTA, the end effect is no LH release, same results from taking T. So no difference in that regard. But adding down regulation of the LH receptors in the testes would really be a world of hurt.

So for a guy with good testes and insufficient LH production, HCG alone might be a very good therapy. Might not get one to high-normal TRT objectives, but still might be a very valuable alternative and therapy. Perhaps with some anastrozole to reduce E competition for T receptors.