HCG Potentcy

I am on prescribed HCG for secondary hypogonadism - 250IU EOD. I have read that you can test your medication by administering a pregnancy test.

  • My question is - will this test positive only if the HCG is applied directly to the test, or should a urine sample also test positive (taken midpoint between injections)?

I have researched this issue on the forums and found these two opinions -

“Your urine should be able to get a positive result.” - KSMAN (really appreciate the value you add, by the way)

“Drop some onto a home pregnancy test strip.” - BBB (think this guy got banned?)

  • I have tried both methods, I get a positive from applying my medication directly to the test strip, but a negative when testing urine.

  • I have tried two different vials that I have used, both with the same results via multiple tests on different batches of pregnancy tests.

My HCG is mixed by my compounding pharmacy and I pick it up myself (not shipped). I literally see them take it out of their fridge and I immediately put it into cold storage at my home. No shaking, etc.

Quick thanks to everyone that contributes to this forum, have been following here for over five years and learned a ton.

Most testing that I have seen done has been urine.

What is your dose? 250iu SC EOD?

I have seen some pharmacies that have bogus hCG.
You can ask that they sent out for testing. Have seen that done once.

Correct, 250IU SC EOD, anastrozole 1/2 MG at time of injection. My concern is that the potency of the medication may not be what was promised.

I have been on HCG mono-therapy for about two months, lab results confirmed a spike in TT:

8/28/2015
TT:290 (250-1100)
E2: 41 (< or = 39 pg/ml)

11/2/2015 (30 days after beginning HCG/anastrozole)
TT: 540 (250-1100)
E2: 22 (7.6-42.6)

  • Are there any long term benefits to sticking with HCG mono-therapy instead of adding in test as well? If I have to inject for life, would sure love to get into the top of the range.

  • Biggest concern is fertility (age 27, no children), however I cannot see how adding in test while continuing HCG would put me any more at risk.

  • Doctor is open to either option, and will do T with the protocol written here (even suggests SC T injections!)

Have you read these stickies?

  • advice for new guys
  • things that damage your hormones
  • protocol for injections

This is no longer a specific question, but your TRT case.

Please post:
labs with ranges, not just TT, E2
age
height
weight
waist size

Do you get cold easily?
Always have used iodized salt?
Any other health issues?

Effects of hCG may not be complete if the testes are getting larger. Such changes may take more time.

How have testes changed?


-age: 27
-height: 6’2
-waist: 36
-weight: 235

-describe body and facial hair: Light facial, leg/arm. Normal chest/groin.

-describe where you carry fat and how changed: Face and stomach. Much more concentrated in stomach.

  • Current body fat is 28% via Dexa-scan. Much higher over the past few years, despite diet and training regimen not changing. I am fairly strong (500LB DL, 330BP, 450SQT)

-health conditions [history]:

  1. Sleep apnea (DX Jan 2013), treated with CPAP, used to have to take naps, now never do and a significant improvement in daytime wakefulness/energy

  2. Hypothyroidism (DX Jan 2013), treated with T3 mono-therapy at first to resolve RT3 issues, now on mix of T3/T4. Excellent results, no longer cold all the time and improved energy levels.

Symptoms (2010)

  • Severe fatigue
  • Severe muscle loss (lost about 40 lbs of body weight, gained fat)
  • Loss of morning erections/ began having ED
  • Cold all the time
  • Severe anxiety
  • Brain fog/focus issues

Symptoms (current Dec 2015)

  • Brain fog/focus issues
  • No morning erections / low quality of erections
  • Lack of sex drive / drive in general
  • Trouble losing fat, gaining muscle despite dialled in nutrition and training
  • Thinning of outer eyebrows
  • Never feel rested upon waking, hardest part of my day is waking up. Once up, I am fine for the rest of the day.

-Rx and OTC drugs, any hair loss drugs or prostate drugs ever

Current:

  1. T3 25MCG 2X/day, T4 50MCG 1x/day
  2. HCG 250 IU SC EOD
  3. Anastrozole 1/2MG EOD

Prior:

  1. Ritalin, only for a few weeks in college, low dose
  2. Was regularly sick with bronchitis in HS/college and was prescribed antibiotics and steriods on multiple occasions

-describe diet:

  • No starvation diets in past
  • Current diet is 35% Protein / 35% Fat / 30% Carbs

-describe training [some ruin there hormones by over training]

  • 4-5 days a week basic power lifting.
  • 2 days a week cardio/cross-fit

-testes ache, ever, with a fever? NO

-how have morning wood and nocturnal erections changed

  • Regular in early HS
  • Stopped in early college (age 18-19)

Temp Charting: (Will report with broader sample soon)
8AM - 97.4
12PM - 97.5
3PM - 98.4

LABS: attached image, also here: Screenshot by Lightshot

Other:

  • Likely experienced head trauma in HS/college due to football (at least one known concussions), accident with airbag deployment

  • Hypothyroidism through at least two prior generations in my family

  • Any loss of peripheral vision or headaches? : No

  • Regular use of iodized salt

  • High stress levels over the last four years due to work (work at a tech company, 70 hour weeks are the norm for me)

  • Currently working with a doctor very knowledgeable in TRT and open to suggested protocols, SC T injections, etc. Different thyroid doc, also fairly knowledgeable and will pretty much prescribe anything I want / any tests requested

  • Money is no issue, willing to drop as much cash out of pocket as needed, can travel to any area of the country for treatment

Currently working on:

  1. Will be requesting full work up in the next few weeks, including all thyroid labs. Need to confirm that cortisol and RT3 issues are fully resolved. Plan to have blood work and saliva testing completed.

  2. Currently about two months in to HCG mono-therapy, plan is to see if testosterone issues are resolved, if not full HRT is planned.

Summary of journey:

Jan 2010: beginning of severe fatigue, other symptoms. Bloodwork shows low cortisol, thyroid issue, low T, high E. Run around from numerous docs, kept switching until I got one that atleast acknowledged I had a thyroid issue

End 2012: Proper thyroid tests run, find a doctor that is somewhat knowledgeable in thyroid issue, begin T3 monotherapy

Jan 2013: Thyroid issues start being resolved, diagnosed with sleep apnea. Significant improvement in fatigue issues.

Aug 2015: Thyroid issues under control. Still experiencing sex drive/body composition issues, 70% on fatigue issues. Tests show low T levels.

Oct 2015: Begin HCG monotherapy with adex.

Nov 2015: HCG therapy shows testicals still produce, still experiencing erection/sex drive issues. No significant improvement.

Questions:

  1. Are there any long term benefits to sticking with HCG mono-therapy instead of adding in test as well? If I have to inject for life, would sure love to get into the top of the range.

  2. Biggest concern is fertility (age 27, no children), however I cannot see how adding in test while continuing HCG would put me any more at risk.

Thank you all for everything, especially KSMAN.

250 units is a relatively small amount of hCG. Home pregnancy tests will test for low levels but the lower the concentration in urine the fainter the test line will show up. If a woman tests too early she can get a false negative. 250ius may be too low to tell. Youve shown its good by putting it directly on the strip but what about taking a 1000unit shot and trying with urine? Even in the PCT world and not fertility use, i think 250 eod is still quite low so any anecdotal evidence may not verify your hCG. If you dont get a positive at 1000 units then I would be concerned about the potency of your product.

Vit-D25 was low. Did you start taking Vit-D3? 5000iu suggested.

fT3 should support good body temperatures. But perhaps we are seeing effects of dose timing.

FT is decent. FT can vary a lot, so what you see can be a lab timing artifact.
TT is not very impressive.

T+hCG probably does not have any more fertility risk than hCG alone.

T+hCG prevent testicular atrophy and is not a great fertility risk, but some individuals may be adversely affected.

Swapping nolvadex with hCG from time to time would address some of the concerns with low FSH.

Your low energy may be from low T levels, or could be something thyroid related.
Your energy levels are driven by ATP, made in the mitochondria. Mitochondrial metabolic rates are managed by fT3 levels. Mitochondria also need CoQ10. You could try 50mg Ubiquinol form of Coq10. Also get more essential fatty acids [EFAs], fish oil, flax seed oil/meal, nuts. Find a good high potency B-complex multi-vit that also has trace elements including iodine+selenium.

Thanks for the response.

  • Started Vit-D3 a few months ago, 4000IU/day. Will up this a bit and retest on next labs
  • I dose my T3 in AM and noon, T4 is taken at noon as well, though this should not be nearly as important. I will get labs done before T3 is taken, I am curios what labs will show.
  • Thanks for the input on T+HCG. My doc also suggested swapping in nolvadex every so often.
  • Will start CoQ10 this week
  • I take about 4000MG fish oil per day (any more than this and my stools get oily)
  • Diet is high in eggs, nuts, red meats, and I supplement coconut oil
  • Will find a good B-complex with iodine+selenium. Current multi has 200MCG selenium, 150MCG iodine

Vitamins: Males typically should avoid vitamins with iron and iron fortified foods. If you had some CBC and hematocrit data I could get specific. Males who have low iron, RBC, hematocrit can be indicating a GI blood loss that an occult blood test would rule in/out. GI problems can be from food sensitivities and digestive issues that I esquire about.