[redspy]

HGH FAQ

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by Death on the field.

This is an article on GH i have been working on, it takes all the advice from the top vets on GH and has been thoroughly checked and also provides citings so u can look at the info and studies urself if u want. this was made to benefit all who are looking into starting GH or need basic info on it. i am not trying to take credit for it since most of the ideas in here are either common knowledge or by MOD or Ironmaster, this is only till ironmaster can get a book out with all his info on it. If anyone has anything ot add to it please do so, its only to help out hte iron brotherhood, enjoy, and merry xmas
Growth Hormone

Rating: (1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest)
Strength-4
Weight Gain-4
Fat Loss-4
Side Effects-2
Keep Gains--4

Side Effects:
Hypoglycemia- due to lowered insulin levels.
Aromeglia- (abnormal bone growth) GH does not cause it, but if you are predisposed to it, it will speed it up.
GH gut- if predisposed and taking large doses of GH
Carpel Tunnel Syndrome
Soreness in Joints

Benefits of GH:
New Muscle Cells
Mood Enhancement
Smoothing and improving the skin
Leanness, it is a potent fat burner
Joint and ligament strengthening

Where to Inject, How, and How to Make:
You can site inject anywhere you can reach the subcutaneous layer. Pinch the flesh and pull back, then insert the needle in the "pocket" underneath. Doesn't absorb quick enough if you inject into the adipose tissue. Do not inject intra-muscular, though it can be done, it is not recommended. GH is a site injection, where it is shot is where it will burn the most noticeable fat. Most people do it in the stomach since that is a typical sub q shot with most of the fat being in that area. GH should be kept in a fridge; freezing will destroy the GH. On your kit it probably says to use the kit in 18-24 hours, remember these are for AIDS patients, not bodybuilders or athletes. Mixing the GH can either be done with sterile water or bacteriostic water. The kit with water will be fine for 3 days in the fridge, even with the sterile water, but you should not take this chance, rather you should use bacteriostic water and play it safe. This will keep it fine for a couple of weeks. When mixing the GH, let the water slide down the side as to not pulverize the GH wafer. Do not spray it directly against the wafer with any force. Before reconstitution and even after GH is fragile!!! Also once the water is injected into the bottle gently swirl the vial to reconstitute, do not shake or swirl violently!!!!

Conversions:
1 ml = 1 cc -/+
100 units per 1 cc

6 mg = 18iu

1 ml = 18iu

.50 ml = 9iu

.25 ml = 4.5iu

Some people choose to only do it in ccs but here is how you can do it in units on a slin dart

5.5 = 1iu, so 2iu = 11 on a slin dart

Differences Between Kits:
The main difference between kits is how many ius they make when reconstituted. For example, Serostim re-constitutes to make 126iu, while a Saizen kit.... also made by Serono.... makes up 15iu. Another of their kits makes 54iu. It better be way cheaper than a Serostim kit! Humatrope is fine, but costs too much. The other main concern would be fakes; Lilly is the most often faked one. Some older GH kits do not have holograms on them and are legit, but they are usually only less than 100 dollars than new GH kits with holograms, and I would rather be assured of the hologram and legitimacy of the kit. Best buy currently is Serostim 126 iu kits. These are made for people with wasting diseases like AIDs. Many of these patients got infected because they are IV drug addicts..........they sell the Serostim on the street for drug money.


Dose:

4 to 6 iu ed is sufficient. Most people take it 5 days on 2 days off at their designated dosage. There is no reason or evidence why you cannot stay on for various lengths of time; there is no need to go 5 on 2 off other than cost. Considering that our natural production is only .5 to 1.5iu a day, this is still a huge bump for the body. Research has shown that the body's natural defense systems render mega doses of GH ineffective, anyway. GH does not cause gains in mass...it allows you to put on a great deal of lean mass in combination with proper steroid and insulin use. The user before taking must know this. One or two kits are not enough, you need at least 3 to make you happy, GH takes a while to make its effects, but remember they are long lasting, what you see is what you keep. It takes 6 to 8 weeks to notice a dramatic change in body comp using GH on an ED or 5/2 split. Lighter doses for long periods of time are better than large doses for short cycles. Like any other drug, the more you take the more the benefits, but likewise also more risks. 4-6 iu is a standard dose but many people take more, the most repulsing side effects happen at or beyond 12 iu a day but like anything else it depends on your predisposition for it.


How to Stack:
GH is best taken in conjunction with insulin, anabolic steroids, and t3. Insulin is extremely effective with GH, as anyone here who has tried it will testify. This is because GH injections cause a down regulation of insulin sensitivity in the body.
GH alone causes little growth of lean mass, however, when combined with insulin and steroids (and IGF-1 if you can find it), the results can be down right remarkable...esp. in the older bodybuilder. Start light with the humulin...5iu...and work up 1 iu a day till you get use to it. 7 to 10iu in the AM and 7 to 10 iu in the late afternoon, with split doses of GH is your best bet. When splitting GH/insulin doses, I use mid-morning and late afternoon after lifting.... both flat times in our natural GH production. The insulin overcomes the insulin-resistance caused by exogenous GH supplementation. If you are scared to take insulin thought, then Gh with Test and Glucophage is good. GH is good for cutting if used alone. Glucophage allows for improved glucose and amino acid absorption by the muscle tissue and does it safely. This is what you want. The half-life of GH is only 2 hours so spread it out. Avoid bedtime injections since we produce the bulk of our own GH in the first two hours of sleep. Since exogenous GH suppresses this, you should not take it before bed. For best results, use a 17aa oral during the cycle to stimulate the release of natural insulin growth factors. I would run the test throughout. GH/insulin/test is the proven synergistic combination.
It is also wise to preload with testosterone before starting GH if you are going to do it. You should preload with the amount of time it takes for that testosterone to kick in, since most of us take longer acting esters for testosterone you should usually start taking the test 2 weeks before GH use. Likewise, you can accommodate it to fit your needs; the key is for the test to be kicking in the same time you are starting to run your GH. You can cycle you steroids however you want to depending on your goals, if you are going for a more massive look than you would run insulin for most of the cycle and use high androgens, but if you are looking for additional leanness at the end of a cycle you should stop the androgens and run a higher dose of GH or run less androgens. T3 is also another substance that should be used during GH cycling since GH lowers thyroid hormones. T3 should be used for shorter periods though, because it can permanently alter the endocrine system. The magic of GH for men is the ability to gain mass without fat or bloating when stacked properly with insulin, and steroids. GH also makes for amazing improvements in skin...smoothes wrinkles, burns stubborn spots of adipose tissue, gives that paper-thin contest look...and also gives one a real mood lift, a feeling of well being.

Major Difference Between GH and Steroids:
Steroids can increase the size of your muscle cells, but cannot I repeat CAN NOT increase the number of muscle cells in your body, which to start with is governed by your genetics. However Growth hormone CAN increase the number of muscle cells in your body, which goes beyond genetics.

Half-Life of GH:
Exogenous (injected) GH has a "half-life" of approximately 2 hours . . . a 4-hour period of activity during which there is a suppression of naturally produced GH.

GH Naturally Produced:
We release the most of our naturally produced GH during the first two hours of deep sleep...you may take a little time to adjust.... your body thinks you should be in bed when that big influx hits. It is good to take a nap, thats when you grow anyway. It always helps to take naps after workouts and injections everyday.

GH Causing Acromeglia:
Acromeglia is a disease...you either have it or you don't. Supplementing GH will not cause it. Persons suffering from acromeglia, like Andre the Giant, lack the natural defense mechanisms of the body to regulate the production and effects of GH secretion in he pituitary. It is well established in the medical literature that exogenous GH will not cause the disease.... of course it would worsen the condition in those who had it.

GH Gut: Myth or Reality?:

Some researchers claim that any gains in weight experienced by subjects using GH alone was due to growth of internal organs and connective tissue, which could cause some problems. Most studies do not agree with this theory and consider "GH gut" to be a myth. Some people are allergic to synthetic test, this is something you have to find out for yourself. Some people also feel intestinal discomfort from time to time, if so take it down to one item at a time to see what is causing you discomfort; creatine, glutamine, protein products, orals, and dirty gear have all been known to cause this, so find the problem early.

GH and IGF-1:
Perhaps the most relevant effect of IGF-1 is the ability of IGF-1 to increase protein synthesis by increasing cellular mRNA formation (mRNA makes protein) as well as increasing uptake of amino acids. This effect on protein synthesis can lead to increased lean mass. The research indicates that this effect is dependent on GH presence as well. So IGF-1 alone does not promote such effects. Nor does GH. It appears the combination of the two most consistently lead to increased protein synthesis.

GH and IGF-1 are negative regulators of GH release so an increase in either (from a GH injection) reduces the secretion of GH. IGF-1 is very difficult to obtain in a useable condition.... it must be handled very gently and have bee kept at a rather precise temperature at all times. One can stimulate IGF production through the use of an oral steroid during cycle. Dbol, for example, causes a rather extensive release of IGF during the first pass through the liver.

The leading studies in this area: (Ney, 1999, Yarasheski, 1994.... Am J. App. Phys.)
In the Yarasheski study, no increase in lean muscle mass was noticed in the subjects using GH alone, but significant gains were found in subjects that supplemented with IGF and GH...add in the steroids and look out! Yarasheski studied weight trained athletes, supplementing one group with GH alone, and one group with GH and IGF. "So IGF-1 alone does not promote such effects. (Leanness and increased lean mass) Nor does GH. It appears the combination of the two most consistently lead to increased protein synthesis." Both seem to negatively downregulate the other over time, so as to lead to diminishing returns. Cycling would be in order for that reason. Also supplementing both is necessary because one or the other alone will suppress the natural production of the non-supplemented Latest study by Yarashevski - with GH alone...8 to 12% change in lean body composition. 6% increase in muscle mass.

[redspy]

A Guide to HGH by RedBaron
Few other hormones have generated more excitement and hype in recent years than HGH. From reports of incredible fat loss to tales of increases in lean muscle that defies genetics, HGH has been touted as one of the panaceas of all bodybuilding woes. Depending on which statistics you trust, reports of as many as 80% of professional athletes have used or are using HGH as a supplement to their training program.

The intention of this guide is to give you a good working knowledge of HGH and how to intelligently use it. While this is not intended to cover every conceivable nuance of HGH use, it should provide you with a solid background to create your cycle around. I will be working on some other articles as well covering other peptides, as well as a guide for effective use of combinations (such as HGH/IGF-1/Slin/T3). For now, lets take a look at this hormone called HGH.

WHAT EXACTLY IS HGH?
Human Growth Hormone (somatotropin - also referred to as rHGH, HGH, or GH) is created by the pituitary gland, the primary form consisting of a 191 amino acid chain. When we are young, HGH is in big part responsible for the proper growth of bones, muscle, and other tissues. To little of this hormone and we remain dwarfs too much and we become giants and/or suffer from abnormal growth deformities. As we become adults, HGH is responsible for keeping muscles from wasting away, supports healthy immune system response, regulates aspects of our metabolic function dealing with increased fat metabolism and healthy body composition in later life, and maintains and repairs our skin and other tissues.

Our levels of HGH peak while we are adolescents and then begin to drop off sharply beginning in our 30s. By our 60s, our daily HGH secretion can be as little as 10% of what it was during our youth. Many of the markers of aging are affected by this decrease in HGH. Some of the results of this are:

Increase in fat.
Decrease in muscle and lean body structures.
Decreased skin texture resulting in a less youthful appearance.
Decreased bone density, onset of osteoporosis.
Decreased brain function, loss of intellect with aging.
Decreased sex drive.
Decrease in overall physical and mental well being.
Increase in sleep disorders, lower quality of sleep.
Depression and fatigue.

The addition of supplemental HGH beginning in the later 30s can reverse or improve these symptoms in the majority of people attempting therapy. This is why you will often hear references with respect to HGH as the fountain of youth and other similar terms. It can present a better quality of life for those aging as well as provide some great benefits for bodybuilders.

For bodybuilders, HGH (and the IGF-1 that is a result of its use) is the only substance that can actually initiate hyperplasia, which in the interest of our use in bodybuilding equates to new muscle cells. While use of anabolic steroids can cause hypertrophy (the enlargement of existing muscle cells), steroids do not offer the ability to recruit and mature more muscle cells. HGH can. HGH also increases protein synthesis, which can be responsible for hypertrophy. HGH also strengthens and heals connective tissues, cartilage, and tendons. These uses are what make it so attractive to athletes in all sports, and in bodybuilding in particular.

HOW IS HGH RELEASED IN YOUR BODY?
HGH is secreted from the pituitary in a pulsatile fashion, generally following a circadian rhythm. A number of stimuli can initiate an HGH secretion, the most powerful being short duration, high intensity exercise and sleep. During the first few hours of sleep (deep sleep stages), Somatostatin is turned off and GHRH is turned on, resulting in HGH bursts.

HGH secretion is stimulated by Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (GHRH) which is produced by the hypothalamus. HGH, and IGF-1 create a negative feedback loop, meaning when their levels are high, it blunts release of GHRH, which in turn blunts the release of more HGH.

Somatostatin (SS), secreted by the hypothalamus as well as other tissues inhibits the secretion of HGH Somatostatin in response to GHRH and to other stimulatory factors such as low blood glucose concentration. High levels of IGF-1 also stimulate Somatostatin secretion.

Ghrelin is a peptide hormone secreted from the stomach. Ghrelin binds to receptors on somatotrophs and potently stimulates secretion of growth hormone. Ghrelin, as the stimulator for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, potently stimulates secretion of growth hormone. The ghrelin signal is integrated with that of growth hormone releasing hormone and somatostatin to control the timing and magnitude of growth hormone secretion.

Once HGH is released, it is very short lived. It is generally metabolized and gone within a half-hour. During this half-hour, it travels to the liver and other tissues and induces them to secrete a polypeptide hormone called Insulin-like Growth Factor One (IGF-1).

HOW DOES HGH DO ITS WORK?
As mentioned above, HGH is short lived, but during its short half-hour or so activity per burst from the pituitary, it exerts itself through direct and indirect effects.

Its direct effects are the result of the HGH binding its receptor on target cells. Fat cells (adipocytes) as well as myocytes (muscle cells) have HGH receptors. On fat cells, HGH stimulates them to break down triglyceride and suppresses the fat cells ability to uptake circulating lipids.

Its indirect effects are in the process we described in the section above. When HGH travels to the liver, the result in its pass through the liver is the secretion of IGF-1. When this IGF-1 is secreted, it stimulates proliferation of chondrocytes (cartilage cells), which result in bone growth. It also plays a part in stimulating both the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts (the precursor to skeletal muscle fibers). IGF-1 also stimulates amino acid uptake and protein synthesis in muscle and other tissues.

HGH stimulates protein anabolism in many tissues. This reflects increased protein synthesis, decreased oxidation of proteins, and increased amino acid uptake. As mentioned above, HGH enhances fat utilization by stimulating triglyceride breakdown and oxidation in fat cells (adipocytes).

HGH can affect the function of other hormones. HGH can suppress the abilities of insulin to stimulate the uptake of glucose in tissues and enhance glucose synthesis in the liver, though administering HGH actually stimulates insulin secretion and can create a state of hyperinsulinemia. This combination can lead to decreased insulin sensitivity, which in turn can lead to hyperglycemia. HGH can also have a slight inhibitory effect on the thyroid, though this varies greatly from individual to individual. Well discuss more on how to deal with these potential effects later in this guide.

Okay, so we have a hormone that can assist with maintenance and healing of most of the bodys systems, can create new cartilage, bone, and muscle cells, can assist with protein uptake, decrease the oxidation of proteins, and can accelerate the rate at which fat is utilized. This paints the picture of the excitement that follows HGH. So how do we utilize this to our advantage? Lets look at what is involved in exogenous HGH use.

HOW DO I INCREASE MY LEVELS OF HGH?
To state it simply, we need to inject exogenous HGH. There are a few methods to increase your own production of HGH, but for the most part these arent going to give us the increase necessary to promote the benefits mentioned above in their full measure.

By adding several grams of Arginine and Glutamine to our daily supplement program, we can increase our levels of HGH. This increase equates for a very small amount though, so unless are very young or we are only in need of a modest jump in production, this is not an optimal way to proceed.

As mentioned at the beginning of our guide, intense short duration exercise will also induce a sizable HGH release.

Another possibility is to inject GHRH. This peptide is available from research companies and when injected at doses of 100mcgs per day, sub-q it does seem to show promise in increasing levels of HGH. At this stage, there isnt a real cost advantage to this over rHGH, so unless we are trying to promote some of the other forms of HGH in addition to the primary form, there is no clear advantage to this course of action.

What we are left with is acquiring and injecting recumbent Human Growth Hormone. The remainder of our guide will concentrate on its use.

INJECTIBLE HGH AND ITS USE
HGH only comes in the form of a lyophilized powder. Any other form that you see advertised or run across is NOT true HGH. The only way to administer true HGH is by sub-q or intramuscular injection.

HGH is somewhat fragile by nature, and it needs to be protected from light and heat. HGH should be stored between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit at all times both before and after its reconstitution.

There are a couple of American brands of HGH that can survive in normal room temperature for a reasonable amount of time BEFORE reconstitution (Genotropin 3 months, Saizen until expiration) , but for the most part it is better safe than sorry. All brands of HGH should be refrigerated after being reconstituted, and all brands should be protected from light at all times.

RECONSTITUTING AND MEASURING YOUR HGH
So you now have a vial HGH in the form of lyophilized powder. The amount of this powder should be indicated on the vial somewhere. It will either be stated in Units (IU's) or in Milligrams (mg). If it is stated in milligrams, the conversion is most commonly stated as 1mg = ~3IU's (its really more precisely 1mg=2.7IU). We will use this 1mg = 3IU's for our guide since this is the standard most commonly referenced by manufacturers.

What we need to do with this lyophilized powder is add either some Bacteriostatic water (BW), Sterile Water, or even liquid vitamin B12 to reconstitute it and make it ready to inject.

What we choose to reconstitute it with should depend on how rapidly we use the GH. Bacteriostatic water is basically sterile water with 0.9% Benzyl Alcohol added, and this Alcohol keeps anything from growing in the water, thus making it safe for injection for the longest amount of time, up to three weeks. If the amount of GH in our vial is enough to last for a few weeks at our desired daily dosage, BW is the wisest choice. For the common use for bodybuilding (2-5 IU's a day) and the more commonly used vial size (10 IU's), it isn't really as critical which of the above listed dilutents are used......the vial will be used up long before bacteria or anything begins to grow in our reconstituted HGH. It is really personal preference outside of the considerations listed above.

RECONSTITUTING
1.) Take a alcohol swab and swab the stopper of both your HGH vial and the vial of the dilutent (BW, sterile water, B12).

2.) Take a 3cc syringe with a 23 or 25 gauge needle (1" or 1.5") and draw up and amount of your preferred dilutent. The amount isn't critical, other than making sure you know exactly how much you have used. The best rule of thumb is choose an amount that will make measuring the final product easy

example- 1ml(cc) per 10 IU vial of HGH would mean each 10 mark on a U100 slin syringe would equal 1 IU of HGH

2ml(cc) added to a 10 IU vial of HGH would mean that the 20 mark on a U100 syringe would equal 1 IU of HGH

3ml(cc) added to a 10 IU vial of HGH would mean that the 30 mark on a U100 syringe would equal 1 IU of HGH

3.) Take this syringe with the dilutent and push it into the vial of lyophilized powder, angling so that the needle touches the side of the vial, and avoiding shooting the dilutent directly on the lyophilized powder. Make it run slowly down the side of the vial (don't let it forcefully rush in).

4.) After all of the dilutent has been added to the HGH vial, gentling swirl (do NOT agitate or violently shake the vial) until the lyophilized powder has dissolved and you are left with a clear liquid. The HGH is now ready for use. Store your now reconstituted HGH in the refrigerator. If you used BW to reconstitute it will be good for three weeks. If you used sterile water, it will be good for about 5 days.

MEASURING
After you have successfully reconstituted your HGH, now you need to know how to measure the desired amount out for injection. You will want to use a U100 insulin syringe to draw out and inject your HGH.

Here is the way to figure out how much to draw out. Since you know the amount of IU's in your HGH vial, and you also know how much water you have diluted it with, we just divide this out as follows:

You will need to know the following to be successful -

1ml = 1cc = 100 IU's

So we take our number of IU's of HGH from the label of the dry lyophilized powder (most commonly 10 IU's for all of us Jintropin users), and we divide that into the amount of dilutent we used.

example- We used 1cc(ml) of water. We have a 10 IU vial of HGH.
From our formula above we know that 1cc = 100 IU's, so we have 100 IU's of water.
We now divide the 100 IU's (the amount of our water) by 10 IU's (the amount of our HGH)

100 IU / 10 IU = 10

This 10 will perfectly correspond with the markings on a U100 insulin syringe. In our example every 10 mark on our syringe will equal 1 IU of HGH. Want to draw out 2 IU's of GH? ....draw out to the 20 mark on the syringe.

This is about all there is to it. So to recap, just keep straight:

1.) How much actual HGH you are dealing with (read from the vial)
2.) How much water (dilutent) you are using to add to the actual HGH.
3.) Divide the amount of water in units by the amount of GH in units.
4.) This result will equal the measurement on your U100 Insulin syringe per unit of GH.
5.) multiply the number you get it step 4 by how many units you want to inject. This is the number to draw to on your syringe.

Now that we know what HGH is and how to reconstitute and measure it, lets look at some strategies for using it to our best advantage

STRATEGIES FOR USING HGH
There are many different approaches to taking HGH. The right approach for your particular situation will depend on your goals. For many, HGH is a general purpose supplement to help maintain low bodyfat percentages and reasonable levels of lean body mass. For others who have reached their genetic potential for growth, HGH is a supplement that can assist in continued growth beyond what mother nature gave you to work with. For yet others, it is a supplement that is used for general health and healing of injuries. Lets look at each of these uses with respect to a reasonable HGH program.

To begin with, it should be stated that for the vast majority of HGH users, results are not rapid and earthshaking in nature. If your idea of using HGH is to get ripped in a few weeks, gaining 20 pounds of muscle in a matter of a month or two, or being miraculously healed in a matter of a few injections you are likely in for a BIG disappointment. HGH does some pretty incredible things, but it HAS to be viewed as a long-term endeavor. A reasonable length HGH cycle would be 20-30 weeks in length. While you will always be able to find the one or two individuals who will make great strides in a short amount of time, the majority need to be dedicated to its use for the long haul for it to be a worthy venture.

As mentioned in our introduction to HGH, one of the major roles it plays in growth is by its passing through the liver, which in turn secretes IGF-1. This process is cumulative in nature, and it will take some time for your exogenous HGH use to bring your IGF-1 levels to create an environment conducive to optimal growth. While it is true that HGH begins shuttling nutrients to your muscles, and begins mobilizing fat from the first injection, these behind the scenes benefits will only be VISIBLE several weeks (up to 12) down the road.

DOSING

For anti-aging, general health & healing, fat mobilization
For these purposes, a dose of 2-3 IUs per day will be sufficient for the majority. A dose of 1.5 to 2.0 IUs is considered to be a full replacement dose for those in their middle-age and beyond.

For gaining lean muscle and substantially improving body composition
For this purpose a dose of 4-8 IUs per day will be necessary. Most people will respond very well at a dose of 4-5 IU's per day.
For maximum benefit in this regard, the addition of Testosterone, Insulin, and low-dose T3 would be something to seriously consider. More on this in our comparative cycle guide of HGH/Insulin/IGF-1.

Regardless of your goal, as a general rule the best way to begin your HGH program is to start with a low dose and ease your body into the higher doses. This will allow you to avoid or at least minimize many of the more common sides of HGH such as bloating and joint pain & swelling. Most people can tolerate up to approximately 2 IUs with few sides, so that would be a good place to start.

For many using this as a general health supplement, that is as high as you will need to go. For others this will be only the start. Above 2.5 3 IUs, I would definitely suggest that your split your injections into two per day instead of one unless it is just not feasible to do so.

Here is what a good ramp up program would look like:
Weeks 1-4 = HGH 2 IUs one injection
Week 5 = HGH 2.5 IUs one injection
Week 6 = HGH 3.0 IUs split into two injections of 1.5 IUs each
Week 7 = HGH 3.5 IUs split into two injections of 1.75 IUs each
And so forth until you reach your desired dose.

If at any point in this progression you begin to have unbearable bloating or joint pain, drop the dose by 25% and hold it at this lower dosage for a couple of weeks. If the sides subside, begin your progression back up toward your desired level. If the sides remain, lower your dose again and hold it at the lower level for two weeks before beginning the upward progression. This method will keep your HGH experience a good one and side free for the most part.

For a normal cycle of 5-8 months in length, injecting once or twice a day, 7 days a week should be fine. While there are studies that suggest that the suppression from exogenous HGH is short lived (about 4 hours from injection), there are no large-scale studies to indicate safety of everyday injections in long-term use. There are studies by anti-aging groups demonstrating that a day or two off per week is adequate to protect the pituitary and its triggers over long cycles. If your use of HGH becomes more a lifestyle than a single cycle, I would consider running it 5 on/2 off, or 6 on/ 1 off until such time as we have reliable data demonstrating long-term safety sans any degradation of your own output or the triggers initiating that output.

Another option would be to run your HGH cycle everyday for the first two months to get your IGF-1 levels elevated quickly and to a level to assist you in an anabolic way, then drop back to 5 days a week.

TIMING
As described above, the body produces HGH is a pulsatile fashion throughout the day with the heaviest pulses occurring approximately 2-3 hours after going to bed as you fall into a deep sleep. Injectible HGH is completely absorbed and put to use within approximately 3 hours. The strategy with respect to timing depends somewhat on our age and the other elements of our cycle. As you will see below, there is no single best strategy it depends a lot on your individual situation.

For those that are between their late 20s and early 50s, there is still a reasonable chance that your own endogenous production of HGH is still at a reasonable level. The best time to take and injection, this being the case, would be early morning . After your bodys own release of HGH in the night. If you get up to go to the bathroom in the early morning, this is probably the perfect time to take a couple of units of HGH. This will be the least disruptive time to take an injection of HGH. The second best time would be first thing in the morning when you wake up.

If you are splitting your doses, two times of the day when your cortisol levels are at peak are when you wake up and in the early afternoon. Another good strategy is to take your HGH injections at these times. Cortisol is very catabolic by nature and a well -timed HGH injection can go a long way toward blunting this effect.

If you are in your late 50s or beyond, or if for some reason you have a condition that has rendered your pituitary incapable of a normal release of HGH, a great time to take HGH is right before bed. This allows you to closely mimic the natural pattern that would occur if your pituitary were functioning properly. For the rest of us, taking your HGH right before bed is going to end up creating a negative feedback loop, robbing you of your bodys own nightly pulse of HGH.

Yet another strategy should be considered if you are using insulin with your HGH. Insulin should be used immediately post workout. HGH and insulin do some great things together they shuttle nutrients in a very complimentary way with each other, and the combination of HGH and Insulin create the best environment for IGF-1 production. If you are using insulin immediately post workout, this would be a great time to take a couple of units of HGH.

SIDE EFFECTS HOW TO MANAGE THEM

While HGH for the most part is well tolerated, there are some side effects that can occur. The biggest and most common side effect is bloating and joint pain. The chances of getting these can be minimized or even eliminated by utilizing the ramp up method discussed above.

If you are younger than your late 20s, it would be very wise to enter an HGH cycle under the guidance of an MD, who can monitor and confirm whether your growth plates have fused. While abnormal bone growth with HGH use is not common, if used at the wrong point in your bodys development, it could cause disproportionate growth.

If you have a history of cancer or other tumors (at any age), it would be wise to get a complete checkup and be monitored by an MD to make sure that there are no active tumors before your HGH cycle. While HGH (and IGF-1) wont cause cancer or tumors, they can create an environment that can allow already existing, active tumors to grow at an accelerated rate.

Beyond this, there really isn't anything specific that you would HAVE to take with HGH. There are supplements that you could take for specific conditions that are possible with HGH use. The way people react to HGH is a pretty individual thing. Some people get very little suppression of any kind, others don't see any gains from adding HGH because of significant enough suppression of one kind or another. Here's a general rundown of a few of the bigger ones.

For the slight thyroid suppression that is possible:
conservative - take nothing
moderate - t-100x, bladderwrack, coleus forskolin, selinium, zinc, chromium, copper
aggressive - T3 at a dose of 12.5 - 25 mcgs per day

For the insulin resistance that is possible:
conservative - 300mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid and 200 - 300mcgs of Chromium Piccinolate
moderate - 15mg of Actos - a prescription med to increase insulin sensitivity, Glucophage or Metformin to dispose of excess glucose and increase uptake in muscles.
aggressive - add a few IU's of insulin to your HGH cycle

For healthy test levels to best utilize HGH
conservative - do nothing
moderate - use Tongkat or Tribulus
aggressive - add 200-300 milligrams (or more) of testosterone weekly to your HGH cycle

For protection against prostate growth
conservative - do nothing
moderate - use Saw Palmetto (approx 2000mg)
aggressive - use Proscar or equivalent

For those that have a problem with breast tissue growth while on HGH
For those that suffer from this, there is a difference of opinion as to the cause. In the presence of adequate estrogen, HGH can prompt growth or breast tissue. Others theorize that HGH can raise prolactin levels, which can prompt breast growth.
The current consensus seems to be that the best approach for those with this problem is twofold - Take 200mg of B6 (or Bromo if B6 is not sufficient) and also use 20-40mg of Tamoxifen (Nolva) to control this. This is a pretty rare condition, but I have talked with more than a few bros that have reported problems of late.

Once again, I wouldn't say that all of these are necessary for everyone. I would use these supplements as needed to correct whatever conditions that arise with your HGH use. As stated above, reaction to HGH (and just about anything else we use) is very individual.

Hopefully this guide has given you a better understanding of HGH and what it can do for you. HGH, especially when used in conjunction with an AAS cycle, will produce some high-quality, lean mass gains. It can also be used in conjunction with IGF-1 and insulin, which will be the topic of our comparative guide, that I will post as soon as I get it finished.

[redspy]

Reconstituting and measuring your GH

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This will be applicable to any brand of GH and any vial size.

OK, you have your vial of lyophilized GH (powder). No matter the brand, you know how many IUs are in each vial, as that will be noted on the vial. If it's in terms of mgs, just assume (estimate) that 1mg = ~3IU.

It does NOT matter how much water (BW or sterile water) you use. I tend to use more than what most kits include, because this makes it more dilute and means that you're less likely to leave some behind in the vial and syringe.


Pick a volume of water to add to your vial....I don't care what it is. For a 10IU vial, I use 2mL, but between 1 and 2mLs is good IMO.

use a syringe with a 1" or better yet a 1.5" needle attached to reconstitute. Load the syringe with water (BW ideally, but sterile water is fine, despite popular belief). Hold the plunger so that when inserting the needle into the GH vial the vacuum doesn't suck the water out. Once the needle is inserted, angle it so that the needle tip is pointed at the side of the vial....not directly at the powder. Now, simply release the plunger and allow the vacuum force to suck the water out into the vial. Remove the needle and gently swirl the GH vial until fully reconstituted.

Now measuring....this is much easier than people make it out to be. Just use this generic formula:

You know how many IUs are in your vial. You also know how much water was used to reconstitute it (since you just added it). how many IUs do you want to inject? 2IU? Fine, so be it. say your vial was a 10IU vial, 2IU is 20% of 10IU, so you simply draw up 20% of the total volume used to reconstitute your GH. If you used 1mL for a 10IU vial, and you want to draw 2IU, then you simply draw 0.2cc. if you used 2mL for a 10IU vial, you'd draw 0.4cc (since 20% of 2mL is 0.4cc). Most everyone is using a U-100 insulin syringe for GH injections. Each 10IU mark is 0.1cc, so the 20IU mark is 0.2cc, you can figure out the rest.

That's it....it's easy, if you think of it this way.

[redspy]

A Cycle Example - HGH + LR3 + Slin + T3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Putting it all together - HGH + IGF-1 + Slin by RedBaron
A basic guide for the lazy man

There are volumes of information and studies available about using HGH, IGF-1, and Insulin, but for the most part coming up with a good cycle including all of these is a tedious process and requires more reading than most people wish to do or have the time to do. The following is meant to a quick and simple reference to what a cycle including all three might look like and a brief description of the action of each component. This is in no wise intended to be a comprehensive guide nor is it presented as the ONLY way to run a cycle such as this. This is merely as an example of one method that will definitely yield results.

THE CYCLE

Weeks 1- (20-30) HGH On 5/ off 2
Weeks 1-5, 11-15, (21-25)
2 2.5 IUs - first thing in the morning on workout days early afternoon on non-workout days
Weeks 6-10, 16-20, (26-30)
2 2.5 IUs first thing in the morning
2 2.5 IUs post workout with your insulin (or alternatively before workout if desired)
All HGH injected subQ into abdomen, obliques, fronts of the thighs, upper triceps

Weeks 1-5, 11-15, (21-25) Long R3 IGF-1 Every day
60mcgs intramuscular
post work out on workout days
first thing in the morning on non workout days

Weeks 6-10, 16-20, (26-30) Humalog Workout days only
8IUs immediately post workout, intramuscular

IMPORTANT / CRITICAL - Post Insulin Nutrition
Immediately after Humalog injection do the following
Injection + 5 minutes drink shake with 10g glutamine / 10g creatine / 55g dextrose (7 grams per IU of Insulin)
Injection + 15 minutes drink shake with 80g of whey isolate protein in water
Injection + 60 75 minutes eat a protein / carb meal with 40-50g of protein, 40-50g of carbs, NO FATS (you may wish to add another whey isolate protein drink with this meal)
Avoid fats for 2-3 hours for Humalog IM, 3-4 hours for Humalog subQ, 4-5 hours for Humulin-R.
keep some glucose tablets or other simple carbs on hand (Orange Juice, Full sugar Coke, etc.) for the active window of your insulin. Hypo symptoms can and will hit hard and fast and you will have little time to react. This is the main danger of insulin use. Be ready.

OPTIONAL Addition to above cycle

Weeks 1- (20-30) T3 - Every Day
12.5 mcgs - 25 mcgs taken each day

[alternative method if additional fat loss is necessary - Only use if sufficient AAS cycle is present to protect and support lean tissue]
Weeks 1-5, 11-15, (21-25) T3 Every Day
For each of the 5 week runs of T3:
Days 1-3 25 mcgs
Days 4-6 50 mcgs
Days 7-9 75 mcgs
Days 10 - 20 100 mcgs
Days 21 - 24 75 mcgs
Days 25 - 27 50 mcgs
Days 28 - 30 25 mcgs
Days 31 - 35 12.5 mcgs

DESCRIPTION OF THE ELEMENTS OF THIS CYCLE

HGH
HGH should ideally be used for 20-30 week cycles (or longer). The dosage should be between 2-3IU per day if you are using GH primarily for fat loss, 4-5 IUs a day for both fat loss and muscle growth, and approximately 1.0 2.0 IUs a day for females. It is best to split your injections 1/2 first thing in the morning, 1/2 early afternoon if your dose is above 3.0 IUs per day. Your pituitary will naturally produce about 6-9 pulses of GH per day. Each injection you take will create a negative feedback loop that will suppress these pulses for about 4 hours. By taking your injections first thing in the morning and early afternoon you will still allow your body to release its biggest pulse, which normally occurs shortly after going to sleep at night.

When starting out with your HGH cycle, for most people it is wise to begin you dose at 1.5 2.0IU per day for the first couple of weeks, and then begin increasing your dose by 0.5 unit every week or two until you reach your desired level. While it isn't an absolute neccessity to do this, if you are sensitive to the type of sides HGH present you will often times avoid these sides of joint pain/swelling, and bloating/water retention by slowly acclaimating to your ultimate 4-5 IU/day goal.

You should use an U100 insulin syringe for injecting HGH, and inject it subQ into your abdomen, obliques, top of thighs, triceps. Rotate injection sites. HGH can have a small localized fat loss benefit, so keep this in mind when choosing your injection sites.

IGF-1
When HGH makes it pass through the liver, a release of IGF-1 is a result. IGF-1 appears to be the key player in muscle growth. It stimulates both the differentiation and proliferation of myoblasts. It also stimulates amino acid uptake and protein synthesis in muscle and other tissues. While HGH will cause an increase in your IGF-1 level over the course of a few months, HGH has a cumulative effect, so the addition of IGF-1 will greatly speed up the time to results.

There are two types of IGF-1 that will typically be used by bodybuilders. One is bio-identical huIGF-1, a 70 amino acid string. The other is Long R3 IGF-1, which is an 83 amino acid analog of human IGF-I comprising the complete human IGF-I sequence with the substitution of an Arg for the Glu at position 3 (hence R3), and a 13 amino acid extension peptide at the N-terminus (hence the long). This 13 amino acid "side chain" helps prevent the IGF-1 from being so easily bound, and thus increases its active window exponentially. Which of these you use depends on your goal.

HuIGF-1 is very short lived in the body (half life of probably around 10 minutes). This type of IGF-1 is very useful if you are seeking local site growth. Since it is so short lived, little of the IGF-1 makes it to other tissues and IGF-1 receptors in the body. The way to inject this is immediately post work out into the muscle that you wish to have local site growth. Use a U100 insulin syringe, and inject 60-80mcgs bilaterally into the desired muscle immediately post workout. For this type of IGF-1, I would use it workout days only or if desired you could inject on non-workout days first thing in the morning into a muscle group worked the previous day.

For Long R3 IGF-1, it isnt as critical that you inject into a local site as long R3 has a active window of many hours, and is designed specifically to resist being bound by IGF binding proteins.

Since it is common to reconstitute this type of IGF-1 with Benzyl Alcohol, Acetic Acid, or Hydrochloric Acid, I would still recommend that you inject intra-muscular. While for some purposes of nerve regrowth, etc. subQ is a somewhat superior injection method, it can and probably will leave a nice red irritated spot if you inject subQ, and it is not superior for muscle growth purposes anyway.

I still inject into a muscle just worked to take advantage of increased IGF-1 receptors present as a result of tearing down muscles with workout, but because of the long activity window of this type of IGF-1 any muscle will work well and give you good results,. I would suggest that you inject between 40-80mcgs per day everyday immediately post workout on workout days, and first thing in the morning on non-workout days.

Use a U-100 insulin syringe with 1/2" needle to inject IGF-1 intramuscular (bilaterally for HuIGF-1, bilaterally optional for Long R3)

Insulin
Working out causes us to end up in a catabolic state. It is important to back in a positive nitrogen balance as soon as possible. When not using insulin, we drink some dextrose with our protein to cause an insulin spike immediately post workout to help shuttle the protein and sugars to the muscles.

Insulin is very good at shuttling nutrients to the muscles, and works in a very complimentary manner with GH in the types of things that they shuttle. Also, HGH can cause an amount of insulin resistance, so adding some insulin to your cycle will go a long ways toward reducing the elevated blood glucose levels caused by HGH's interfering with the liver's ability to uptake glucose, and thus help offset any potential resistance that might occur during your HGH cycle. Also by taking our HGH with or near the time of our insulin injection (immediately post workout) we are ensuring a great influx of growth factors. HGH + Slin passed through the liver = BIG secretion of growth factors. These growth factors will equate to muscle growth, rapid healing, etc.

For the purposes that we are using insulin, a dosage of 4-10IUs is adequate and should be used immediately post workout. I personally prefer using Humalog intramuscular as it will cause a rapid spike and clear out of your system quickly. You can use it sub-q or use Humulin-R instead, but each of these will result in a longer active window, thus a longer time to avoid eating any fats and watching your carb intake. Any fats or over abundance of carbs will end up being stored as fat during insulin's active window. The approximate windows are:
Humalog - IM - 2-3 hours
Sub-q - 3-4 hours
Humulin -R - IM - 3-4 hours
Sub-q 4-5 hours

Use a U-100 insulin syringe with 1/2" needle to inject IM immediately post workout. Alternatively, you can inject subQ if desired or if you wish a longer active window for some reason. Begin with a dose of 2IU's or so, and increase the dose each workout day until you reach your 8IU's.

If for some reason you wish to avoid insulin, I would still suggest that immediately post workout you spike you own endogenous insulin by drinking 80 grams of dextrose / 40 grams of whey isolate protein. While this certainly won't do the work of 8-10 IU's of Humalog, it will most certainly assist getting your muscle back in a nitrogen positive environment in a short amount of time.


T3
HGH can have a slight inhibitory effect on your thyroid. For most people this is minimal and does not require any additional thyroid be taken, but if you wish to augment protein synthesis as well as give yourself a slight metabolic boost in thyroid without shutting down your own production, you can add 12.5mcg of T3 daily to your HGH, IGF-1, Insulin cycle. This will aid both in bulking and cutting.

If you add T3 to your cycle, you should also consider taking some thyroid support supplements such as t-100x, bladderwrack, coleus forskolin. You should check and make sure your intake of trace minerals (selenium, zinc, copper) is sufficient to aid in the conversion of T4 to T3.

If you are going to take more than 12.5 mcg of T3, a wise method is to cycle the dose both up and down to avoid a rebound effect when going off the T3 portion of your cycle. The other consideration is that T3 is very indiscriminant in it stoking of the metabolic fire. It will happily burn both fat and lean tissue, so I would only recommend its use at much above 25mcgs per day (and definitely if used at 50mcgs or above at which point IGFBP's will rise significantly) if you are on a reasonably healthy anabolic cycle to protect your lean tissue. For strictly our use with an HGH cycle and use in assisting with protein sythesis, 12.5mcg will be sufficient and will not be problematic.

Also another consideration if cycling in higher doses, cycle your T3 in conjunction with your LR3 IGF-1 use. The thought behind this is that LR3 binds poorly to IGFBP's, so you will be able to use an elevated dose of T3 (which will likely increase IGFBP's) and still keep elevated IGF-1 levels. I would suggest that use of T3 above 25mcg's or so would not be advisable for too many 5 weeks segments of your complete cycle. As one of the major "anabolic" benefits of HGH use is elevated IGF-1 levels, we don't want to create an environment of radically increased IGF binding proteins. Abuse of T3 will go a long way in creating that environment hostile to IGF-1.

Well, I think that about covers the peptide suite all that is needed to complete this cycle is the addition of your prefered testosterone combo (cyp, e, prop, etc.) and you have a great combination for bulking or cutting.

Happy growing!
RedBaron

[redspy]

The AP guide to rHGH use - Posted by Almost Pro.
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Disclaimer (warning): This information is for entertainment value only. I am not a medical doctor, therefore, I am not qualified to offer any medical advice nor advise you on how to take any substances. What follow is my experience and knowledge of HGH.

According to studies in the New England Journal of Medicine GH use will:
Shed Bodyfat, Increase Muscle Tone; Boost your Energy, Strength, and Endurance
Reduce Wrinkles and Create Tighter, Smoother Skin; Help you Sleep Better, Improve Sex Drive and Performance, Improve Immune and Heart Function, Bone Density, Healing Time and Cholesterol, Improve Brain Function, Memory and Mental Focus

Wow! Sure sounds like a wonder drug to me! Yeah right, anyway here is some real world information for bodybuilders. Somatropin (rHGH) is produced by the pituitary gland and is responsible in adolescence for growth of tissues, protein deposition, and the breakdown of sub-q fat stores. As we age, growth hormone levels decrease but still remain active in the body, releasing in cycles during the day. Synthetic growth hormone used exogenously by bodybuilders is a 191 chain sequence of amino acids that replicates the bodies natural production of growth hormone.

Growth hormone has been in use by bodybuilders since the early 1980s, though at this time, HGH was being extracted from the pituitary glands of cadavers and had enormous side effects, most prominently Creutzfeldt Jacob disease. This is a rare and fatal brain disease, it need not be discussed here since it is not possible in synthetic forms of rHGH, but if you want more info just run a search in google. rHGH stimulates growth in most body tissues which is due to an increase in cell number rather than cell size. This includes muscle tissue as well as internal organs, hence the dreaded GH gut.

Use of growth hormone by bodybuilders will cause increased muscle size, localized and overall bodyfat loss, increased protein synthesis, increased glucose output by the liver, increased insulin resistance and lowered thyroid output. Stored fats will be used as a primary fuel source, thus the body fat loss.

So is rHGH the wonder drug everyone lusts after? It certainly is beneficial but not for everyone. You must be willing to take risks to achieve maximum benefits from its use, as well as substantial financial investment. Do it right the first time or dont do it at all! You will achieve faster and greater growth from cycles of steroids than with GH, though once you reach a plateau, not many products work better.

Ok, so now you have decided that this is the drug for you and you are ready to try it, so what next? Well here are some general guidelines to follow for maximal results from GH use:

Daily injections are a must to maintain stable blood levels as GH has a very short life span in the body. It will peak almost immediately after injection and will clear the body with a half-life of only 20-30 minutes. It is best injected first thing in the morning upon rising to raise levels that are very low from sleeping, and immediately after training. I do not recommend injecting before bed as many bodybuilders do, since that is the time of day that your body will release naturally high levels of growth hormone, and exogenous use will only block that release. If you take it in the morning when levels are low, after training when levels are depleted and then let your body release while sleeping, you are getting one extra release for free! GH is best taken long term, short cycles do not maximize the benefits of muscle cell increase, only fat loss. Here is how I take my GH for maximum benefits:

6iu ed injected sub-q, preferably in the stomach
3iu injected upon rising, 3iu injected immediately post-workout
10iu insulin taken 30 minutes after GH injection
25mcg cytomel ed
use of androgens such as testosterone

The timing of GH and insulin injections is critical. If insulin is injected before the GH, your pancreas will stop release of insulin monitoring due to the exogenous source. GH when injected will mobilize stored glycogen release which will turn into glucose for energy. This will cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels that will not shut down or stop rising due to the feedback loop being momentarily cut off. You will go hyperglycemic and end up in the hospital. You must first inject your GH, then the insulin; this will cause a rise in glucose release by the GH and will be controlled and shuttled into muscle tissue for repair by the later injection of insulin.
Use of cytomel or some type of T3 hormone is critical since GH use will severely lower thyroid levels. Small exogenous sources are necessary to maintain normal levels and 25 mcg ed is sufficient. This will also aid in body fat loss by maintaining proper thyroid functioning.
Use of androgens is also necessary due to the promotion of anabolism by increasing muscle size that benefits the new cell number increase by the GH. Remember GH will not directly cause muscle cell size increase, just the number of cells, therefore, androgens are necessary to increase size. Testosterone or trenbolone are both highly androgenic and perfect for out stack.

One myth that needs to be cleared up: high doses of GH use and the 5 on 2 off program. First, if you find that you are not achieving results off of 4-6iu ed, than something else is the problem, not your dose. The use of high doses if primarily cause by heat damage to the protein chain causing denatured proteins. This will decrease the effect and you must use higher doses to achieve the same effect. Other reasons for high dose use are; fake gh, not using insulin, cytomel or test, poor diet, improper timing schedule and the 5 on 2 off. This program was recommended by dealers as a way to move product by offering a lower cost cycle. No doctor in the world would recommend this protocol, Peak blood concentrations are reached in 2-6 hours after injection, and therefore, multiple daily injections are necessary to achieve stable release schedule and results. If you take your last injection Friday afternoon, and then not again till Monday morning, then you have negated all effects offered by the 6 hour concentration. Yes, you will achieve results using a 5 on 2 off program, but not as well as if you inject ed. Its your money; I can only tell you how to optimize use.

Side effects of GH use include; carpal tunnel syndrome, tingling in the extremities, numbness in the hands and feet, increased organ growth, decreased insulin reception, acromegaly but only in extreme dose use, and decreased thyroid output causing fat accumulation. If you find that you are experiencing any of the above side effects, lower your dose immediately. This is especially important with carpal tunnel. If you feel like your wrists are hurting then lower the dose until pain subsides. You do not want to have that surgery, trust me.

GH is a fantastic product, beneficial for many reasons. Most people will experience thinning of the skin, increased vascularity, fat loss, permanent increases in muscle size due to the cell number increase, and overall feelings of wellness. You will probably need less sleep and feel supercharged all day long. I highly recommend GH use, but only when you have the money to do it right. 4-6 month cycles are optimal, year round if you are over age 35.