HGH (Somatropin)_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as somatropin, human growth hormone, GH, HGH, HGH 191AA, 191AA
Real injected growth hormone, the most powerful and priciest option.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is HGH (Somatropin)?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
It is the most powerful option for muscle, fat loss, and recovery, but also the priciest and the most likely to cause side effects if misused. It is prescription-only.
HGH (somatropin) is lab-made human growth hormone itself, injected directly rather than coaxed out of your body.
What it's used for
Real, injected growth hormone, the most powerful and most expensive option for muscle, fat loss, recovery, and anti-aging.
How does HGH (Somatropin) work?
What it does in the body, and where.HGH is growth hormone itself, made in a lab and injected. Everything else in this category tries to persuade your body to make more of this; this is the thing.
- 01It binds growth hormone receptors directlyNo pituitary involvement, no feedback loop, no ceiling imposed by your own regulation.
- 02Your liver makes IGF-1 in responseIGF-1 carries out most of the muscle and tissue effects, which is why it is the marker doctors actually measure.
- 03Fat breaks down and protein buildsThe two effects people are after, and they are real and well documented at clinical doses.
- 04Side effects scale with dose and durationFluid retention, joint pain, carpal tunnel, insulin resistance. These are dose-dependent and reversible early, less so later.
- 05It is a controlled substance in the USPrescribing outside approved indications is illegal, not merely off-label.
A schematic of the compound's mechanism, not a diagnostic image.
What else is it used for?
Each use below carries its own evidence level. Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
- Replacing growth hormone in adults and children whose bodies do not make enough, whether from a pituitary tumour, surgery, radiation, injury, or no identified causeFDA-approved
- Helping children grow who are unusually short because of certain conditions, including Turner syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Noonan syndrome, SHOX gene deficiency, being born small for their age, and some cases with no identified causeFDA-approved
- Increasing muscle mass and body weight in people with severe wasting from serious illness, including HIVFDA-approved
- Losing fat, especially deep belly fat around the organs, and gaining lean muscle. Well documented in people who are genuinely deficient. Much weaker evidence in healthy adults using it for physiqueClinical use
- Recovering faster from training and healing tissue after injuryEarly research
- Skin firmness and texture, and hair and nail qualityEarly research
- Energy, sleep quality, and general wellbeing, which is the main anti-aging claim and the least well supportedEarly research
The published record
6,934
Records indexed for HGH (Somatropin)400 papers and 100 trials indexed in detail.
330 in humans, 181 of them original studies.
820 registered trials, 22 with posted results among the 100 indexed.
Counted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person. Human means indexed under humans, which includes reviews and work on human cells. Original studies exclude reviews and lab work on human cells.Last updated 12 September 2026.
At a glance
Four things to know about HGH (Somatropin)
Evidence
Clinical use
Category
Growth hormone
Common vial
10 IU
Half-life
2 to 10 hours, depending on the product
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.1 up to 3 IU per day (start low, increase slowly), daily. Not cycled in medical useClinical use
Prescribed for deficiency, it is taken daily and continuously, with the dose adjusted by blood work rather than paused. The cycling schedules attached to it come from bodybuilding practice, where the concern is suppressing your own production, not tolerance.
How long does it stay in the body?
The half-life, and where the figure comes from.2 to 10 hours, depending on the productFDA label
Nine somatropin products are on the market and each label gives its own figure. Norditropin is 7 to 10 hours, Serostim 4.3, Zorbtive 4, Humatrope 3.8, Genotropin 3, Zomacton 2.7, Omnitrope 2.5 to 2.8, Nutropin AQ 2.1 and Saizen about 2. The labels also say the long figure is caused by slow absorption from the injection site rather than slow clearance: given into a vein instead, growth hormone clears in about 21 minutes.
Source: Norditropin label section 12.3, DailyMed setid 1058e17c-9261-459c-a3e6-fae38d196c14. Humatrope label section 12.3, accessdata 019640. Genotropin, Omnitrope, Saizen, Serostim, Zomacton and Zorbtive labels.
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
How do I dose and price it?
Enter your vial and your dose. Pick a mix. We show the draw and the cost.The vial holds a fixed amount of drug. Adding more water does not make more drug, it just spreads it thinner, so you draw a bigger number on the syringe for the same dose.
Choose your mix
Measuring the water1 mL = one full 100-unit syringe.
Your draw
20 / 100 unitsHGH (Somatropin) starts at $49.99 across 5 vendors.
10 listings, last read Sep 5, 2026. Shipping and card fees are not included.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Dry powder in the freezer or fridge. Once mixed, fridge, and use within about a month.
Unmixed lyophilized HGH (Somatropin) keeps for a long time cold. Once you add water the clock starts: most reconstituted vials hold up for roughly 28 to 30 days at fridge temperature. Keep it out of light, and do not freeze it after mixing.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Check which unit is on your vial. Growth hormone is measured two ways and most vials print only one of them. The conversion is fixed: 1 mg is 3 IU, so a 10 IU vial holds about 3.3 mg and a 36 IU vial holds 12 mg. Entering a milligram figure where the calculator expects IU, or the reverse, moves your dose by three times in one direction or the other. The ratio is the same for every brand because it is set against a single international reference standard.
Who should avoid it
- Active cancer, because growth hormone may speed tumour growth
- Serious acute illness, where it has been linked to worse outcomes
- Children whose growth plates have already closed, if the goal is height
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
- Active eye damage from diabetes
Stop and get help
- New lumps or masses, or a mole that is changing
- Severe or worsening carpal tunnel symptoms
- Signs of high blood sugar such as constant thirst, frequent urination, or blurred vision
- Severe swelling of the face, hands, or feet
- Severe headaches or changes in vision
- Severe joint or muscle pain that does not settle when the dose is lowered
- Signs of an allergic reaction such as face or throat swelling, hives, or trouble breathing
Common effects
- Water retention and puffiness, especially early
- Joint and muscle aches
- Tingling or numbness in the hands
- Higher blood sugar over time
- Breast tissue growth in men
- Symptoms of an underactive thyroid such as tiredness, weight gain, and feeling cold. Growth hormone replacement can reveal a thyroid problem that was already there but hidden, so thyroid levels are usually checked
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is HGH (Somatropin) approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.Not approved, but legal to obtain. HGH (Somatropin) has no FDA approval, and it can be prescribed or prepared by a compounding pharmacy in the United States.
- Approval statusClinical use
- RouteUnder the skin (subcutaneous)
- CheckedAugust 2026
What has happened recently
We have not yet written a full regulatory note for this compound. The status above is current as of the date shown.
Banned in drug-tested sport. Most research peptides are prohibited under WADA's S0 category, which covers any substance with no approval from any regulatory authority for human use. That means a compound can be banned without ever being named on the prohibited list. Check with your own anti-doping authority rather than assuming absence from the list means permitted.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
- DoseFrom product labeling and clinical guidelines.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- Sources
- Reviewed14 August 2026
What else is like HGH (Somatropin)?
Others in Growth hormone peptides, side by side.If you're weighing HGH (Somatropin), it's worth reading Tesamorelin + Ipamorelin blend, Sermorelin + Ipamorelin blend, and GHRP-1 in the same class.
Real injected growth hormone, the most powerful and priciest option.
- Dose
- 1 up to 3 IU per day (start low, increase slowly)
- How often
- Daily
Two growth-hormone signals in one shot, built around the belly-fat peptide.
- Dose
- 1.28 up to 2 mg tesamorelin per day (the ipamorelin follows your ratio)
- How often
- Daily, often at night
The entry-level clinic combo, with one legal half and one that is not.
- Dose
- 0.2 up to 0.5 mg sermorelin per dose (the ipamorelin follows your ratio)
- How often
- Nightly
The seven-amino-acid member of the family, studied early and then left behind.
- Dose
- Research only
- How often
- Not established
Guides for this compound
- How to Reconstitute a Peptide
Mix peptide powder with bacteriostatic water, step by step.
- How to Read an Insulin Syringe
Read the units, convert to millilitres, and draw the exact dose.
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
- Why Does My Peptide Injection Itch or Welt
Injection-site irritation, a histamine reaction, or a true allergy, and how to tell them apart.
Sources
- NIH ClinicalInfo, somatropin(2026)NIH clinical reference covering approved indications.
- FDA prescribing information, GENOTROPIN (somatropin) for injection, revised August 2024(2024)The prescribing information for one of the recombinant growth hormone products, approved since 1987, and it answers the question this page exists to answer. The approved adult indication is replacement in adults with diagnosed growth hormone deficiency arising from pituitary or hypothalamic disease, surgery, radiation or trauma, or from childhood-onset deficiency, confirmed by a provocative test. There is no anti-ageing, performance or body-composition indication on the label. The most important single line is in the contraindications. Somatropin must not be given in acute critical illness, because two placebo-controlled trials in 522 adults in intensive care who did not have growth hormone deficiency found mortality of 42% on somatropin against 19% on placebo. In people who were not deficient, in that setting, it roughly doubled the death rate. The adult trial data are also worth knowing before anyone treats this as benign: against placebo, peripheral swelling occurred in 17.5% against 5.1%, joint pain in 17.3% against 4.2%, limb pain in 14.7% against 5.9%, and paraesthesia in 9.6% against 1.9%, all statistically significant and all reflecting fluid retention. In longer follow-up of 3,031 patients, 2% developed carpal tunnel syndrome and 0.4% developed diabetes. Other labelled warnings include unmasking of glucose intolerance and new-onset type 2 diabetes, intracranial hypertension, pancreatitis, hypoadrenalism, hypothyroidism, and an increased risk of a second tumour in childhood cancer survivors. Long-term overdose is described as producing gigantism or acromegaly. Carcinogenicity studies have not been conducted. Even in properly deficient adults, bone mineral density fell over the first six months before returning to baseline at twelve.
Last reviewed 14 August 2026
Beyond these, 500 records are indexed. Browse the records