HCG

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG)

Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is a glycoprotein hormone released in the body during early months of pregnancy in the placenta and forms one of the most important substances used in post cycle therapy. HCG finds its wide use because stimulates the body to produce natural testosterone which gets suspended during the time when anabolic steroids are being administered.

HCG for women

Measuring the level of HCG in a female’s body during pregnancy is seen as an imperative indicator in pregnancy test kits, because owing to its time of production in the body, it is not found in it at any other moment in time. Within seven days after ovulation, the blood levels of this hormone become quite noticeable. Its level rises evenly, up to two to three months into gestation and then drops gradually until the point of birth.

It is also employed as a fertility drug to induce ovulation in women. Some medical experts do express fear over using products of biological origin but not many studies have been found talking about pathogen or sterility problems with HCG. However, whatever problems are seen with human origin growth hormone are certainly not to be repeated with HCG, as this compound is obtained in a much different way.

HCG for men

HCG is ideally a prescription drug and lays some interesting benefits for men. Just like its name suggests, HCG is used for the treatment of hypogonadism and fertility in men.It has also been approved for the treatment of undescended testicles in young boys. However, it is recommended not to administer too much HCG during the steroid cycle because it can stop the functioning of the testes through a negative feedback.

While HCG is seen to offer no performance enhancing ability to females, it has proved to be highly beneficial for the male steroid user. The most obvious use being to stimulate the production of endogenous testosterone in the male body. HCG has gained so much relevance for the steroid users due to its ability to mimic the luteinizing hormone. It is a pituitary hormone and functions by stimulating the Leydig’s cells in the testes to manufacture testosterone.

This proves to be highly helpful because restoring endogenous testosterone production becomes imperative at the end of each steroid cycle, because subnormal androgen level can be very costly due to steroid induced suppression. A major concern however remains that of cortisol, which is balanced out by the effect of androgens in many ways.

HCG’s prime function is to restore the normal ability of the testes thereby initiating its response to endogenous luteinizing hormone, particularly because after a long period of inactivity, the functioning of the testes is highly reduced. Hence in some cases, the testosterone levels may not reach its standard point that fast, even after the release of endogenous LH is resumed.

People who have suffered severe testicular shrinkage will know that it takes some time before normal testicle size and feelings of virility are restored if ancillary drugs are not employed. In many cases, HCG causes excessive stimulation in the body leading to the testicles rapidly returning to their normal level of activity. The production of estrogen can also be enhanced with the use of HCG, as it increases aromatase activity in the Leydig’s cells. This mainly happens due to the main action of HCG, which causes an increase in cycIicAMP, a secondary messenger which modulates cellular activity. So when HCG is administered, the ability of the testes to aromatize androgens is potentially heightened many times.

Dosage

HCG’s standard protocol for administering it in the body is to inject 1500-3000 I.U. every 4th or 5th day, for not more than 2 or 3 weeks. This drug should be taken under expert medical care only because if exposed to too high a dose, the drug may actually desensitize the Leydig’s cells to luteinizing hormone, further hindering its return to homeostasis. Also the timing for the initial dose is also very important. For example, if you were coming off a cycle of Sustanon, testosterone levels in your blood will stay high for at least 3 to 4 weeks after your last injection. Hence taking HCG on the day of your last shot, under these circumstances would be useless. In such a case, one would calculate the last week in which androgen levels are expected to be above normal and then begin ancillary drug therapy at this point.

HCG side effects

The side effects of HCG uses are quite common and so one should be very cautious if any traces of headaches, irritability, swelling of the injection sight, restlessness, slight water retention, tenderness of breast tissue or depression occurs after it is administered. In very rare cases, one might confront the development of ovarian hyperstimulation in females followed by the swelling of feet, legs, and hands, abdominal pain, abdominal swelling, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, vomiting and nausea.