STUDresearch · Peptide
Tesamorelin
Also known as
Egrifta · Egrifta SV · Egrifta WR · TH9507 · TH-9507 · Tesamorelin acetate · GHRH analog (trans-3-hexenoyl)
Community talk. May contain inaccuracies. Not medical advice. Not a protocol. Not for human or animal use.
Whole-body GH-axis — not a local fat-dissolve pin.
Not an equivalent of a branded formulation or a recommended progression.
Specific to the 2 mg/vial SV formulation, not the amount contained in the vial.
Specific to the 11.6 mg/vial WR formulation. WR and SV are not substitutable.
Half-life & effect duration
- Half-life in the body
- Egrifta SV · single doseAbout 8 minutes
- Egrifta WR · single doseAbout 11 minutes
- Older repeated-dose reportsAbout 26–38 minutes; broader historical estimates 18–38 minutes
- Felt duration people report
- Sleep reportsChanges from the first nights; better sleep in some and worse in others
- One ongoing-use accountDisrupted sleep continued across 7 weeks
Tap a line for the full notes and source context.
Timing context & sources
Half-life in the body
About 8 minutes for Egrifta SV in a single-dose human study.
This is the SV formulation's blood half-life, not a clock for sleep, body-composition or GH effects.
Older repeated-dose estimates and other formulations are not interchangeable with this single-dose value.
- Egrifta SV prescribing information (opens in a new tab)Egrifta SV §§2.1/12.3:1.4 mg SC daily, 2 mg/vial, single-dose healthy-subject half-life 8 min, median Tmax 0.15 h. Independent actual label text September 6.Formulation- and single-dose-specific. Does not establish older formulations, unverified vials or repeated-dose equivalence.
Half-life in the body
About 11 minutes for Egrifta WR in a single-dose human study.
WR and SV have different formulations; a single universal tesamorelin number would hide that distinction.
This does not transfer to compounded blends or prove how long downstream hormonal changes last.
- Egrifta WR prescribing information (opens in a new tab)Egrifta WR §§2.1/12.3 and non-substitution warning:1.28 mg SC daily, 11.6 mg/vial, half-life 11 min, Tmax 0.15 h. Independent actual label text September 6.Formulation-specific single-dose plasma result; not the duration of GH/IGF-1 changes or perceived effects.
Felt duration people report
Sleep changes can begin in the first nights; one person described disrupted sleep continuing during seven weeks of use.
These are course-length experiences, not seven weeks of effect from one dose. Other reports describe better sleep, but combinations complicate attribution.
No consistent per-dose felt-duration window is established by these selected accounts; they cannot establish frequency or causation.
- Tesamorelin Sleep Disturbances — first-person discussion (opens in a new tab)Shot-Two-4792 original post: first two nights; namastay14509 reply: seven weeks. Positive fifth-night account also reports retatrutide.Selected self-reports; product identity and route are not independently verified. The combination account cannot isolate tesamorelin.
Other context in this card
- Tesamorelin: irritation and later ER-evaluated symptoms (opens in a new tab)murder0tica opening 10-week 0.5/1/2 mg course and later 1 mg course/ER account. Independent actual post September 6; daily frequency not explicit, hospital reportedly did not regard episode as anaphylaxis.One unverified account; frequency not explicit and hospital reportedly did not consider it anaphylaxis. It cannot establish causation, prevalence or a dose threshold.
What people say
- Bodybuilding / recomp talk: Users chase stubborn deep belly fat, lean retention on cuts, and a “GH look” without full exogenous HGH cost/sides — credit is mixed with diet and stacks. forum
- Vs sermorelin: Strongest formal VAT branding among GHRH analogs; sermorelin more often sold as gentler sleep/longevity GHRH. forum
- Vs CJC-1295 (esp. DAC): Tesamorelin = short daily GHRH pulse culture; CJC with DAC = multi-day sustained GH-axis elevation with different desensitization/side lore. forum
- Vs MK-677: Injectable timed GHRH/VAT focus vs oral daily ghrelin-mimetic with hunger, water, and more continuous GH-tone talk. forum
- Vs HGH: Endogenous pulsatile GH vs flat exogenous rHGH; community often prefers tesa when they want VAT data without full HGH protocols. forum
- Stack confounder: Very often run with GLP-1s, Ipamorelin/CJC, MOTS-c, training, and aggressive diet — individual credit for midsection change is unreliable. forum
- Visceral fat (pivotal): Falutz NEJM 2007-type HIV work — VAT down ~15% with tesamorelin vs placebo up ~5% over 26 weeks at 2 mg daily SC. trial
- Visceral fat (Phase 3 pair): LIPO-010 / CTR-1011 — LS mean treatment differences in % VAT at week 26 roughly −19.6% and −11.7% vs placebo; absolute cm² drops on the order of ~20–30 cm² vs flat/up placebo. trial
- VAT selectivity: Reduces visceral adipose tissue with minimal effects on subcutaneous fat in HIV imaging studies — scale may barely move while CT/MRI VAT improves. trial
- Stops, rebounds: VAT benefits reverse / fat reaccumulates after discontinuation in extensions and follow-up — often framed as ongoing therapy, not a permanent “one blast” fix. trial
- Responders: Post-hoc branding often cites ≥8% EVAF drop as clinically meaningful; responders who continue can maintain VAT benefit out toward 52 weeks. trial
- IGF-1: Mean IGF-I up ~81% in key HIV study arm; extension data showed roughly ~90–100% rise at week 26 with partial drift but still elevated at week 52 on continuous use; many patients crossed upper SDS limits. trial
- Lipids: Improved triglycerides and total/HDL cholesterol ratio vs placebo in the same HIV programs. trial
- Lean mass / trunk fat: Roughly ~1.4 kg fat-mass reduction (mostly trunk) with a near-matching lean-mass increase in label/FDA summary language — recomp signal, not bulk steroid. trial
- Waist circumference: Small mean waist reductions (often ~2–3 cm vs placebo in summaries) — gradual midsection change over months, not week-one “cut.” trial
- Liver fat (HIV NAFLD): Stanley et al. Lancet HIV 2019 — 2 mg daily for 12 months reduced hepatic fat fraction (absolute effect size about −4.1%; ~37% relative reduction from baseline) and slowed fibrosis progression signals vs placebo. trial
- Not a spot-reduce pin: Subcutaneous fat in HIV imaging barely moved while VAT dropped — scale and mirror can lie even when the waist tape moves a little. trial
Doses people talk about
- Community research-chem band: 1–2 mg daily SC is the dominant discussed range; 2 mg is treated as the “match the data” figure and 1 mg as start/tolerance/cost titration. forum
- Above 2 mg: No meaningful published efficacy data for routine >2 mg daily; community generally treats escalation past studied exposure as unjustified risk. forum
- Morning minority: Some still pin AM fasted for convenience or to avoid night water/joint feel during sleep; practices vary. forum
- Not mcg GHRP charts: Tesamorelin is dosed in milligrams as a GHRH analog; do not copy CJC/Ipamorelin 100–300 mcg math onto a tesa vial. forum
- Uncertainty: Gray-market purity, fill accuracy, and counterfeit risk are repeatedly flagged; branded Egrifta supply chain differs from research-chem vials. forum
- Dose-jump itch camp: People who skip 1 mg and jump to 2 mg, or who raise 1.0 → 1.5 on a new vial, are over-represented in hive posts. Correlation, not a trial. forum
- Titration lore: Common advice in forums is start ~1 mg for ~1–2 weeks, then move to 2 mg if sides (water, joints, glucose feel) stay manageable — not a published titration RCT. forum
- Daily vs 5-on / 2-off: All pivotal trials were continuous daily. 5 days on / 2 off (or 6/1) is widespread for cost, lifestyle, or “receptor rest” folklore; critics call it underdosing relative to VAT data because IGF-1 drifts on off days. forum
- Clinic cycle templates (marketing): Examples include ~3 months active then ~1–2 months rest, or 5 days on / 2 off inside multi-month blocks — schedules vary by clinic and are not the FDA HIV regimen. forum
- Timing — label vs recomp culture: Branded use is often same-time daily (label practicality); recomp / peptide forums heavily prefer evening or pre-bed dosing to ride the natural sleep GH pulse. forum
- Fasted window: Very common community rule is inject ≥~2 hours after last food (especially carbs) and ~30–90 minutes before sleep — insulin/food blunting of GH is the rationale, not a tesamorelin-specific RCT. forum
- Abdomen vs flanks/glutes: Abdomen is the labeled site; itchy-lump logs often rotate to love handles / upper glute and keep injecting — that does not make it a local fat-dissolve. forum
- Dose-finding note: Early HIV work compared 1 mg vs 2 mg SC — VAT change favored the higher dose (~−16% at 2 mg vs ~−4% at 1 mg over 12 weeks in one small study). trial
- Framing: Figures below are label, pivotal-trial, clinic-marketing, or community discussion ranges — research/educational only, not advice or prescriptions. forum
- Original trial / early label: 2 mg subcutaneous once daily (Egrifta 1 mg/vial era and Phase 3 HIV programs). Current Egrifta SV is 1.4 mg SC daily (2 mg/vial); WR is 1.28 mg SC daily (11.6 mg/vial). Their exposure is similar to the original 2 mg product, but WR and SV are not substitutable; unverified vials are not established equivalents. trial
How it may feel
- Minutes–hours post-shot: Usually little acute “buzz”; minority report injection-site sting, mild warmth, or same-night water/joint tightness. forum
- Days 1–7: Habit and side-effect check (edema, joint ache, sleep shift) dominate — not visible fat change. forum
- Weeks 3–4: Some claim subtle belt-notch / clothing fit changes; still far short of 26-week VAT imaging windows. anecdote
- Weeks 8–12: Common community checkpoint for clearer midsection comments if diet/training cooperate; clinical VAT primary endpoints sit later. forum
- Itch timeline: Site itch/welts can show week 1, then worsen at dose jumps, new vials, or after weeks of “it was fine.” Delayed whole-body itch/hives is the 2025–26 scare thread, including ER stories after months of use. forum
- Weeks 1–2: IGF-1 is already rising in trial math; users rarely see waist change this early; glucose/water watch starts. trial
- Months 3–6 (~12–26 weeks): Matches pivotal trial VAT window; most before/after and clinic reassessments cluster here. trial
- Months 6–12: Extension / NAFLD-style windows; continuous clinic use with IGF-1 and glycemic labs is the serious-monitoring frame. trial
- Month 12+ (liver-fat context): HIV NAFLD trial used a full year for hepatic fat primary endpoint — slower story than Instagram cut clips. trial
Around the dose
- Clock: Pre-bed is the recomp default so it rides the night GH pulse. Morning exists; food and daytime cortisol are the usual argument against it. forum
- Empty stomach: Almost universal in GH-axis threads — carbs/insulin near the pin are believed to blunt the pulse. forum
- Training: Not a pre-workout. Lift in the day; pin at night. forum
- Sleep: The pairing. Logs that pin tesa then stay up on screens are the usual “why no pulse” posts. forum
- After: Protein and lifting still do the composition work. Tesa is not a sit-on-the-couch VAT eraser in those threads. forum
- Not a local fat pin: Abdomen is just a convenient subq site. VAT sits deep around organs — you cannot see it and you cannot inject it away locally. forum
- If the site itches: Rotation is the usual community first move; spreading hives, lip/tongue itch, or breathing change is treated as a stop-and-get-care story, not “push through.” forum
- Women / non-HIV: Off-label recomp talk exists; the VAT RCTs were HIV lipodystrophy — do not copy those odds onto a wellness-clinic brochure. forum
Cycles people discuss
- Consumer cut / recomp runs: ~8–16 weeks is a common anecdote length outside label; shorter than full trial VAT windows. forum
- Clinic templates: Multi-month courses (often ~3–6 months) with quarterly-style lab talk, then reassessment; some market continuous maintenance under supervision. forum
- Time off rationales: Sides (edema, arthralgia, carpal-tunnel feel), cost, IGF-1 above range, glucose creep, or planned diet breaks — not a standardized PCT. forum
- 5-on / 2-off inside cycles: Used as a soft “mini-cycle” cadence; evidence superiority over daily is absent — tradeoff is convenience vs uninterrupted exposure. forum
- Women / non-HIV populations: Off-label and research-chem discussion exists; large long-term body-comp RCTs in healthy athletes are sparse — do not assume HIV trial risk/benefit maps 1:1. forum
- Trial main block: ~26 weeks continuous daily use for primary VAT endpoints in HIV Phase 3 programs. trial
- Trial extension: Additional ~26 weeks (to ~52 weeks total) used to show maintenance on continued therapy vs rebound when switched to placebo. trial
- NAFLD block: Stanley HIV NAFLD RCT used ~12 months continuous 2 mg daily for hepatic fat fraction primary endpoint. trial
- Monitoring theme: Longer use paired with IGF-1, fasting glucose/HbA1c, and clinical side review rather than blind mg escalation. trial
- Continuous vs blast framing: Because VAT rebounds after stop, serious writeups treat it more like ongoing therapy or repeated courses than a one-and-done blast. trial
Timing
- Food / insulin blunting: Empty-stomach timing is almost universal in recomp protocols because carbohydrate/insulin near the dose is believed to blunt GH release — same lore family as other secretagogues. forum
- Sleep coupling: Pre-bed dosing aims to amplify the large nocturnal GH pulse rather than fight daytime food and cortisol context. forum
- Post-dose feel: Same-day water, joint tightness, or hand tingling for some; many feel little acutely beyond the pin. forum
- Formulation-specific parent half-life: Current single-dose SC studies in healthy subjects give means of 8 minutes for 1.4 mg Egrifta SV and 11 minutes for 1.28 mg WR. Older ~26–38-minute repeated-SC, ~8–13-minute single-dose and ~18–38-minute multi-dose reports remain distinct historical formulation/dose/assay contexts, not interchangeable values. trial
- Vs native GHRH: Native GHRH is described as degrading within minutes (often <7 minutes); tesamorelin has a trans-3-hexenoyl modification. Once-daily SC use comes from studied/labeled schedules, not a dosing interval established by that structural comparison alone. trial
- Peak parent concentration: Current SV and WR labels report median Tmax of 0.15 hours (~9 minutes) after their respective single SC doses. The older ~30-minute figure is a separately reported estimate whose original formulation/context was not verified here, not a universal tesamorelin Tmax. trial
- GH pulse timeline: Downstream GH rise follows the peptide hit; community/clinical summaries describe meaningful GH activity peaking on the order of ~1–2 hours, then returning toward baseline — not a multi-day depot. trial
- Daily-use context: Once-daily SC is the studied/labeled rhythm, distinct from weekly-style CJC-1295 with DAC discussion. The short GHRH stimulus alone does not establish an appropriate interval for an unverified tesamorelin product. trial
- IGF-1 lag: Acute GH pulses vs multi-week IGF-1 elevation used as both efficacy and safety marker; high SDS scores were common on treatment in HIV programs. trial
- After stop: GH/IGF-1 stimulus falls over days–weeks; composition rebound (VAT) is measured over months, not overnight. trial
- Accumulation context: Older PK summaries report no meaningful accumulation during multi-dose SC use. That observation does not itself establish or justify a daily redosing interval; formulation and the studied schedule remain essential context. trial
More on what it is
- Research lens: Separate HIV-trial VAT/IGF-1 data from off-label recomp / clinic-marketing anecdotes and gray-market research-chem use. forum
- What it is: Synthetic GHRH analog (tesamorelin / TH9507; ~44 amino acids with an N-terminal trans-3-hexenoyl modification for DPP-IV resistance) that triggers pituitary GH release. trial
- Why people care: FDA-approved as Egrifta for excess abdominal visceral fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy — denser human RCT data than almost any other research-chem peptide. trial
- Mechanism: Binds GHRH receptor → endogenous GH pulses → hepatic IGF-1; VAT reduction is the primary studied composition endpoint, not scale weight. trial
- Evidence core: Phase 3 HIV RCTs at ~2 mg SC daily over ~26 weeks showed mean VAT drops on the order of ~15% vs placebo rise/flat (treatment differences ~−12% to −20% across pivotal studies). trial
- Not: Not recombinant HGH, not a steroid/SARM, not a GLP-1, not approved as a general obesity or “shredding” drug, not an oral peptide. trial
- Formulation trap: Egrifta SV (1.4 mg) and Egrifta WR (1.28 mg) are reformulated bioequivalents of the original 2 mg product — not intentional “lower clinical doses.” trial
- Pin-the-belly confusion: Trials measured visceral fat on imaging, not the pinchable layer. Injecting the abdomen does not melt the fat you can grab at the pin site. trial
Stacks
- Tesamorelin + Ipamorelin: Most common dual-pathway stack talk — GHRH analog + selective GHRP/ghrelin-receptor agonist for a bigger GH pulse; confounds credit and may amplify water/joint/IGF-1 sides. forum
- Tesamorelin + CJC-1295 / Mod GRF + Ipamorelin: “Full GH-axis” layering in wellness clinics; some providers position tesa for VAT and CJC/Ipa for recovery/sleep — heavy confounding and higher side risk. forum
- Tesamorelin + sermorelin: Minority “two GHRH” talk (e.g., tesa AM / sermorelin bedtime lore); other clinicians call dual GHRH non-standard and riskier for supraphysiologic GH/IGF-1. forum
- + GLP-1 / dual / triple agonists: Frequently stacked with semaglutide, tirzepatide, or retatrutide in fat-loss forums — reta/sema drive appetite and total fat while tesa is sold as VAT polish; highly confounded. forum
- + MOTS-c: Appears in “metabolic stack” cheat sheets with reta + tesa; preclinical/community adjacency more than a joint RCT. forum
- + healing peptides (BPC-157 / TB-500): Occasional recovery stacks when joint comfort is already an issue on GH-axis drugs — separate mechanisms, anecdote-level. forum
- Budget swap: When tesa cost or access is brutal, users substitute Mod GRF 1-29 / CJC no-DAC + Ipamorelin and accept weaker formal VAT branding. forum
- Avoid redundant HGH stack (common caution): Running tesa + high-dose exogenous HGH is often called unnecessary same-axis overload with stacked edema/glucose/IGF-1 risk. forum
- Lifestyle co-factors: Resistance training, protein, sleep, and a real calorie plan are repeatedly credited when midsection results look good — peptide-only miracles are rare in logs. forum
- Solo VAT / clinical-style: Often discussed alone when the goal is visceral-fat endpoints and clean attribution — matches how pivotal trials were run. trial
Access talk
- Off-label clinic / compound: Longevity and recomp clinics prescribe or compound tesamorelin outside the HIV label. That is a different legal and evidence story than Egrifta for lipodystrophy. forum
- RUO vials: Research-chem tesamorelin labeled not-for-human-use is the cheap gray path; identity, fill, and sterility are the risk, not a generic Egrifta. forum
- Three prices, three products: Brand specialty biologic vs compounded off-label vs gray powder. Do not treat a $80 research vial as the trial product. forum
- Prescription vs gray: A licensed prescription through a pharmacy is not the same as a “research use only” checkout. 2026 peptide-regulation noise (Category 2 / PCAC headlines) is mostly about other peptides — tesa already has a branded drug. forum
- Brand path: Egrifta / Egrifta SV / Egrifta WR is the FDA-approved product for excess visceral abdominal fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy — specialty-tier, insurance-gated, not a general cut drug. trial
- WR note: Egrifta WR (approved 2025 in the branded timeline people cite) is a reformulated bioequivalent, not a new “lower wellness dose.” trial
Storage notes
- No mix instructions here: STUDresearch does not list reconstitution, diluent volumes, or syringe unit charts. People reconstitute many different ways and vial labels differ — that content creates more confusion than clarity. forum
- Storage (general talk only): Unopened research products are usually kept cool, dry, and away from light per the seller label. Anything after first use is product-specific — follow the label, not a universal forum SOP. forum
Watch for
- WADA / sport: Growth-hormone releasing factors are prohibited in competitive sport — detectability and sanction risk are real for tested athletes. forum
- Source quality: Research-chem identity, contamination, underfill, and dosing math errors are major practical risks outside branded supply. forum
- Stack amplification: Adding GHRPs, MK-677, or HGH can stack water, glucose, and IGF-1 burden — more is not automatically better VAT loss. forum
- Delayed hypersensitivity: 2025–26 logs describe itchy lumps for weeks, then a later systemic reaction (hives, swelling, rare anaphylaxis talk) — sometimes on a new vial or a small dose increase. One inspected 2026 account described a 10-week 0.5/1/2 mg course, then a later 1 mg course with sneezing, widespread itching/hives, lip/tongue tingling and swallowing difficulty within 5–10 minutes, prompting ER evaluation. Daily frequency was not explicit; the poster says the hospital did not consider it anaphylaxis. Identity and causation were unverified. forumanecdote
- Visible belly vs VAT: If the goal is the fat you pinch, threads argue you bought the wrong tool; if the goal is imaging-VAT / waist, the scale may not move. forum
- Itchy lumps ≠ “working”: Hard, itchy subq welts after abdomen pins are a common tesa complaint, not proof of local fat loss. forum
- Injection site: Erythema, pruritus, pain, swelling, bruising — among the most common trial and real-world complaints; labels and community reports commonly describe rotating sites. trial
- Edema / fluid retention: Peripheral edema and puffy look — classic GH-axis water side; may drive dose cut or pause. trial
- Arthralgia: Joint pain ~13% in pooled labeling language; common reason for discontinuation. trial
- Myalgia / extremity pain / stiffness: Muscle aches, limb pain, stiffness, spasms appear in common AE lists. trial
- Carpal tunnel / paresthesia: Numbness, tingling, carpal-tunnel-like symptoms from fluid/GH-axis tone — label and community both flag this. trial
- Glucose / diabetes risk: Treatment can worsen glucose intolerance; trials showed higher risk of new diabetes (example: ~5% vs ~1% placebo, hazard ratio ~3.3 in label discussions) — monitor glucose/HbA1c, especially with prediabetes or GLP-1 stacks that change carbs. trial
- IGF-1 elevation risk: Marked IGF-I rise is expected; large fractions of treated patients exceeded upper SDS limits in HIV programs — malignancy history and active cancer are major caution themes in labeling. trial
- Hypersensitivity: Hypersensitivity reactions and rare serious events appear in program safety language — stop and seek care for systemic allergic signs. trial
- Not general weight-loss: Not approved for general obesity; subcutaneous fat and scale weight may barely change even when VAT imaging improves. trial
- Rebound after stop: VAT (and possibly related metabolic gains) can reverse after discontinuation — plan for maintenance lifestyle or expect reaccumulation talk. trial
- Contraindication / caution clusters (label themes): Active malignancy, disruption of hypothalamic-pituitary axis, pregnancy, and known hypersensitivity; extra caution with diabetes, carpal tunnel, edema, retinopathy, and recent heart surgery history in clinical references. trial
- Never risk-free framing: Even with denser RCT data than most peptides, glucose, IGF-1, joint, and long-term off-label unknowns remain; research-only / educational context only. trial
