Tesamorelin
GHRH(1-44) analogue — Egrifta
A growth hormone-releasing hormone analogue approved for visceral fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy. Real trial data, real prescription status, and a much narrower indication than its marketing suggests.
- Category
- Growth & Performance
- Half-life
- Approximately 26 to 38 minutes
- Cycle length
- Continuous, under medical supervision — effects reverse after discontinuation
- Level
- intermediate
Overview
Tesamorelin is a modified growth hormone-releasing hormone that resists rapid degradation, which allows once-daily dosing. It is the one GHRH analogue with a full randomised trial programme and an approval behind it: it is a prescription medicine for excess visceral abdominal fat in people living with HIV-associated lipodystrophy. That specificity matters. The approval covers a defined population with a defined problem, and its evidence — reduced visceral fat, sustained while treatment continues — does not automatically extend to general fat loss in healthy people, which is how it is most often marketed.
How it works
Tesamorelin is a stabilised analogue of growth hormone-releasing hormone. It binds GHRH receptors on the pituitary, increasing endogenous growth hormone release with the body's own pulsatile pattern rather than delivering a fixed dose of growth hormone. The increased GH drives hepatic IGF-1 production and lipolysis, and visceral fat appears particularly responsive to GHRH signalling.
Reported benefits
- Significant, measured reduction in visceral adipose tissue in randomised trials
- Reduced trunk fat with sustained effect during treatment
- Improved lipid measures in some trial analyses
- Daily subcutaneous dosing with an approved product available
Reported benefits describe what the published literature and user reports suggest — not a promise of outcome for any individual.
Dosing reference
The approved regimen is 2 mg once daily by subcutaneous injection, delivered under medical supervision in patients with HIV-associated visceral adiposity. No approved dose exists for any other population.
Tesamorelin is approved for one specific condition, and the prescribing information includes monitoring requirements. Using it for general fat loss means using a prescription medicine outside its indication, without the monitoring attached to it.
Prescribed use is 2 mg by subcutaneous injection once daily. Off-label community reports mostly mirror that 2 mg daily, with a smaller group reporting 1 mg daily to limit the IGF-1 rise — a choice made from bloodwork rather than from a study.
These figures are what people report using in public communities. They have not been studied, verified or checked against certificates of analysis, and they are not a recommendation, a prescription or a target to aim for.
Where the reported amounts come from
Amounts are reproduced for education only. Doses from trials cannot be assumed to suit anyone else, and community-reported amounts are frequently wrong. Self-administering unapproved compounds carries serious risk.
The research picture
Randomised trials in HIV-associated lipodystrophy showed meaningful reductions in visceral adipose tissue with 2 mg daily, with the effect maintained during continued treatment and reversing after it stopped. Secondary analyses reported improvements in some lipid parameters, and a separate line of research examined cognitive endpoints in older adults with MCI. Outside that population the data is much thinner. Tesamorelin raises IGF-1, which is why it was evaluated partly as a way to stimulate growth hormone physiology without injections of growth hormone itself, and the long-term consequences of sustained IGF-1 elevation are the same open question that applies to the entire GH peptide category.
Preclinical & non-clinical data
A GHRH analogue stabilised against rapid breakdown; animal work shows the expected rise in growth hormone and IGF-1. Its human evidence is the strongest in the GHRH category and is covered in the research section above.
Non-clinical data comes from cells and animals unless stated otherwise. It answers whether a compound is worth studying in people — not whether it is safe or effective in them.
What users report
Because this is a prescription product (for visceral fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy), the public reporting splits in two. Clinic patients describe measurable waist reduction over several months with injection-site reactions and, in longer use, joint aches and rising IGF-1 on bloodwork. Off-label general users describe noticeably more modest fat loss than the trial numbers suggest, plus the same joint and water-retention complaints, and often stop once the cost and injection burden add up.
Where these reports come from
These are unverified personal accounts collected from public sources. They are not evidence of effectiveness or safety, they have not been independently checked, and they are not a recommendation to use anything described.
Possible side effects
- Injection-site reactions, the most common adverse effect
- Joint pain and arthralgia
- Fluid retention and peripheral oedema
- Raised blood glucose in some patients
- Muscle pain
Safety notes
As a growth-hormone-releasing agent, tesamorelin raises IGF-1 and can cause fluid retention, joint pain and blood-sugar changes. It is contraindicated in pregnancy and in people with active malignancy, disruption of the pituitary or hypophysectomy. Because it is a prescription medicine with monitoring requirements in its approved use, self-directed use outside that context removes the safety net the trials were built around.
Stacking
Sometimes combined with other growth-hormone secretagogues. Since they act on the same axis, combining them raises IGF-1 without adding a distinct mechanism, and without any study of the combination.
Related compounds
CJC-1295
Modified GRF 1-29, CJC-1295 without DAC
Growth & Performance
A GHRH analogue built for a sharp, short pulse.
Kisspeptin-10
KISS1-derived decapeptide — GnRH pathway activator
Growth & Performance
The peptide that controls the pulse generator behind the reproductive axis.
Sermorelin
GHRH(1-29) — growth hormone-releasing hormone fragment
Growth & Performance
The oldest GHRH fragment, still sold on a plausible mechanism and thin outcome data.