VENOGIL HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) has come into vogue as a fertility and fat-loss treatment for women. the peptide has long been in use for bodybuilding and has a particular role in restoring endocrine function after a steroid cycle.
The peptide hormone HCG was discovered in 1920 and commercially available 1931. At that time it was derived from the pituitary gland of animals and sold by the pharmaceutical company Organon.
At the beginning of the 1840s, scientists discovered that HCG could be extracted from the urine of pregnant women, and that is how most products are derived today.
HCG is mainly used to induce ovulation in women who want to get pregnant, and in men to stimulate testosterone production. HCG functions similarly to LH (luteinizing hormone), which triggers the testes to release testosterone in men, and is responsible for the implantation of the fertilized uterine uterus and the release of progesterone during the first few months of female pregnancy.
HCG is considered a performance enhancing substance and banned by most drug testing agencies.
Most of the serious side effects of HCG use are side effects of the excess testosterone it releases. In bodybuilding, HCG is used during prolonged use of anabolic steroids and after discontinuation of anabolic steroids, to re-stimulate testosterone production after the desensitization caused by the negative feedback of excess testosterone.
It is our opinion that HCG is probably one of the most misunderstood and misused compounds in bodybuilding. Hopefully this information will go some way towards rectifying that for the members of MuscleTalk. HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin and is not a steroid, but a natural peptide hormone which develops in the placenta of pregnant women during pregnancy to controls the mother's hormones. (Incidentally, this is the reason you may hear of people testing for growth hormone (HGH) with a pregnancy testing kit - If their HGH shows 'pregnant', they've been ripped-off with cheaper HCG - but we digress slightly).
Its action in the male body is like that of LH, stimulating the Leydig cells in the testes to produce testosterone even in the absence of endogenous LH. HCG is therefore used during longer or heavier steroid cycles to maintain testicular size and condition, or to bring atrophied (shrunken) testicles back up to their original condition in preparation for post-cycle Clomid therapy. This process is necessary because atrophied testicles produce reduced levels of natural testosterone, this situation should be rectified prior to post-cycle Clomid therapy.
HCG administration post-cycle is common practice among bodybuilders in the belief that it will aid the natural testosterone recovery, but this theory is unfounded and also counterproductive. The rapid rise in both testosterone, and thus oestrogen due to aromatisation, from the administration of HCG causes further inhibition of the HPTA (Hypothalamic/Pituitary/Testicular Axis - feedback loop discussed above); this actually worsens the recovery situation. HCG does not restore the natural testosterone production.
The typically observed dosing of 2000 to 5000IU every 4 to 5 days causes such an increase in oestrogen levels via aromatisation of the natural testosterone that this has been responsible for many cases of gynecomastia.
From the above discussion it is clear that HCG is best used during a cycle, either to:
- 1) Avoid testicular atrophy, or
- 2) Rectify the problem of an existing testicular atrophy.
HCG Dosage
Smaller doses, more frequently during a cycle will give best overall results with least unwanted side effects. Somewhere between 500IU and 1000IU per day would be best over about a two-week period. These doses are sufficient to avoid/rectify testicular atrophy without increasing oestrogen levels too dramatically and risking gynecomastia. This dosing schedule also avoids the risk of permanently down-regulating the LH receptors in the testes.
It is important for the HCG administration to have been completed with 6 or 7 clear days before the onset of PCT in order to avoid inhibition of the Nolvadex and/or Clomid therapy. Also, a small daily dose (10-20mg) of Nolvadex would normally be used in conjunction with HCG in order to prevent oestrogenic symptoms caused by sudden increases in aromatisation.
