HCG potency from different brands?

Just curious if anyone has really noticed any differences in potency between HCG brands?

I have used both EmpoweR pharmacy and Ovidac and it really felt like EmpoweR had much greater potency over the two. Both of them came up positive on an HCG pregnancy test when a small amount was mixed with urine.

Has anyone tested different brands and found one works better than the other?

I'm almost afraid to ask, but how does one "feel" hCG working better?

johndoesmith said:

I'm almost afraid to ask, but how does one "feel" hCG working better?

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If HCG works for you..... trust me you know when you get a weak bottle.

OP yes I have tested two different US brands. One was totally wonderful, it came from Fl and the other from Tx I lost all the effects within 7 days. I even bumped my injections from 800 to 1000iu per week with no effect.
I called my clinic and complained. They let me order early from my original source and in no time my boys were back.

johndoesmith said:

I'm almost afraid to ask, but how does one "feel" hCG working better?

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testicular response

Nelson Vergel said:

[email protected]

for more information.

Another company that has reached out to me for a tour of their facilities is EmpowerRxPharmacy.com. They are based in my hometown of Houston and they also ship to most states. It is operated by an engineer who has brand new equipment and a fancy state-of-the-art sterility room (as an engineer, I am biased for any engineer building a facility from scratch)

I will add some more reviews as I get to tour other companies's facilities. With all the new regulations coming up, we all want to ensure that our compounded products are not only cost effective and shipped quickly but also safe and reliable.​

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Vince said:

https://www.excelmale.com/forum/showthread.php?225-Some-compounding-pharmacies-used-by-Nelson-Vergel
​

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Thanks, Vince. I think you have tried Ovidac from what I read in another post. Did it work for you or are you using another brand or not using HCG at all? I am going to stay off the HCG this week and then try adding it in again to see how things work out. If the HCG is working I have a feeling I have spiked my E2 with it and want to let the small dose (0.125mg x 2/week) of anastrozole catch-up. If I start to feel better it would most likely be high E2, feel worse low E2 and possibly lower T.

Novarel by Ferring is the only non-generic hCG I've ever been offered through the chain pharmacies and specialty pharmacies that were not compounding pharmacies. Yet it's hardly ever mentioned on here either because those who use it never have issues with it or because few seem to get their hCG covered by insurance.

Up until recently the Novarel was labeled "Manufactured in Germany for Ferring USA"

Current Novarel packages are marked: "Manufactured in Canada for Ferring USA"

From about the year 2000, Novarel: vial sets recently recovered from my storage, exp 2004: "Novarel manufactured for Ferring by American Pharmaceutical Partners in Los Angeles"

This is interesting because about three years ago I had trouble with a batch of APP labeled as APP not fully dissolving. When I called APP I was told that "Ferring uses additional steps in purification not available to APP hence the longer expiration date".

PROFASI, Serono: old vial set exp 2004: "manufactured by APP, L.A. CA for Seono" I must have used Profasi way back.

In theory all Rx supplied hCG should contain the number of USP units on the label at time of production. Potency is guaranteed through expiration date based on storage studies. In the last year or so Novarel has been coming with expiration 6-12 months out whereas it use to always be good for two years or more.

In summary purity is important to me because hCG is derived from human pregnancy urine. The only thing we really have to go by as consumers is the months to expiration. Compounding pharmacists have posted on these pages that the cost of storage studies is prohibitive which is why they tend to expire sooner.

tomas said:

Thanks, Vince. I think you have tried Ovidac from what I read in another post. Did it work for you or are you using another brand or not using HCG at all? I am going to stay off the HCG this week and then try adding it in again to see how things work out. If the HCG is working I have a feeling I have spiked my E2 with it and want to let the small dose (0.125mg x 2/week) of anastrozole catch-up. If I start to feel better it would most likely be high E2, feel worse low E2 and possibly lower T.

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I've been getting my HCG from Empire Pharmacy. I've been injecting 500iu twice a week for over 3 years now. Thankfully I've never needed an AI.

I am going to be the odd man out here but here goes...For me, and I have no reasons why, but I seem to respond better to Hallandale's HCG. The testies are fuller, softer, and I also seem to have more libido when using the Hallandale HCG. To supplement this I have had to increase my HCG does by 100ui when using Empower's. The more I read people saying that Empower HCG is top of the line, the more I wonder why I seem to respond better to another pharmacy's product. It isnt in my head either, as I can feel my testicles tightening as I did when on Test only, atrophying slowly. Increasing my HCG does has put a stop to this as of now. Previously I was using 250ui subQ EOD (Hallandale HCG), now it is 350ui shallow IM EOD (Empower HCG). This is also the 2nd time I have went from Hallandale to Empower, same results both times, only the first time I did not increase my dose when using Empower.

cleverusername said:

I am going to be the odd man out here but here goes...For me, and I have no reasons why, but I seem to respond better to Hallandale's HCG. The testies are fuller, softer, and I also seem to have more libido when using the Hallandale HCG. To supplement this I have had to increase my HCG does by 100ui when using Empower's. The more I read people saying that Empower HCG is top of the line, the more I wonder why I seem to respond better to another pharmacy's product. It isnt in my head either, as I can feel my testicles tightening as I did when on Test only, atrophying slowly. Increasing my HCG does has put a stop to this as of now. Previously I was using 250ui subQ EOD (Hallandale HCG), now it is 350ui shallow IM EOD (Empower HCG). This is also the 2nd time I have went from Hallandale to Empower, same results both times, only the first time I did not increase my dose when using Empower.

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When using different brands of HCG, does it affect your testosterone panel in anyway?

cleverusername said:

I am going to be the odd man out here but here goes...For me, and I have no reasons why, but I seem to respond better to Hallandale's HCG. The testies are fuller, softer, and I also seem to have more libido when using the Hallandale HCG. To supplement this I have had to increase my HCG does by 100ui when using Empower's. The more I read people saying that Empower HCG is top of the line, the more I wonder why I seem to respond better to another pharmacy's product. It isnt in my head either, as I can feel my testicles tightening as I did when on Test only, atrophying slowly. Increasing my HCG does has put a stop to this as of now. Previously I was using 250ui subQ EOD (Hallandale HCG), now it is 350ui shallow IM EOD (Empower HCG). This is also the 2nd time I have went from Hallandale to Empower, same results both times, only the first time I did not increase my dose when using Empower.

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.
My finding are the same. I only buy my HCG from FL now

Vince said:

When using different brands of HCG, does it affect your testosterone panel in anyway?

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I honestly do not know. I have not done enough lab work with one or the other to see any changes. I had been with Empower for quite some time, and only due to the hurricane here in Houston that allowed me to end up with Hallandale again. It had to be purchased in FL and mailed to me as Hallandale is not licensed to ship to Texas any more. Within 1.5 weeks of starting Hallandale my testies were fuller, softer, and I got a HUGE spike in libido. This lasted the whole bottle of the HCG. My next order I am back to Empower, and testies have gotten smaller, and harder, libido also lower.

I just looked back on some labs, I found I went from 1000+ trough to a 850 trough running the same protocol, but couldnt tell you if HCG brand was a part of the reason. The past two HCG injections Ive went with 350 shallowIM and 150 subQ and have gotten good results. I have a vial of HCG from reliableRX that I have yet to try, just waiting for my current Empower vial to get lower. This stuff is expensive.


edit...I want to add that along with the smaller/harder testicles, I also began having dull pain in both testicles, as I did with TRT before starting on HCG. Ive always thought this to be the beginning of atrophy. The pain isnt a buckling over pain, just a dull achy type that is tolerable and will clear out of my mind when I get busy with something. Since increasing my Empower dose higher, I have not felt this (knock on wood).

Well I am pretty sure Ovidec was giving me an allergic reaction, probably from an excipient they use in manufacturing. I emailed them to see if I could find out if they use any excipients and hopefully I can figure out what was causing the facial swelling. Not sure why they wouldn't just use pure lyophilized HCG but "excipients q.s." is listed on the box.

cleverusername said:

I honestly do not know. I have not done enough lab work with one or the other to see any changes. I had been with Empower for quite some time, and only due to the hurricane here in Houston that allowed me to end up with Hallandale again. It had to be purchased in FL and mailed to me as Hallandale is not licensed to ship to Texas any more. Within 1.5 weeks of starting Hallandale my testies were fuller, softer, and I got a HUGE spike in libido. This lasted the whole bottle of the HCG. My next order I am back to Empower, and testies have gotten smaller, and harder, libido also lower.

I just looked back on some labs, I found I went from 1000+ trough to a 850 trough running the same protocol, but couldnt tell you if HCG brand was a part of the reason. The past two HCG injections Ive went with 350 shallowIM and 150 subQ and have gotten good results. I have a vial of HCG from reliableRX that I have yet to try, just waiting for my current Empower vial to get lower. This stuff is expensive.


edit...I want to add that along with the smaller/harder testicles, I also began having dull pain in both testicles, as I did with TRT before starting on HCG. Ive always thought this to be the beginning of atrophy. The pain isnt a buckling over pain, just a dull achy type that is tolerable and will clear out of my mind when I get busy with something. Since increasing my Empower dose higher, I have not felt this (knock on wood).

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I find this interesting as that I've encountered similar a experience. My previous HCG vial was Hollandale and my libido was good. My current vial was ordered from Empower and my libido/morning wood has tapered off. I was told on this order that Hollandale can't ship to Tennessee. So I'm not sure how I received it prior unless this is new policy.

I'm going to watch and see if this continues. If so, I think I'll notify Defy and see if I can bump my HCG to either 3x a week or increase my current dose by 100IU.

stevep said:

I find this interesting as that I've encountered similar a experience. My previous HCG vial was Hollandale and my libido was good. My current vial was ordered from Empower and my libido/morning wood has tapered off. I was told on this order that Hollandale can't ship to Tennessee. So I'm not sure how I received it prior unless this is new policy.

I'm going to watch and see if this continues. If so, I think I'll notify Defy and see if I can bump my HCG to either 3x a week or increase my current dose by 100IU.

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I called Defy and complained about the Tx HCG they let me order new from Fl. even though it was not consult time. I believe only the T cyp is strictly controlled.
I would not wait call now. It took me 7 days for my boys to recover once my new order arrived.
I also set my preferences to Fl for all future purchases.

Tx needs to figure out what is wrong with their HCG too may have already complained about it. It's costing them money I no longer order T cyp, AI or DHEA from them do to the weak HCG issue..

stevep said:

I find this interesting as that I've encountered similar a experience. My previous HCG vial was Hollandale and my libido was good. My current vial was ordered from Empower and my libido/morning wood has tapered off. I was told on this order that Hollandale can't ship to Tennessee. So I'm not sure how I received it prior unless this is new policy.

I'm going to watch and see if this continues. If so, I think I'll notify Defy and see if I can bump my HCG to either 3x a week or increase my current dose by 100IU.

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It is my understanding that Hallandale is not licensed to ship medications to states they once were licensed too ship. This sucks for those who do not seem to respond to Empowers HCG for whatever reasons. I ended up having to double my normal intake/dose instead of just 100ui over the normal. So befor it was 250ui every other day. I now use 500ui every other day of Empower HCG. This seems to match the benefits I get from Hallandale's HCG. Your mileage may vary here. My next HCG will be from reliableRX, Ill be posting a review on how it compares with both Hallandale and Empower HCG. I hope I found a winner here with reliableRX as HCG is just too expensive to have to "double up" on.

FeelingLost said:

I called Defy and complained about the Tx HCG they let me order new from Fl. even though it was not consult time. I believe only the T cyp is strictly controlled.
I would not wait call now. It took me 7 days for my boys to recover once my new order arrived.
I also set my preferences to Fl for all future purchases.

Tx needs to figure out what is wrong with their HCG too may have already complained about it. It's costing them money I no longer order T cyp, AI or DHEA from them do to the weak HCG issue..

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Too bad I cant set up a P.O. Box in your state that would auto forward my mail to Texas! Maybe I'll reach out to Hallandale and see why they didnt renew their license for my state, and Tennessee as stevep is saying they cant ship there any more as well.

BTW FealingLost, it is my understanding we can order HCG at will. Even order double vials to save on shipping.