Not Sure if HCG is Any Good

I am about 10 weeks i to new protocol with dr calkins. He added hcg, 350 iu eod. I have been thru one bottle and am into second. It came from Empower. I do not feel any different. Will be pulling labs this week in prep for my first followup. What i can say for sure is my testicles have not regained any size. I saw something on here a few days back regarding Empower getting red flagged for not having proper potenency. Just curious. With that level of dosing, Imwould think imwould at least see some testicular size gain. I have been on trt since oct 2013

Before Pregnyl I used Empower HCG for a little bit. I never had labs pulled while on it, but I definitely noticed an increase in testicular size when I switched to Pregnyl. Was on the same dosage for each brand. And 350iu EOD is a big dose to do along TRT. You’re creeping into an HCG monotherapy dose. So with that dose of HCG your testicles should definitely be nice and full. If I was taking that dose of Pregnyl along my TRT by testicles would probably be bigger than they were even prior to TRT

We've had quiet a few discussions of late about HCG being inneffective in some of us and also some talk about potency, etc etc of some of the products whether it be compounded or big Pharma. For a good number of us HCG might as well be strictly water, no libido bump or feeling of well being, and so on that other guys seem to experience. You're certainly on a large enough cumulative weekly dose though judging ball size can be flawed. Had you experienced atrophy to a strong degree prior? HCG won't grow your balls which is another flawed thing guys look for that others report an overall volume increase.

HCG is a pretty fickle thing is my point. If its not *working and/or you don't like it, talk to Dr Calkins and see what he recommends.

buggies100 said:

I am about 10 weeks i to new protocol with dr calkins. He added hcg, 350 iu eod. I have been thru one bottle and am into second. It came from Empower. I do not feel any different. Will be pulling labs this week in prep for my first followup. What i can say for sure is my testicles have not regained any size. I saw something on here a few days back regarding Empower getting red flagged for not having proper potenency. Just curious. With that level of dosing, Imwould think imwould at least see some testicular size gain. I have been on trt since oct 2013

Click to expand...

Hi buggies, Have you been on trt mono (just T) for a while? Did your balls atrophy(feel smaller) and pull up towards your body?
Did you get any dull aches or sharp pains while just sitting watching TV?

I was TRT mono of about 6 months and I experienced all of these. When Dr Calkin put me on 400iux2/wk of HCG I started noticing improvements within 7 days. I no longer had the dull ache or sharp pains. within 6 weeks my ball had dropped back down to the normal hanging position. I also developed what I call a beer can Flaccid Penis.

Last fall we had hurricanes and flooding and my supplier was changed to yours. In 7 days I noticed something was wrong. In 1 months I got the dull ache back and I call the doc to complain. I immediately reordered from my old supplier and threw the old stuff in the trash. In 7 days the ache was gone.

Now months later I don't notice much with my current HCG of 300iu x3 /wk. I think once HCG does it's job you really don't notice much and if you never had any issues before HCG I could see those guys noticing nothing. These are just my opinions I have no studies to back this up.

FeelingLost said:

Last fall we had hurricanes and flooding and my supplier was changed to yours. In 7 days I noticed something was wrong. In 1 months I got the dull ache back and I call the doc to complain. I immediately reordered from my old supplier and threw the old stuff in the trash. In 7 days the ache was gone.

Click to expand...

That's the kind of troubling info I was referring to.

Vince Carter said:

That's the kind of troubling info I was referring to.

Click to expand...

I have a theory but I have no idea of how to test it. They say HCG is extremely fragile.

Some even suggest you don't store this stiff on the frig door do the constant motion of opening and closing. Dropping the vial or shaking when mixing the BSW turns it to water. My theory is could there be damage when drawing into the injection syringe? The smaller the needle the more violent the fluid is exposed to when filling your syringe. If you could see this fluid magnified it is way more severe than a frig door slamming.

I know they say not to shake it for mixing and to roll it between your hands to mix it and I keep it on a shelf inside vs. the door.

Yeah guys I have been on TRT mono for almost 4 1/2 years. Balls had shrunk up and raised as Feeling Lost stated. No pain though. I do mix very carefully, but it is in fridge door.
VC, I am maybe incorrect in my thinking then if HCG does not help balls retain size. I have read here several times, or so I thought, that ball size increased. I could care less about size of balls, shrunk up has it's advantages as far as not being in the road!!! I was just using ball size as possible evidence of HCG working. I will, of course, bring up with Dr Calkins, just questioning the collective.

That's how I gauge my HCG, if my testicles are good size I feel that the HCG is working. So far after 3 years of trt I've never had any complaints about the HCG I received from APS and Empower pharmacies.

Vince said:

That's how I gauge my HCG, if my testicles are good size I feel that the HCG is working. So far after 3 years of trt I've never had any complaints about the HCG I received from APS and Empower pharmacies.

Click to expand...

and that's another layer where some guys respond to it, and some don't, that then spurs the potency discussion.

IDK if I agree with the statement that HCG won't "grow your balls". When I was on HCG mono with Pregnyl @ 2,000iu/ week, my testicles were absolutely bigger than they were on nothing at all. Obviously I might be an outlier, but it would kind of make sense considering I was around 500 total test naturally, and 1200 total test while on HCG mono. So leydig cells were clearly getting much more stimulated, than when on nothing at all, hence the bigger testicle size. That's my theory anyways why they were bigger.

Vince Carter said:

and that's another layer where some guys respond to it, and some don't, that then spurs the potency discussion.

Click to expand...

I know that HCG is not for everyone, there are many members that feel worse when using it or feel like they're just injecting water.

What was your initial HCG mono dose per week? And was the 400iu 2x/ week HCG mono, or was that alongside TRT? I assume it was alongside TRT. I ask because I'm trying to get my HCG dosage per week dialed in. I've had that amazing flaccid penis thing a few times, just trying to figure out the right dose to get close to that again.