EdwardChase
Well-known member
The HCG Myth
PART 2
Human studies discussing testicular desensitization
So if animal studies are out, you may be wondering if there’s any human studies that discuss testicular desensitization? The answer is yes, there definitely is. However, this desensitization is only cited to last 72-120 hours (see studies below). As the two studies below explain, after an hcg injection, there is an initial, “modest” rise in testosterone. Subsequent hcg injections within the 72-120h timeframe produce “little additive effect”. After such time has elapsed, the full effect of HCG is experienced with a spike in testosterone levels. This spike is supposed to mark the “resensitization” of the testicles. So when you inject hcg there is a small initial rise in testosterone, followed by a delayed spike 72-120 hours later.
https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198006000-00009
https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem-51-6-1395
Why does this happen? As previously discussed, the body has many mechanisms in place designed to maintain homeostasis (balance). Researchers speculate that it could be the bodies way to “modulate” and control how much the testicles respond in the presence of increased Luteinizing Hormone/HCG levels.
Other desensitization/downregulation studies
So you may have been exposed to other studies about either desensitization or downregulation associated with HCG use. They may have scared you away from HCG. There are numerous studies that mention desensitization. In the interest of being concise, I won’t be combing through each and every study to explain how they fail to support permanent desensitisation. Instead, I will show you what to look out for so that you can confidently disregard any of these studies of your own accord. Essentially, all of these studies can be refuted by one single counter argument. That is, although they may mention desensitization or downregulation, none of these studies EVER state that these effects are permanent. Remember, if it was permanent this would be castration. They would be sure to specify this in a study if it was the case. So when you’re presented with one of these studies, don’t be scared away or intimidated if they do mention downregulation, or the big scary word, “DESENSITIZATION”.
The Irony
Heck, the steroids you’re interested in taking do more harm to your testicles than HCG could ever dream of doing. There are many fertility studies that show after years of steroid abuse, that some bodybuilders are left with a (potentially) permanent low testosterone and sperm condition. Permanently low testosterone is the same thing that bodybuilders are trying to avoid with HCG. How ironic. What’s even more ironic is that the medical community uses HCG to try and reverse this permanently low testosterone/sperm condition (hypogonadotropic hypogonadism) caused by steroid abuse. Do you think the professionals would prescribe HCG if it was going to worsen their condition? Are you beginning to see the paradoxical and ridiculous nature of it all?
Anecdotal reports
The last category of people who believe in permanent desensitization try to use unfounded anecdotal claims to prove their point. Generally, they cite feelings within their testicles such as: “a feeling of blue balls”, “mild pain/tingling”, “the testicles feel smaller than they usually do” etcetera, etcetera. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that arbitrary, “feelings” are no indication of permanent desensitization. Sure, they may be actually experiencing these feelings, but to conclude that those feelings are a result of desensitization is unfounded.
The other thing people do is to get a blood test after their steroid cycle and blame the correspondingly low testosterone/luteinizing hormone levels on HCG. Again, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that this is ridiculous. STEROIDS are the real culprit here. Blaming HCG for steroid related side effects is completely ignorant.
HCG case study
With that being said, I’d like to direct your attention to an extremely relevant case study. This case study focuses on a 25 year old male with a history of steroid usage, seeking fertility treatment. He presents with testosterone and sperm levels that are below normal parameters and can not get his partner pregnant. For over 20 months he is treated with HCG (with the addition of rFSH). During treatment his testosterone (among other things) is measured every 2-4 months. As you can see from the following table (extracted from the study) his pre-treatment testosterone levels are at 2.6nmol/l and his 6 month post treatment testosterone levels are more than twice the amount at 5.6nmol/l.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4722247/#!po=75.9259
Now if HCG castrated you, do you think that this gentleman’s testosterone levels would still be twice the amount 6 months post treatment? I don’t think so. This however is merely the case of one person. I included it due to the relevance of the subject’s prior steroid usage. Below you’ll find clinical trials that involve larger numbers of people.
Clinical/human studies evaluating HCG safety/efficacy
Below you’ll find 5 studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of HCG. I encourage everyone to read these studies to become acquainted with the real and factual information surrounding HCG (as opposed to broscience garbage). Once again, in the interest of being concise I won’t comb through each and every study here. Instead, I’ll summarise the consensus of safety conclusions made among them all.
All of these studies conclude that the primary negative side effects of HCG are “gynecomastia, acne, influenza-like symptoms, and weight gain”. These effects only affect a small percentage of people and are said to be minimized through dose adjustments/titration. HCG is cited as being safe and well tolerated with no mention of permanent desensitization. There’s not even a mention of temporary desensitization. Clearly this phenomenon is not of clinical significance.
https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(08)01495-7/fulltext
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0015-0282(98)00156-3
academic.oup.com
rbej.biomedcentral.com
Conclusion
I hope that this article has given you enough insight into the HCG Myth for you to realise that you do not have to be concerned with permanent desensitization/damage. The HCG Myth prevents many bodybuilders from maintaining their natural testosterone on cycle and as a result, put their testicles through unnecessary, steroid induced strain. The medical literature clearly outlines the safety of HCG and its use in the recovery of sperm and testosterone parameters. The main take away from this article is not to believe everything you read within the bodybuilding community. It’s very common. If more people take the time to properly educate themselves, misinformation will struggle to catch on.
Written by Edward Chase.
PART 2
Human studies discussing testicular desensitization
So if animal studies are out, you may be wondering if there’s any human studies that discuss testicular desensitization? The answer is yes, there definitely is. However, this desensitization is only cited to last 72-120 hours (see studies below). As the two studies below explain, after an hcg injection, there is an initial, “modest” rise in testosterone. Subsequent hcg injections within the 72-120h timeframe produce “little additive effect”. After such time has elapsed, the full effect of HCG is experienced with a spike in testosterone levels. This spike is supposed to mark the “resensitization” of the testicles. So when you inject hcg there is a small initial rise in testosterone, followed by a delayed spike 72-120 hours later.
https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198006000-00009
https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem-51-6-1395
Why does this happen? As previously discussed, the body has many mechanisms in place designed to maintain homeostasis (balance). Researchers speculate that it could be the bodies way to “modulate” and control how much the testicles respond in the presence of increased Luteinizing Hormone/HCG levels.
Other desensitization/downregulation studies
So you may have been exposed to other studies about either desensitization or downregulation associated with HCG use. They may have scared you away from HCG. There are numerous studies that mention desensitization. In the interest of being concise, I won’t be combing through each and every study to explain how they fail to support permanent desensitisation. Instead, I will show you what to look out for so that you can confidently disregard any of these studies of your own accord. Essentially, all of these studies can be refuted by one single counter argument. That is, although they may mention desensitization or downregulation, none of these studies EVER state that these effects are permanent. Remember, if it was permanent this would be castration. They would be sure to specify this in a study if it was the case. So when you’re presented with one of these studies, don’t be scared away or intimidated if they do mention downregulation, or the big scary word, “DESENSITIZATION”.
The Irony
Heck, the steroids you’re interested in taking do more harm to your testicles than HCG could ever dream of doing. There are many fertility studies that show after years of steroid abuse, that some bodybuilders are left with a (potentially) permanent low testosterone and sperm condition. Permanently low testosterone is the same thing that bodybuilders are trying to avoid with HCG. How ironic. What’s even more ironic is that the medical community uses HCG to try and reverse this permanently low testosterone/sperm condition (hypogonadotropic hypogonadism) caused by steroid abuse. Do you think the professionals would prescribe HCG if it was going to worsen their condition? Are you beginning to see the paradoxical and ridiculous nature of it all?
Anecdotal reports
The last category of people who believe in permanent desensitization try to use unfounded anecdotal claims to prove their point. Generally, they cite feelings within their testicles such as: “a feeling of blue balls”, “mild pain/tingling”, “the testicles feel smaller than they usually do” etcetera, etcetera. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that arbitrary, “feelings” are no indication of permanent desensitization. Sure, they may be actually experiencing these feelings, but to conclude that those feelings are a result of desensitization is unfounded.
The other thing people do is to get a blood test after their steroid cycle and blame the correspondingly low testosterone/luteinizing hormone levels on HCG. Again, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that this is ridiculous. STEROIDS are the real culprit here. Blaming HCG for steroid related side effects is completely ignorant.
HCG case study
With that being said, I’d like to direct your attention to an extremely relevant case study. This case study focuses on a 25 year old male with a history of steroid usage, seeking fertility treatment. He presents with testosterone and sperm levels that are below normal parameters and can not get his partner pregnant. For over 20 months he is treated with HCG (with the addition of rFSH). During treatment his testosterone (among other things) is measured every 2-4 months. As you can see from the following table (extracted from the study) his pre-treatment testosterone levels are at 2.6nmol/l and his 6 month post treatment testosterone levels are more than twice the amount at 5.6nmol/l.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4722247/#!po=75.9259
Now if HCG castrated you, do you think that this gentleman’s testosterone levels would still be twice the amount 6 months post treatment? I don’t think so. This however is merely the case of one person. I included it due to the relevance of the subject’s prior steroid usage. Below you’ll find clinical trials that involve larger numbers of people.
Clinical/human studies evaluating HCG safety/efficacy
Below you’ll find 5 studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of HCG. I encourage everyone to read these studies to become acquainted with the real and factual information surrounding HCG (as opposed to broscience garbage). Once again, in the interest of being concise I won’t comb through each and every study here. Instead, I’ll summarise the consensus of safety conclusions made among them all.
All of these studies conclude that the primary negative side effects of HCG are “gynecomastia, acne, influenza-like symptoms, and weight gain”. These effects only affect a small percentage of people and are said to be minimized through dose adjustments/titration. HCG is cited as being safe and well tolerated with no mention of permanent desensitization. There’s not even a mention of temporary desensitization. Clearly this phenomenon is not of clinical significance.
https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(08)01495-7/fulltext
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0015-0282(98)00156-3
Subcutaneous self-administration of highly purified follicle stimulating hormone and human chorionic gonadotrophin for the treatment of male hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. Spanish Collaborative Group on Male Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism.
Abstract. The efficacy and safety of highly purified follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) associated with human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) was studied in
academic.oup.com
An open-label clinical trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of corifollitropin alfa combined with hCG in adult men with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism - Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology
Background Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) in men results in insufficient testicular function and deficiencies in testosterone and spermatogenesis. Combinations of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (recFSH) have been successful in the treatment of...
rbej.biomedcentral.com
Conclusion
I hope that this article has given you enough insight into the HCG Myth for you to realise that you do not have to be concerned with permanent desensitization/damage. The HCG Myth prevents many bodybuilders from maintaining their natural testosterone on cycle and as a result, put their testicles through unnecessary, steroid induced strain. The medical literature clearly outlines the safety of HCG and its use in the recovery of sperm and testosterone parameters. The main take away from this article is not to believe everything you read within the bodybuilding community. It’s very common. If more people take the time to properly educate themselves, misinformation will struggle to catch on.
Written by Edward Chase.
Last edited:
