Recently began trt (levels were consistently in the 100s to 200s through multiple tests). It’s been working well enough so far, but the doc from the clinic keeps suggesting me to combine my trt with the sermorelin peptide they offer for better overall results from my trt.
The section on their website for sermorelin reads " Sermorelin can be a helpful addition to testosterone replacement therapy as it naturally promotes the production and release of human growth hormones from your pituitary glands. In doing so, sermorelin can help increase muscle mass, enhance libido, and improve sexual performance. Testosterone replacement therapy aims to achieve the same improvements, so adding sermorelin to your TRT can help improve your overall results."
Any evidence for this being true? Any reason to combine something like this peptide with trt? Seems like it does stuff with growth hormone and I’ve heard Jordan mention hgh unfavorably before, so I’m unsure. Still wanted to ask to clarify.
Sermorelin is a growth hormone secretagogue, which means it increases growth hormone levels. It was primarily used in diagnosing growth hormone deficiency, but hasn’t been available since ~ 2008. Apparently, it’s very difficult to produce, even by compounding pharmacies. This is an additional concern separate from efficacy.
A handful of studies have investigated it in humans in the setting of hypogonadism, though very few looking at its effect on testosterone levels. The few that do show no effect.
Outside of T levels, one of the main thoughts regarding semorelin use with TRT is that it can further increase lean body mass (LBM). While this does have some evidence of being true, little to none of this LBM is actually skeletal muscle protein. This is the same relationship seen with growth hormone. People retain a bit of water, their organs retain a bit more protein, and perhaps some connective tissue protein synthesis is increased in some settings. Little data showing increased muscle mass though.
“In doing so, sermorelin can help increase muscle mass, enhance libido, and improve sexual performance.”
^ This is 100% made up.
I would have serious reservations about trusting a physician or other health care professional who recommends this treatment for hypogonadism.
I see, perhaps I should look into some other more trustworthy sources for the testosterone. I just went with the clinic that was closest to me, probably should have researched more.
There was also another compound the doc brought up. It’s called Sarcotropin IPA, the description reads “Sarcotropin IPA is a nutritional support for the management of muscle loss and accumulation of fat caused by aging, also known as sarcopenia. As early as age thirty, natural tendencies toward weight gain can disguise the early signs of muscle loss, a process that accelerates after the age of forty. Through a unique blend of ingredients specifically chosen for their combined ability to oppose maladaptive changes in body composition associated with aging, the formulation in SarcotropinIPA supports neuroendocrine function and thereby stimulates anabolic hormone production. By re-establishing and stabilizing pituitary cellular activity, SarcotropinIPA opposes cellular oxidation in skeletal muscle, reduces pro-inflammatory cytokines, improves energy metabolism, and enhances the benefits of exercise for increasing muscle mass.”
Since I am almost 40, he recommended this as well.
I ask about this specifically because I tried looking stuff up about it and there is almost no information on it. The only places where this is mentioned are their own website and a few other fringe places, google for example only has 3 total pages on this compound, that’s how sparse any info on it is. I had never heard anything about this thing before going to this clinic either. Do you know anything about it or if there’s any use case for it in the instance of mitigating muscle loss with age?
Yea, I think these clinics can provide good, evidence-based care, though that’s not the norm. I can’t say for sure whether or not this clinic and its professionals are one of the good ones, but I lean towards no.
Sarcotropin IPA appears to be pralmorelin, another agent used in the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency. It should increase growth hormone production, but has not been studied for this, nor is it FDA-approved. There’s little human data on this agent for treatment of anything.
I should also say that sarcopenia is not muscle loss and fat gain caused by aging. Sarcopenia is not a natural consequence of aging. Rather, sarcopenia is the result of muscle mass loss past a critical point where muscle function is now significantly compromised. It can co-occur with obeisty, e.g. sarcopenic obesity. Neither growth hormone or growth hormone precursors are used to treat this.
Neither growth hormone or growth hormone precursors are used to treat this
Yeah I remember you saying gh even at very high levels doesn’t build muscle or strength in one of your yt videos, so I’m assuming Sarcotropin would also be useless if it’s for increasing gh, though the description for some reason didn’t mention it having to do anything with gh. Thank you for your answers.
We don’t really know if sarcotropin produces any specific outcomes, as it is/was principally used for diagnosing growth hormone deficiency. Even if it did increase GH though, I’d be skeptical that would do anything.