Testosterone didn't budge on tesamorelin — expected?
94 posts
12 weeks of tesamorelin 2mg/day. Pulled labs week 0 and week 12.
- IGF-1: 198 -> 278 ng/mL (nice)
- Fasting glucose: 88 -> 95 (ok-ish)
- Visceral fat per DEXA: -14% (great)
- Total T: 612 -> 621 ng/dL (basically unchanged)
- Free T: 14.8 -> 15.1 pg/mL (unchanged)
- SHBG: 34 -> 36 (unchanged)
I'd sort of expected tesa to bump T at least modestly given the body comp improvement. Is that expectation wrong, or did my body just not respond that way?
- CJC-1295 no DAC · 100 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- Ipamorelin · 200 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- BPC-157 · 250 mcg · 2x/day · sub-Q
7 Replies
71 posts
Expectation is wrong — tesa is a GHRH analog, its effects are on GH/IGF-1 axis, not HPTA. Some people get a tiny T nudge from body comp changes but the effect is small and inconsistent. Your data looks textbook for a good tesa response: IGF-1 up, visceral fat down, T unchanged.
- BPC-157 · 500 mcg · 2x/day · sub-Q
- GHK-Cu · 2 mg · nightly topical · topical
205 posts
My T also didn't move on tesa. Free T was actually slightly lower at retest (small, probably noise). The fat loss gets attributed to better T in the fitness press but in reality it's the direct lipolytic effect of GH pulses on visceral adipose.
- CJC-1295 no DAC · 100 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- Ipamorelin · 200 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- BPC-157 · 500 mcg · 2x/day · sub-Q
94 posts
Makes sense. So anyone thinking tesa is going to shift their T numbers is probably barking up the wrong tree.
- CJC-1295 no DAC · 100 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- Ipamorelin · 200 mcg · pre-bed · sub-Q
- BPC-157 · 250 mcg · 2x/day · sub-Q
50 posts
Right. For T-specific moves you're looking at clomid/enclomiphene, HCG, or actual TRT. Tesa is a body comp / IGF-1 tool, not an HPTA tool.
9 posts
Also — your IGF-1 response (198 -> 278) is a solid respondent profile. That matters more for the 'am I getting value from this' question than whether T moved.
115 posts
The tesamorelin HIV-lipodystrophy trials explicitly reported no meaningful testosterone changes. So your data is aligned with the published record.