CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin

In addition to their uses in areas like weight loss, immune modulation, and cognitive enhancement, therapeutic peptides have demonstrated high potential to improve physical performance and body composition. Weight lifters, bodybuilders, and other gymgoers have taken to using them for these reasons. And for many, a combination of CJC-1295 and ipamorelin is the best treatment for both enhancing and accelerating their gains.

In this guide, we discuss how CJC-1295 and ipamorelin work synergistically to help you increase your lean mass while decreasing your body fat. We also cover their other therapeutic uses, their significant safety risks, and other factors you’ll want to consider before starting treatment.

If, by the end, you want to see about getting a prescription, then we recommend getting in touch with a LegitScript-certified telehealth platform called UVG Health.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

We’ve been following the therapeutic peptide space for years. So far, we’ve cumulatively studied several hundred pieces of scientific literature across more than 1,000 hours. No doubt, by the time you read this, these numbers will have increased exponentially. And aside from what we’ve read in peer-reviewed journals, we’ve also consulted with clinicians who prescribe peptides, spoken with peptide users, and even used peptides ourselves. Our knowledge is both theoretical and practical, and it’s always growing.

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this guide was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy and will continue to be monitored for updates by our editorial team.

CJC-1295 and ipamorelin belong to a category of synthetic therapeutic peptides called growth hormone secretagogues, or substances that promote the secretion of growth hormone. Growth hormone, for its part, increases cellular replication, encourages collagen synthesis in your skeletal muscles, and stimulates the production of a separate hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which helps regulate the process by which your body creates fat.1 2 3 Because of these qualities, a higher concentration of circulating growth hormone can lead to improved exercise training, increased muscle strength, and a decreased propensity for fat accumulation.4

Despite belonging to the same category and effecting a common outcome, CJC-1295 and ipamorelin have distinct mechanisms of action:

Why are CJC-1295 and ipamorelin used together?

CJC-1295 and ipamorelin are commonly used together because they work on complementary receptor pathways — GHRH-R and GHSR-1a, respectively — potentially producing a greater growth hormone pulse than either peptide could do on its own.37

There’s also another mechanistic rationale for why they’re often taken in combination, though it applies only when CJC-1295 is enhanced with Drug Affinity Complex (DAC), a technology for extending a drug’s half-life. With DAC, CJC-1295 stimulates pituitary growth hormone secretion in a sustained manner over an extended period,9 while ipamorelin acts on the pituitary gland directly, inducing a more immediate dump of growth hormone into circulation. Hence, using the two peptides in combination would allow you to take advantage of growth hormone in terms of both availability and intensity — the tortoise and the hare as relay partners.

That being said, many compounded CJC-1295/ipamorelin products use the no-DAC form, so the time-release benefit isn’t pertinent to all cases.

Like sermorelin, another growth hormone secretagogue, CJC-1295 and ipamorelin are non-FDA-approved medications whose therapeutic uses are entirely off-label. Nonetheless, scientific research suggests that their combined growth hormone secretagogue actions may be particularly effective at achieving the following health outcomes:

Increasing growth hormone circulation

Though not exactly common, growth hormone deficiency affects enough people (1 in every 10,000 adults) and causes serious enough problems (depression, insulin resistance, increased body fat) that it behooves us to have a reliable treatment for it.10

To that end, although recombinant growth hormone is the standard treatment, several studies suggest that CJC-1295 and ipamorelin, at least as separate therapies, may also do the job. For example:

• Two human trials — one in 2006, the other in 2013 — found that even very small weekly doses (30-90mcg per kilogram of body weight) of CJC-1295 resulted in “increased [minimum] and mean [growth hormone] secretion and ... pulsatility” as well as “sustained, dose-dependent increases in [growth hormone] and IGF-I levels in healthy adults.”11 9
• In 1999, a human trial with 40 total volunteers concluded that ipamorelin at multiple doses induces growth hormone secretion at sufficient levels to be biologically effective, with peak concentration arriving within an hour.12

These studies examined the two peptides separately, but their results validate the mechanisms of action that underlie the reason that CJC-1295 and ipamorelin are used together. That is, both effectively stimulate growth hormone secretion, and each one does so at a complementary rate of time release — one sustained, the other immediate.

Muscle gain and fat loss

Direct assessments of CJC or ipamorelin on body composition are scarce, but numerous studies have linked increased growth hormone circulation to muscle gain and fat loss.13

By way of example, you might consider a 2013 trial that led to improved muscle strength after six months of growth hormone therapy in men over 50 years old, an age group likely to notice the effects of age-related muscle loss.4 14 You might also look at a 2014 paper published in the Journal of Molecular Endocrinology, which concluded that growth hormone “exerts complex multi-system effects on skeletal muscle function” ultimately to increase muscle mass.15 If not that, then perhaps a 1999 study that saw growth hormone recipients lose more weight and gain more lean body mass than their placebo-group counterparts.16

Along with their combined effects on growth hormone, muscle, and fat, CJC-1295 and ipamorelin may provide additional health benefits with varying degrees of scientific support:

Owing to the following health risks, CJC-1295 and ipamorelin are moderately unsafe for the general population compared to some of the other peptides we’ve studied:

• Immunogenicity: Immunogenicity is a condition in which your body interprets a substance as a threat and mounts an immune response against it. The FDA warns that both CJC-1295 and ipamorelin are risky for immunogenicity, potentially causing life-threatening outcomes such as anaphylaxis.25 26
• Cardiovascular concerns: Specifically concerning CJC-1295, the FDA warns of the risk of “increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reaction,” including “flushing, warmth, and transient hypotension.”25 27
• Cancer: With their ability to increase the rate of cellular replication, growth hormone secretagogues in general are unsafe for cancer survivors and people with an active cancer diagnosis.28 Secretagogue use may elevate their risk for recurrence or worsen their prognosis.

With ipamorelin, there’s also a risk of death when it’s injected intravenously.25 It’s important here to note that peptides like ipamorelin are normally injected under the skin, not into a vein, and your prescribing physician is very unlikely to recommend the intravenous route.

In addition, CJC-1295 and ipamorelin carry the same risk of milder side effects associated with many injectable peptides, namely injection site reactions and mild flu-like symptoms.

Research-grade vs. pharmaceutical-grade CJC-1295 and ipamorelin

Many of the therapeutic peptides you can purchase online are research-grade products, and that’s certainly the case with CJC-1295 and ipamorelin. “Research-grade” means that the peptides are designed exclusively for testing purposes, in laboratories. They are not intended for human consumption, as they lack the same purity and quality controls as their medical-grade counterparts. The best way to manage safety concerns associated with CJC-1295 and ipamorelin is to access them after assessment by a medical professional, but even aside from those safety concerns, you certainly don’t want to contend with the risk of infection or genotoxicity posed by research-grade products.29

Therefore, to get CJC-1295 and ipamorelin that are fit for human use, you must go through a licensed clinician who will write you a prescription to be filled at an accredited compounding pharmacy.

Treatment protocols can vary depending on the prescriber and the patient, but there are usually some commonalities despite the variables. So, notwithstanding potential differences, here’s what you might expect with your CJC-1295 and ipamorelin therapy:

Preliminary and ongoing lab tests

Your prescriber may order lab tests to assess your candidacy for CJC-1295 and ipamorelin. For example, our preferred telehealth platform, UVG Health, requires baseline bloodwork (CMP, CBC, A1C) before CJC/ipamorelin is prescribed. These tests help to determine the proper dosage as well as reveal biomarkers to rule out health problems and other contraindications.

Dosing and administration

Though dosages may vary based on variables like age and weight, a typical starting dose of CJC-1295 and ipamorelin is 0.2mg per injection. The injection should go into an area of subcutaneous fat, such as your belly, a thigh, or an arm.

It used to be that injectable peptides, like CJC-1295/ipamorelin, came as dried powders needing reconstitution before they could be administered, but nowadays you’ll more likely receive a premixed solution that’s ready to use as is.

Treatment protocol

Your CJC-1295 and ipamorelin treatment protocol might look like this:

• Five doses per week
• Nighttime administration, ideally a couple of hours after your last meal (this ensures an empty stomach, which is important because eating raises insulin and may blunt your growth hormone release)21
• Periodic biomarker retesting

Clinicians often recommend cycling the use of therapeutic peptides to prevent desensitization and maintain therapeutic efficacy. Cycling just means taking the treatment regularly for a specific period before taking a break from it. A typical CJC-1295 and ipamorelin cycle is four months — three months on, one month off — so you’d complete three cycles per year.

As you proceed with your treatment protocol, you should notice health effects incrementally. Though the exact onset of these effects will vary depending on your age and physicality, you can expect them to follow this timeline:

• Within 4-6 weeks, with regular resistance training, you ought to notice a more defined muscular contour, speedier recovery between workout sessions, and perhaps some reduced body fat.
• In 8-12 weeks, the above changes become more apparent. You might also notice cosmetic improvements in skin quality.

Thereafter, it’s about sustaining your health improvements with ongoing compliance with your treatment protocol.

As with many therapeutic peptides, you need to continue using CJC-1295 and ipamorelin to continue seeing results.

Storage

Injectable peptides must be stored properly to prevent rapid degradation. The U.K.’s National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) recommends storage in a “dry, cool, dark place” at around 4°C (approximately 39°F).30 Your refrigerator, then, is the ideal storage container. There, your supply of CJC-1295 and ipamorelin ought to remain stable for several weeks.

With their elevating effect on growth hormone levels and attendant impacts on body composition, CJC-1295 and ipamorelin are best suited for anyone without a contraindicating health condition who wants to increase their lean muscle mass and shed fat. That’s a user population that includes not only weight lifters and bodybuilders but also people at risk for:

Who’s not a candidate for CJC-1295 and ipamorelin?

Besides people in whom CJC-1295 and ipamorelin may pose an elevated health risk, the treatments are broadly contraindicated in:

• People who are pregnant or breastfeeding, as there isn’t enough evidence to determine their general safety for the developing fetus or newborn
• People who fear needles, as subcutaneous injection is the most common route of administration
• Competitive weight lifters or bodybuilders — less for safety reasons than because these peptides are prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency

CJC-1295 and ipamorelin used to be much harder to obtain, as the FDA had once placed them on its Category 2 list of bulk drug substances posing significant safety risks. Since then, however, the two peptides have been removed from the list, and legal challenges have helped suspend enforcement against compounding them and other peptides.36

Today, interested health consumers can get a prescription for pharmaceutical-grade CJC-1295 and ipamorelin through a reputable telehealth platform such as our recommended outfit, UVG Health. Because the right protocol depends on the individual, the best way to inquire about your candidacy is to schedule a discovery call with UVG’s care navigator. The call is free and comprehensive, providing you with a wealth of information — how the peptides work, other treatments that may align with your health goals — that’s crucial to your making the most appropriate health decision.

After the call, your candidacy will undergo review by a licensed independent physician or nurse practitioner, who determines whether to approve your prescription and send it for fulfillment to a state-licensed 503A compounding pharmacy. From there, it’s just a matter of days before you receive your cold-packed medication at your doorstep.

In our experience, this is the best way to explore peptide therapies at this time. Schedule your free call at your convenience and see how CJC-1295 and ipamorelin fit with your health goals.