The Gentle GHRH

Sermorelin

Also known as GHRH (1-29)

Prescription-class · no approved product existsSummary coverage

At a glance

What it is: A GHRH analog producing a milder GH bump than tesamorelin.

Evidence: Small human studiesHow the tiers workOur own material characterises sermorelin only as a previously FDA-approved GHRH analog with a moderate evidence base and cites no trial, so this record stays thin. Why this tier

Half-life: About 4 minutes, when given into a vein; From Soule et al., Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 1994
Routes: Subcutaneous
Category: Growth hormone
FDA: Not nominated; As of 3 August 2026. What that means
WADA: Prohibited (S2.2.4)

Putting Sermorelin on a schedule, with the vial it comes from and a log of each dose, happens in the app: Claritide for iPhone.

Evidence

Why this tier

Our own material characterises sermorelin only as a previously FDA-approved GHRH analog with a moderate evidence base and cites no trial, so this record stays thin. The dosing row comes from outside it and is labelled as reference: Sigalos 2017 used 100 mcg three times daily, the discontinued Geref label dosed 30 mcg/kg nightly in paediatric growth hormone deficiency, and the FDA-commissioned M-CERSI review is the closest thing to a regulatory summary that exists. No adult trial establishes an anti-ageing dose.

Overview

What it is

Sermorelin is a growth hormone-releasing hormone analog described in our material as producing a gentle pulsatile GH release, a milder effect than tesamorelin or CJC-1295. It is positioned for anti-aging use and for age-related decline in recovery sleep. It is prescription-class: the figures on this record are reference values from the literature and clinic practice, and the amount to use is the one on the prescription.

Mechanism

How it works

Sermorelin binds GHRH receptors on the anterior pituitary and prompts the gland to release its own growth hormone, in the same way tesamorelin and CJC-1295 do. Our sources characterise the resulting release as gentle and pulsatile rather than strong, the mildest of the GHRH analogs they cover. As with any secretagogue, working through the pituitary preserves the body's natural pulse pattern and its somatostatin feedback brake, unlike injecting growth hormone directly.

Dosing

Commonly researched ranges

These are figures reported in published literature and practitioner protocols: a commonly researched range, not a recommendation. Claritide does not tell you what to take.

Off-label adult reference range100–500 mcg
Once daily, most often at night
Reference figures, not a plan. Sermorelin is prescription-class and the amount comes from the prescription. The one figure here with a published study behind it is 100 mcg three times daily (Sigalos 2017); the wider 100–500 mcg/day band, with 1000 mcg/day quoted as an upper end, is clinic practice. Two cautions on the arithmetic in circulation: the discontinued Geref label dosed 30 mcg/kg nightly, which is roughly 2 mg in a 70 kg adult and far above this range, and RxList’s monograph states "0.2–0.3 mcg once daily", which is off by about a thousandfold and is propagating into secondary sources.

Phase	Amount	Frequency	Timing	Note
Off-label adult reference range	100–500 mcg	Once daily, most often at night	Not established in available literature	Reference figures, not a plan. Sermorelin is prescription-class and the amount comes from the prescription. The one figure here with a published study behind it is 100 mcg three times daily (Sigalos 2017); the wider 100–500 mcg/day band, with 1000 mcg/day quoted as an upper end, is clinic practice. Two cautions on the arithmetic in circulation: the discontinued Geref label dosed 30 mcg/kg nightly, which is roughly 2 mg in a 70 kg adult and far above this range, and RxList’s monograph states "0.2–0.3 mcg once daily", which is off by about a thousandfold and is propagating into secondary sources.

Cycle guidance: Not established in available literature
Goals: Sleep, Longevity, Recovery

Legal standing

Where this sits with the FDA

Dated, sourced, and separate from whether it works. Removal from a warning list is not permission to compound.

Not nominatedas of 3 August 2026 · US

Sermorelin does not appear on FDA’s Category 1, Category 2 or 503A bulks lists as of August 2026. Our own material describes an earlier US approval that we could not verify against a current label, so we publish no approval date.

Primary source

Sport

WADA status

The 2026 Prohibited List entered force on 1 January 2026.

Prohibited (S2.2.4)

Named on the 2026 List under S2.2.4, GHRH analogues. Prohibited at all times.

Reconstitution

Mixing recipes our sources document

Concentration (mg/mL) = vial mg ÷ diluent mL. On a U-100 barrel, 1 unit = 0.01 mL.

Not established in available literature. Use the calculator with the figures printed on your own vial.
Open the calculator

Expectations

Week by week

What our material describes people reporting. Individual responses vary widely.

Not established in available literature.

Tolerability

Side effects

Grouped by how often our sources report them. Percentages appear only where a published trial figure exists.

Not established in available literature. Absence from this page does not mean absence of risk. It means our sources publish no side-effect profile for Sermorelin.

Safety

Contraindications and interactions

Do not use if

Active cancer: GH promotes cell proliferation
Do not combine with other GH secretagogues or exogenous GH without medical guidance

Interactions

Other GH secretagogues and exogenous GHcaution
Cumulative GH-axis load with unpredictable hormonal effects.
Cancer therapiesavoid
Growth-promoting pathways.

Absence from this list does NOT mean safety. It means lack of research.

Handling

Storage and cost

Storage: Lyophilized powder: refrigerator 2–8°C, freezer −20°C for long-term storage. Reconstituted with bacteriostatic water: refrigerate and discard after 28 days.
Cost: Not established in available literature

Deep dive

Sermorelin in full

Limited coverage, and unusually limited

Sermorelin appears in three comparison tables across our material and nowhere else. We have no dedicated page, no side effect profile, no reconstitution table and no timeline for it.

Rather than fill those gaps from elsewhere, we leave them empty. A blank field in Claritide means our sources are silent, not that nothing exists. The one thing added from outside our own material is the dosing row, and it is labelled reference for a prescription compound rather than a protocol.

What our sources do say

Sermorelin is a GHRH analog, the same class as tesamorelin and CJC-1295. It binds GHRH receptors on the anterior pituitary and prompts release of the body's own growth hormone.

Its distinguishing characteristic is gentleness. Our tesamorelin comparison table describes it as producing a "gentle pulsatile" release and a "milder GH bump" than the other analogs, and positions it for anti-aging use. Our DSIP page lists it as a recovery-sleep peptide suited to age-related sleep decline, working through natural GH secretion enhancement rather than any direct sleep mechanism.

The evidence column in our own table reads "moderate (previously FDA-approved)".

Prescription status

Sermorelin is prescription-class, and that is not the same as obtainable. Our own material describes an earlier US approval; we hold no current US label to verify it against, and sermorelin appears on none of FDA's compounding lists. So there is no approved product we can point you at. If a clinic offers it, that is compounded material. Ask what it is and where it came from. Claritide will track what you are prescribed and will never suggest a dose or a change.

The cautions that carry over

Every warning that applies to the GH axis applies here. Active cancer is a contraindication because growth hormone promotes cell proliferation. The Playbook's stacking rule applies without modification: do not combine multiple GH-modulating peptides without medical guidance, because the hormonal effects are unpredictable.

What the reference figures are, and are not

Adult clinic practice runs 100 to 500 mcg a day, most often at night, with 1000 mcg a day quoted as an upper end. Only one of those figures has a study attached: 100 mcg three times daily, in Sigalos 2017. The discontinued Geref label is a different population and a much larger dose: 30 mcg/kg nightly in paediatric growth hormone deficiency, roughly 2 mg in a 70 kg adult.

One number in circulation is simply wrong. RxList's sermorelin monograph gives "0.2 to 0.3 mcg once daily", which is about a thousand times below every other source, and it is spreading into secondary pages. If you meet it, that is the tell.

If you are building a protocol around sermorelin, the honest position stands: these are reference values. Get the amount from your prescriber.

References

Sources

1
Sigalos & Pastuszak, 2017 · sermorelin 100 mcg three times daily, the one adult figure with a study behind it (dose review, 2026-08-17)
Source
2
Prakash & Goa, 1999 · sermorelin review, including the discontinued Geref label at 30 mcg/kg nightly (dose review, 2026-08-17)
PMID 18031173 Source
3
University of Maryland M-CERSI · FDA-commissioned sermorelin review (dose review, 2026-08-17)
Source

Every record in this library is free to read, and it stays free. Your own schedule, vials and log live in the app: Claritide for iPhone.