HCG as a TRT/HRT Alternative? This is what you need to know

Testosterone Replacement Therapy / Hormone Replacement Therapy is the most common way to treat hypogonadism in men. If done right, TRT is safe, extremely effective, and overwhelmingly good for one’s quality of life.

However, it’s not free of downsides. This is why both scientists and independent researchers have explored the possibility of using compounds other than Testosterone as TRT alternatives.

In this post, I will be covering HCG as one of those alternatives and explain what its pros and cons are over regular TRT, as well as give my opinion on whether it is a feasible long-term treatment for hypogonadism.

HCG as TRT/HRT

HCG is also prescribed as a TRT alternative by some doctors. I find it to be a safer option than Enclomiphene and Clomiphene, but I don’t think it’s a solid long-term solution.

Benefits of HCG

The good thing about it is that it forces the body to produce more testosterone, so we are not shutting down the HPTA completely (although HCG does shut down LH production).

It’s also quite convenient to use because it can be injected subcutaneously (although Testosterone and other injectable steroids can be injected subq as well) and it does wonders for fertility (hence why many people take it with their regular TRT).

HCG Downsides

However, the body seems to lose sensitivity to HCG after a few months, so taking short breaks would be necessary (one can use a SERM like Enclomiphene during those breaks to keep the body producing Testosterone).

The only other downside to it is that it seems to cause more estradiol conversion than an equivalent dose of testosterone, but that is easy to manage.

Dosage

500iu every 3 days seems to be enough for most people, but you may want to start lower and get bloodwork done a month later to see where your levels are before tweaking the protocol.

Conclusion

All in all, I think HCG is the best alternative to Testosterone for people who (for whatever reason) do not want to go on TRT and would rather keep their natural testosterone production artificially elevated for extended periods of time.