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Sermorelin
Growth hormone secretagogue
Sermorelin stimulates your pituitary to release growth hormone on its own rhythm, rather than introducing it from outside. That is the reason it is dosed at night — you are amplifying a pulse your body already produces during deep sleep.
Because it works with an existing pathway, results are gradual and the week-12 bloodwork matters more than how you feel in week two.
Your clinician sets the actual schedule. This is the standard ladder and the one they start from.
Human data exists, but it is older, smaller or narrower than the claims commonly made about this compound.
FDA-approved as Geref, for paediatric growth hormone deficiency
FDAWithdrawn from the US market — a commercial decision, not a safety one
FDAThe GHRH fragment carrying full biological activity
PharmacologyWhat it is
Sermorelin is a synthetic fragment of growth-hormone-releasing hormone — the first 29 amino acids, which carry the full biological activity. It prompts your own pituitary to release growth hormone rather than introducing growth hormone from outside.
How it works
GHRH binds receptors on the anterior pituitary and triggers a natural GH pulse. Because it works through an existing feedback loop, the pituitary's own regulation stays in the circuit — the argument for it over exogenous HGH, and the reason it is dosed at night, when the largest natural pulse occurs in deep sleep.
What the evidence actually says
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1997
Approval
Approved for the diagnosis and treatment of idiopathic growth hormone deficiency in children — the only indication it has ever formally held.
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2008
Withdrawal
Removed from the US market for commercial reasons rather than safety findings. Current use is compounded and off-label.
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Now
Adult use
Use for body composition, sleep and recovery in adults is off-label. The human literature there is thinner than the marketing around it, which is why week-12 IGF-1 bloodwork is part of the protocol rather than optional.
What the first months look like
- Weeks 1–2Low nightly dose while you find out how you sleep on it.
- Weeks 3–12The working dose. Effects are gradual and easy to talk yourself into or out of.
- Week 12Bloodwork. IGF-1 is the objective read, and it matters more than how you feel in week two.
Who this is not for
- Anyone with an active malignancy.
- Pregnancy or nursing.
- Anyone expecting the effect of exogenous HGH — this is a smaller, slower, more physiological signal.
Sources
- Prakash A, Goa KL. Sermorelin: a review of its use in the diagnosis and treatment of children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency. BioDrugs, 1999.
- Walker RF. Sermorelin: a better approach to management of adult-onset growth hormone insufficiency? Clin Interv Aging, 2006.
Figures are quoted from the published trials and were last checked in August 2026. We update this page when the evidence changes.