Which HGH test can I perform to determine whether it's real or fake?
Answer:
The authenticity of synthetic human growth hormone (somatropin) can be determined by several tests:
Growth hormone lab analysis
Depending on which brand you buy, some manufacturers are willing to pay for the lab test, where you send a sample of their product to a lab of your choice. To find a lab, google and call around. Ask if they are capable of testing for real 191 amino acid sequence somatropin / HGH. The cost of such test in USA is around $350 USD. Ask the manufacturer of the HGH brand if they will reimburse you for the test. Some will do it.
HGH serum test
A cheaper and simpler test, which can be done by most labs is to have your blood tested for HGH serum prior to injecting growth hormone. Afterwards, take 4IU of HGH and 3 hours later have the same HGH blood serum test repeated. If your product is real the 2nd result should show a drastic increase in serum level. Some manufacturers will also reimburse you for this test after you send them the lab results. Just ask.
Growth hormone serum test result inconsistencies
HGH serum levels depend on many factors and are inconsistent from test to test. These factors include injection timing, dosage, diet, current body levels of amino acid degrading enzyme responsible for HGH degradation, potential immune response, etc. For this reason you are unlikely to get the same growth hormone test result twice. The result is a reliable indicator that the injected growth hormone is authentic however it cannot determine the quality or potency of HGH. This is a common misconception often mentioned on bodybuilding forums. HGH serum levels will not tell you "how strong" the growth hormone is, only whether it is real or not.
IGF-1 test
The level of IGF-1 hormone and HGH in the body are tightly correlated. Injecting growth hormone will raise a person's IGF-1 levels as well. Elevated IGF-1 levels are thus a good indicator of authentic HGH. The IGF-1 test is performed in the same manner as above mentioned HGH serum test.
Is it true that home pregnancy test can be used to determine if the HGH is real?
The pregnancy test is only good for determining if the substance is HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) - pregnancy hormone which is found only in the urine of pregnant women. In the old days when growth hormone was prohibitively expensive, and produced only by a handful of manufacturers, scammers used HCG to trick people. HCG looks the same as HGH, the only difference being when adding water to the vial, HCG completely dissolves in seconds, while real HGH keeps a few lumps of powder floating around for several minutes before completely dissolving. Nowadays. when growth hormone is readily available through multiple manufacturers (some of which sell to the black market), HCG is not used anymore. In the last decade I haven't heard of a single case of anyone discovering HCG.
Nowadays, the scammers print packaging of reputable brands and fill them with vials of low grade HGH mimick. In most cases they use 192 amino acid sequence molecule which generally functions similarly as the real 191 amino acid sequence HGH, but it also causes an immune reaction when the body detects it as foreign. This leads to red painful welts on injection spot and can lead to serious health problems if the body's immune system develops defense against the real, endogenous 191 amino acid HGH as well. This effectively leaves the person with no HGH at all.
Bacterial residue in low grade Somatropin or Somatrem
Painful red welts on injection spot can be caused by low quality growth hormone which contain too much bacterial residue. This can lead to serious problems where the body could eventually develop resistance even against its own naturally produced growth hormone.
The 192 amino acid sequence growth hormone is called somatrem while the real 191 amino acid sequence is somatropin. Somatrem is easier and much cheaper to produce. Only a proper lab analysis can show if the substance is 191 or 192 amino acid sequence.
Occasional painful welt does not automatically mean that the substance is somatrem. From time to time it can happen with somatropin too (if you hit an awkward spot). If the welts appear after every injection and persist for a day or two, then you should discontinue the cycle immediately and have a sample lab tested.
Beware of HGH supplements, sprays, pills or patches. Those are just marketing scams and do not contain any real growth hormone. See "hgh sprays, pills and patches" page for more info.
