CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin GH-Pulse Protocol

The evidence base in plain English

CJC-1295 is a long-acting analog of GHRH (growth hormone releasing hormone, the natural hormone your hypothalamus uses to tell the pituitary to release growth hormone). The original Theratechnologies / ConjuChem development data published in 2006 showed that subcutaneous CJC-1295 produced 2 to 10 fold sustained increases in growth hormone and 1.5 to 3 fold sustained increases in IGF-1 (a downstream growth hormone marker) for 6 to 11 days at single doses of 30 to 90 mcg/kg in healthy adults (PMID 16352683 - Teichman et al. 2006, JCEM).

Ipamorelin is a selective growth hormone secretagogue (a class of compounds that stimulate growth hormone release through a separate receptor than GHRH). The original 1998 Novo Nordisk identification paper showed Ipamorelin produces a clean GH pulse without the cortisol or prolactin elevation that other GH secretagogues cause (PMID 9849822 - Raun et al. 1998, European Journal of Endocrinology).

Stacking the two is biologically defensible - GHRH analogs and GH secretagogues work through complementary receptors, and the combination produces a larger GH pulse than either alone. The honest catch: most clinical studies on the combination are short-duration, small-sample-size, or done in non-FDA-approved contexts. The FDA approved one CJC-1295-related drug (Egrifta, the tesamorelin formulation) for HIV-associated lipodystrophy specifically. Ipamorelin has been studied in early-phase trials for post-operative ileus but did not reach FDA approval. Most of what is sold and prescribed in the US peptide telehealth market is therefore off-label compounded use, not FDA-approved indications.

No-DAC vs with-DAC - the version that matters

CJC-1295 comes in two versions, and the difference is large enough to break a protocol if you get it wrong:

• CJC-1295 with DAC. "DAC" stands for Drug Affinity Complex - a chemical addition that binds the peptide to albumin (a blood protein), giving it a half-life of roughly 8 days. With-DAC produces a sustained, elevated GH baseline for days at a time. This is what the original Teichman 2006 paper studied.
• CJC-1295 no-DAC (also called Modified GRF 1-29). The version without the DAC modification. Half-life of roughly 30 minutes. This version produces a clean, short pulse of GHRH activity that mimics natural pituitary signaling. Most longevity-clinic protocols use no-DAC because the body's natural GH pulses are short pulses, not sustained elevation. Sustained elevation can desensitize the receptor over time and disrupt the normal GH rhythm.

The standard biohacker stack is no-DAC + Ipamorelin, dosed before bed and pre-workout, to amplify the natural GH pulses your body produces during deep sleep and exercise. With-DAC + Ipamorelin is a different protocol with different tradeoffs and is less commonly used in modern longevity clinic practice.

If your provider hands you a vial labeled "CJC-1295" without specifying DAC or no-DAC, ask. The mismatch between protocol expectations and the actual molecule is one of the most common sourcing errors in this category.

Week 0: the doctor conversation

The right starting point is a peptide-experienced longevity clinic, an anti-aging medicine doctor (often A4M-affiliated), or a peptide-focused telehealth provider. A general practitioner is unlikely to prescribe this stack and that is a defensible position.

Three questions for the appointment:

• Which version of CJC-1295 will you script - with DAC or no-DAC? The preferred answer for the modern GH-pulse protocol is no-DAC. Make sure the prescribed peptide and the protocol you discussed match.
• Which compounding pharmacy will you use, and do they provide a COA per peptide? The Certificate of Analysis (a lab report verifying identity, purity, and contamination testing) is non-negotiable. One COA per peptide. Not one COA covering both.
• Are you watching the July 2026 PCAC decision? The FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee (PCAC) is scheduled to issue a final ruling around July 23, 2026 on whether several compounded peptides - including CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin - can continue to be compounded under existing pathways. If the ruling restricts compounding, the legal sourcing path narrows significantly. Your provider should know what the ruling means for their pharmacy supply chain.

Week 1: sourcing - this is where the protocol falls apart

The legitimate paths in 2026:

• Compounding pharmacy via a peptide-experienced provider. The cleanest path. The pharmacy receives the prescription, compounds the peptide, and ships in a sterile multi-dose vial. Cost typically $150 to $400 per peptide per cycle.
• Research peptide vendors. Many users source from research vendors at substantially lower cost ($50 to $150 per peptide per cycle). The legitimate vendors provide a COA per peptide on request. The illegitimate vendors do not. This is a "research use only" market with all the regulatory caveats that implies. We are not endorsing it - we are acknowledging that it exists and is widely used.
• Skip: Pre-mixed CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin blends from any source without separate COAs per peptide. The mixing is where dose imprecision and contamination enter. Mix at injection time yourself if you must mix.
• Skip: Vendors selling "CJC-1295 nasal spray" or oral capsule formats. Both peptides require subcutaneous injection to reach circulation in the studied form. Oral and nasal formats are unstudied and unlikely to deliver active peptide.

Storage: refrigerated at 36 to 46 degrees F. Reconstitute (mix with bacteriostatic water - sterile water with a small amount of benzyl alcohol to prevent bacterial growth) at the start of each protocol week, not all at once at the start of the cycle.

Weeks 2-13: the 8-to-12 week cycle

The standard protocol that longevity clinics use:

• CJC-1295 (no-DAC): 100mcg subQ, 1 to 3 times daily. Most users dose once before bed (to amplify the deep-sleep GH pulse) and optionally a second dose pre-workout. A third midday dose is uncommon outside of more aggressive protocols.
• Ipamorelin: 100 to 300mcg subQ, dosed at the same time as CJC-1295. Same site or a second nearby site. The two peptides are typically drawn into the same syringe at injection time for convenience, after each is reconstituted separately.
• Inject on an empty stomach. Carbohydrate intake within 30 minutes of dosing blunts the GH pulse. The standard window is 30 minutes before food in the morning or 2 hours after the last meal at night.
• Cycle 8 to 12 weeks on, 4 weeks off. Continuous use without breaks risks pituitary desensitization. The 4-week washout lets the receptor reset before the next cycle.
• Track sleep, recovery, and body composition. Subjective improvement in sleep depth and morning energy usually shows up in week 2 or 3. Body composition changes (DEXA scan or scale + tape measure) take the full 8 to 12 weeks to register.
• Reassess at week 4 and week 8. Zero subjective benefit at week 4 plus zero body composition signal at week 8 is a reasonable basis to stop the cycle early.

What success looks like

The realistic outcomes from an 8-to-12 week cycle, based on practitioner reports and clinic protocols (acknowledging the limited published RCT data):

• Week 2 to 3: deeper sleep. The most consistently reported subjective effect. Wearable sleep-tracker data often shows increased deep sleep duration in this window.
• Week 4 to 6: faster perceived recovery from training. Soreness resolves quicker; capacity for back-to-back hard sessions improves modestly.
• Week 8 to 12: small body composition improvements - typically 1 to 2% body fat reduction with maintained or slightly increased lean mass, in users who pair the protocol with consistent training and adequate protein.
• What does not happen: dramatic transformation. If your before-and-after photos look like they were taken of two different people, you ran something other than this protocol or you ran it alongside a major training and nutrition overhaul that is doing most of the work.

Most of the visible body composition difference in clinic before-and-afters is the training and nutrition variable, not the peptide. Be honest about that.

What to skip

• Open-ended continuous use without cycling off. Receptor desensitization is real. The 4-week washout matters.
• Stacking CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin with exogenous HGH. The point of the secretagogue protocol is to nudge your own pituitary. Adding exogenous HGH suppresses your own pituitary signaling. The two are mechanistically working against each other; if HGH is the goal, prescribe HGH.
• "Five-peptide GH stacks" combining CJC-1295, Ipamorelin, MK-677, GHRP-6, and Sermorelin in one vial. The biological evidence is on the two-peptide stack. More peptides per vial means more imprecision and zero additional studied benefit.
• Daytime dosing without timing it to fasting state. Eating in the 30-minute window around the dose blunts the GH pulse. If you cannot dose on an empty stomach, the protocol is not delivering what the studies measured.

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