PepRank

Tesamorelin

Also: Egrifta · Egrifta WR · tesa

SleepRecoveryInjection

FDA-approved GHRH analogue for visceral fat; raises IGF-1, anaphylaxis reports.

Safety tier
Avoid
strict bar
Positive
43%
of 29 reports
Per month
≈ €240–480
injected
Rank
#50
of 61 research peptides

At a glance

Access
Grey market
InjectionFelt in 4–8 weeks

Builds over days or weeks of regular use rather than with each dose.

Strict case
GH/IGF-1 axis elevation (neoplasm and glucose warnings on label) plus anaphylaxis reports.
Best effects
Visceral fat reduction · better sleep · muscle preservation in a deficit · IGF-1 rise without shutting down endogenous GH
Downsides
Water retention / swollen ankles · flushing, palpitations · joint aches · injection-site reactions
Typical use
1-2 mg/day subQ at night, 5 days on / 2 off for 12 weeks. Users report 1–1.4 mg/day (median 1.4 mg, n=5).
Stacked with
Stacked with
Retatrutide or tirzepatide: The dominant pairing, meant to protect muscle and target visceral fat during a GLP-1 cut. Sceptics say the GLP-1 does most of the visible work. · Ipamorelin: Sold as a premixed tesa/ipa blend for sleep and recovery. Several anaphylaxis posters later reacted to CJC/ipamorelin or sermorelin too. · HGH: A common next step after tesamorelin, chosen for cost or after an allergic reaction.

Safety

Watch
Raises GH/IGF-1: label warns on neoplasm (contraindicated with active malignancy) · Glucose intolerance / diabetes risk · Hypersensitivity incl. anaphylaxis (label + multiple user reports)
Tier by safety barStrict AvoidBalanced AvoidEvidence only Avoid
  • Seen harm2 of 3
  • Mechanism2 of 3
  • Data gap0 of 3
  • Silent harm3 of 3
  • Product3 of 3
Never if
Active cancer or a history of cancer · Disrupted hypothalamic-pituitary axis (hypophysectomy, pituitary tumour or surgery, head irradiation) (label) · Diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance · Pregnancy (label)
Why each score
Seen harm 2/3
The Egrifta label carries warnings for neoplasm, IGF-1 elevation, fluid retention, glucose intolerance (HbA1c 6.5% or above in 5% vs 1%) and hypersensitivity in 4%; at least four independent first-hand reports describe anaphylaxis after weeks or months of use, some with loss of consciousness or hospital care. Egrifta WR (tesamorelin) US prescribing information, 2025 ↗r/Biohackers: anaphylaxis after 7 months of tesamorelin (more cases in replies) ↗r/Biohackers: tesamorelin anaphylaxis after 20 weeks, hospital discharge ↗
Mechanism 2/3
A GHRH analogue that raises IGF-1, above 2 SDS in 47% of patients at 26 weeks; the label states the effects of prolonged IGF-1 elevation are unknown and requires any malignancy to be inactive. Egrifta WR (tesamorelin) US prescribing information, 2025 ↗
Data gap 0/3
FDA-approved since 2010 for HIV lipodystrophy on placebo-controlled trials in over 800 patients, with 16 years of post-marketing use. Egrifta WR (tesamorelin) US prescribing information, 2025 ↗
Silent harm 3/3
Tumour promotion from sustained IGF-1 elevation would be silent and delayed; IGF-1 and glucose can be watched on blood tests, but the cancer risk cannot. Egrifta WR (tesamorelin) US prescribing information, 2025 ↗
Product 3/3
Biohackers mostly inject grey-market vials rather than the expensive pharmacy product; tesamorelin was among the compounds in the 6,441-sample quality study. Mendias & Awan 2026 preprint: 6,441 grey-market peptide samples, 42-71% failed quality criteria, 15% had endotoxin ↗

User reports

All 29 reports →
Users report
Gradual visceral-fat loss (several DEXA-confirmed, 40%+ in one case), much better sleep and muscle retention during GLP-1 cuts, with results taking 4-8+ weeks. Sceptics note that most visible results come from retatrutide, and a minority see nothing, especially when already lean. Water retention (sometimes numb or tingling hands), joint pain, disturbed sleep or a raised night heart rate, and itchy injection-site welts are common. Anaphylaxis accounts recur throughout 2026, typically after months of use and often after weeks of worsening welts. They include ER and hospital visits, loss of consciousness, and one reaction masked by daily antihistamines. A separate account describes a week in hospital with reactive hypoglycaemia (glucose below 40) on tesamorelin plus ipamorelin.
Glowing 4Positive 8Mixed 3Nothing 3Negative 5Bad reaction 6
  • r/Peptidesource· · 36 upvotesOriginal ↗

    Tesamorelin has completely melted away my midsection fat over the past 12 weeks and I swear by it.

    Glowing12 weeks

  • r/Biohackers· · 14 upvotesOriginal ↗

    Finished my 12 week cycle and had awesome results. My sleep is ridiculous good. I lost 5% visceral fat and had zero complications.

    Glowing12 weeks

  • r/Biohackers· · 152 upvotesOriginal ↗

    After approximately 7 months of using tesamorelin, I experienced a severe reaction consistent with anaphylaxis immediately after injecting it.

    Bad reactionInjection · ~7 months

    several peptides used alongside, sometimes on the same day

Where to buy

All 7 offers →
Getting it
FDA-approved as Egrifta WR (and SV) only for HIV-associated abdominal fat; some US clinics prescribe it off-label or compounded. Most Reddit users buy research-peptide vials.

A month at 1–2 mg/day costs ≈ €240–480 from Semax Polska at €7.94/mg.

Cheapest from trusted shops in the EU

ShopPackPricePer mgPer monthTesting
Semax PolskaEU · PL
Trust 4/5Each product shows an Analiza Białek (Wrocław) HPLC report naming its operator Dobre Peptydy sp. z o.o. as the client, with a verification password (Semax 60 mg: 62.18 mg, 99%), and Reddit buyers since 2024 report fast, professional deliveries; the only complaints are about felt effect.Ships to France for €14, 1–5 days.COAs ↗
powder · 10 mg€79€7.94/mg≈ €240–480 a monthThird-party tested

Studies

Evidence
Approved drug in the US (HIV-associated lipodystrophy)
2 more studies and 2 sources

Sources

Molecule

Sequence
YADAIFTNSYRKVLGQLSARKLLQDIMSRQQGESNQERGARARL
Length
44 amino acids
Modifications
GHRH(1-44), N-trans-3-hexenoyl, C-amide

Sequence

The peptide's chain of amino acids from its start (the N-terminus) to its end, one bead and one letter for each: A alanine, C cysteine, D aspartic acid, E glutamic acid, F phenylalanine, G glycine, H histidine, I isoleucine, K lysine, L leucine, M methionine, N asparagine, P proline, Q glutamine, R arginine, S serine, T threonine, V valine, W tryptophan, Y tyrosine. A modification such as an N-acetyl cap or a C-terminal amide changes how long it lasts in the body. Length tells related peptides apart, from a two-residue dipeptide like carnosine to a 43-residue protein like thymosin beta-4, and predicts neither effect nor safety.

Report grades

Every first-hand Reddit or X report is graded on its own, from glowing through positive, mixed, nothing and negative to bad reaction, and the bar shows how those grades split. Posts that look vendor-adjacent stay on the peptide's page but are left out of the counts.

GlowingPositiveMixedNothingNegativeBad reaction

% positive

The share of a peptide's graded Reddit and X reports that are glowing or positive, vendor-adjacent posts left out. A peptide with few reports is pulled toward the average of all reports, as if it had eight average ones besides its own, so two glowing posts cannot top the list. Peptides rank by this figure, those with no graded report yet after those with one, and Avoid ones after every other entry.

Researcher estimate

No first-hand report of this peptide has been graded yet, so the figure is the researchers' own rating out of 10 from what they read about it. It ranks after every peptide with graded reports until its own arrive.

Safety tier

Each peptide is tiered Clean, Caution or Avoid from its five risk axes under the chosen safety bar. An Avoid peptide carries a real risk of harm, a plausible route to serious harm rather than mere unpleasantness, so it stays listed with the reason but ranks behind every other entry, however good its reviews.

Safety bar

The safety bar sets how much risk it takes to rate a peptide Avoid. Strict: out on any serious mechanism with little human data, or any documented serious harm. Balanced: out on documented serious harm (unless it is obvious, reversible and from a regulated product), or a serious mechanism whose harm would be silent with no human data at all. Evidence only: out only on documented serious harm in humans that is lasting, delayed or from grey-market product.

Seen harm

Documented serious adverse events in humans, from 0 for none despite real exposure to 3 for deaths or several well-documented serious harms. Serious means a hospital or emergency visit or harm lasting weeks, so a headache or a bad night does not count.

Mechanism

A plausible biological route to serious harm at the doses people use, such as growth-factor signalling, hormone-axis suppression, heart or blood-pressure effects or immune activation. It runs from 0 when none is known to 3 when a dangerous pathway has been shown in living animals.

Data gap

How little human safety data exists for the molecule actually sold, from 0 for an approved drug with large trials and years of use to 3 for no human safety data at all. A modified analogue does not inherit its parent's trials.

Silent harm

Whether the feared harm would show quickly or stay hidden, from 0 when it is obvious and goes on stopping to 3 when it is silent and delayed, like tumour promotion or slow organ damage. User reports cannot reveal a harm that takes years to appear, so a high score here limits what good reviews can tell you.

Product

The risk of what people actually buy, from 0 for a regulated pharmacy or supplement product taken by mouth or on the skin to 3 for a grey-market injectable. In one dataset of 6,441 grey-market samples, 42–71% failed basic quality criteria and 15% carried endotoxin; taken by mouth or in the nose, a pack avoids the injection risks.

Evidence

The strongest kind of study behind the peptide's effects, from an approved drug through human controlled trials and small human studies to animal work or nothing of its own. Animal results often fail to carry over to people.

Access

How people get it: as an approved drug, a compounded prescription, an over-the-counter supplement or from the grey market, where nobody checks the vial. The channel decides both the legal position and the risk of a bad batch.

Price per month

Thirty days of the typical dose, from its low end to its high end, priced at the listing a careful buyer would choose: in stock, from a shop scoring 4 of 5 on trust (third-party tested where no score is set), failing that 3, a pure pack before a blend, a European shop first, then the cheapest per mg. The range is the dose's, not the shops'. A per-dose amount counts once a day unless the dose says otherwise. Prices are in euros at ECB rates of 2026-10-29, before shipping; the shop table keeps each listing's price per mg, per gram for bulk supplements. Where no listing can be priced the researchers' own estimate stands in, and says so.

Dose users report

The middle half of the daily doses stated in at least five first-hand reports, vendor posts left out. Where its middle sits more than twice above or below the declared dose, the month is priced at it as well, since what people take is what they pay for.

Shop trust

Each shop's trust on a 1–5 scale, read from its testing and its reputation: 1 for serious red flags (fabricated COAs, scam reports, impersonation, a closed shop), 2 for no public testing, a new shop or active complaints such as seized parcels, 3 for its own COAs or a short track record, 4 for verified third-party testing or a strong reputation, and 5 for third-party batch reports that name the shop, with years of good independent reputation. A shop without a score counts third-party batch testing as 4, its own COAs as 3 and no public tests as 2.

Best value

Within a category or a goal, a peptide that no other beats on both counts: none is rated more positively for the same or a lower monthly price, and none costs less for the same or a higher rating. The chart joins these into the best-value line; the cheapest of them and the best-rated of them both make it, so the line spans the trade-off from cheap to best. Avoid entries never count, and a peptide needs both a % positive and a price to be compared.

Testing

Whether the shop publishes lab results: third-party tested means an independent lab checks each batch, own COA means the shop's own certificate of analysis, and no public tests means neither. A certificate shows purity, not safety.

Added peptide

Some packs sold under one peptide's name hold a second one, such as 5 mg GHK-Cu in a nasal kit, stated only in the description. Sprayed in the nose or injected it reaches the blood like an injection, so it carries the risk of that route and is tiered as the injectable form, whatever its tier on the skin. A pack whose page gives no contents list may hold more than its name.