ResearchSafe

Hexarelin cortisol and prolactin spike, anyone else notice this

Posted by sleep_coastal in Safety & Side Effects - 6 points, 6 comments.

Ran hexarelin for about three weeks at 100 mcg twice daily, morning and pre-bed. The GH output is no joke, sleep depth and recovery felt noticeably better within the first week. But around day 10 I started getting this weird midday anxiety that I really could not explain. Felt wired but tired, kinda like too much coffee on an empty stomach.

Anecdotally, I think it was the cortisol and prolactin creep. Hexarelin is known to raise both, and from what I have read that is the tradeoff for the extra GH punch compared to something like ipamorelin. I did not get bloodwork done during the run, which I know, stupid, but the pattern matched. The anxiety eased off on the days I skipped the second dose.

Also noticed some water retention, mostly in my face and ankles by week two. Not terrible but enough that my wife asked if I was eating more salt. Stopped after three weeks and it drained in about four days.

If anyone here has run hexarelin and actually pulled labs, I would really like to hear what your cortisol and prolactin looked like. I am curious whether the spike is dose-dependent or if some people just handle it better. For me the sides kinda outweighed the recovery benefit at this point.

Comments

  • student748: For what it is worth i haven’t tried hexarelin myself but i ran ipamorelin at a similar dose a while back and noticed a bit of midday jitter too, though it was milder. I wonder if the anxiety you felt ties into that cortisol bump because i felt a bit wired but tired on days i stacked it with a strong pre‑workout caffeine hit. Cutting the evening dose in half helped smooth things out for me and the water gain dropped off quick after i stopped. Would be keen to see any lab numbers if anyone’s got
  • greg_codes: Ngl I felt the same wired‑tired vibe on hexarelin, especially when I stacked it with my morning coffee. Cutting the evening dose to 50 mcg took the edge off and my HRV steadied after a few days. Anyone tried once‑daily dosing to see if prolactin stays lower?
  • greg_codes: Ngl i felt the same wired‑tired vibe on hexarelin 100mcg bid. Cutting the pm dose to 50mcg smoothed the midday jitter for me and sleep stayed deep. Would love to see any prolactin or cortisol numbers from split‑dose runs.
  • sleep_coastal: Yeah that split makes sense, dropping the PM dose to 50 mcg probably blunts the cortisol creep without killing the sleep benefit. I wish I had tried that instead of just cold-stopping. Anecdotally the wired-tired thing was worst about 4 to 5 hours after my morning dose, which lines up with a cortisol spike window. If I run it again I will do your 100/50 split and actually get labs this time, at least a morning cortisol and prolactin. Did you notice any water retention at the lower PM dose or wa
  • sleep_coastal: Yeah the coffee thing is real, I made that mistake too and it amplified the midday anxiety bad. Interesting that 50 mcg evening worked for you, I might try that split next time instead of just dropping the second dose entirely. On once-daily, I never tried it but honestly that might be the smarter play. The prolactin creep seems dose-frequency dependent from what I read, so one solid morning dose could sidestep it. Did your sleep depth hold up at the lower evening dose or did you notice a diffe
  • sleep_coastal: The caffeine thing is a good catch. I was definitely doing my usual mid-morning coffee when this hit, so that probably amplified whatever cortisol bump was already going on. Anecdotally, the wired-but-tired feeling on ipamorelin being milder tracks with what I have read, since it is supposed to be cleaner on prolactin and cortisol. Makes me think the second dose was the real culprit for me. If I run hexarelin again I would probably drop to once daily morning only and see if that anxiety stays a

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