CJC-1295 No DAC / Ipamorelin

• Week 1-2: Some notice deeper sleep; flushing can follow a shot
• Week 2-4: Some report better recovery; results vary
• Week 4-8: Quiet changes, not visible ones
• Week 8-12: Users report slow body changes; course ends week 12
• Side effects: Usually mild; 911: face or throat swelling, fainting; see Side effects

More on each stage

Week 1-2

No study has tracked CJC-1295 No DAC week by week, so this is mostly community reports. Some people notice deeper sleep and vivid dreams in the first 1 to 2 weeks. Warmth, flushing, or tingling hands can come soon after a shot and usually pass within 1 to 2 hours.

Week 2-4

Users report better recovery from training and less next-day soreness around weeks 2 to 4. Results vary from person to person.

Week 4-8

Expect quiet changes, not visible ones. In the closest human study, older men on nightly GHRH(1-29) shots for 6 weeks improved on some strength tests.

Week 8-12

Community reports put slow lean-mass and fat changes at 2 to 4 months, and skin changes after several months. The store course ends after week 12. Then take 4 weeks off.

Side effects

Usually mild: redness where you inject, brief flushing, headache, or tingling hands. Stop and get help for swelling of the face or throat, trouble breathing, a racing heart, or fainting.

Based on what people report in the community sources below. Results vary, and many responses are anecdotal.

• A bigger natural growth-hormone pulse with Ipamorelin

  Human study

  GHRH-type peptides like this one and ghrelin-type peptides like Ipamorelin push growth hormone through two different switches. In healthy men, the two kinds together released about 4 to 5 times more growth hormone than either alone. That study used natural GHRH and GHRP-6, not this exact blend.8

• Deeper sleep (in men)

  Human study

  In young men, a GHRH shot given late in the night brought an almost 10-fold rise in deep (slow-wave) sleep. This study used natural GHRH by IV, not CJC-1295 No DAC.6

• Strength in older men

  Human study

  Eleven men aged 64 to 76 injected 2 mg of GHRH(1-29) every night for 6 weeks. Their night-time growth hormone rose and 2 of 6 strength tests improved. Natural-sequence GHRH, not CJC-1295 No DAC.7

• Recovery and sleep quality

  Community report

  Users report deeper sleep and vivid dreams within 1 to 2 weeks and less soreness after training within 2 to 4 weeks.18

• Slow body-composition changes

  Community report

  Users describe gradual lean-mass gains and fat loss over 2 to 4 months. For comparison, tesamorelin, a different GHRH drug, is FDA-approved to reduce belly fat, but only in adults with HIV lipodystrophy.1812

What it has been studied for

• Reducing belly fat in adults with HIV lipodystrophy: tesamorelin, a related GHRH drug, not CJC-129512FDA-labeled
• Raising growth hormone and IGF-1 in healthy adults: the long-acting DAC version only (doses do not carry over)1Clinical trial
• Deep sleep: natural GHRH increased deep sleep in young men6Human study
• Muscle strength in older men: nightly GHRH(1-29) for 6 weeks7Human study
• Lab work behind CJC-1295: the 4-swap GHRH(1-29) core raised growth hormone in rats214Animal/lab study
• Sleep, recovery, and body composition with CJC-1295 No DAC plus Ipamorelin18Community report

CJC-1295 No DAC (also called Mod GRF 1-29) is a lab-made copy of a messenger your body already makes to start growth hormone. It copies the first 29 building blocks of that messenger, with 4 swapped so the body breaks it down more slowly. It tells the pituitary gland, at the base of your brain, to release a short burst of your own growth hormone. Growth hormone then tells the liver to make a second messenger called IGF-1. It has no DAC, the add-on that makes the other version (CJC-1295 with DAC) last about a week. The Ipamorelin in the same vial pushes the same gland through a second switch.

Peak

Not established in humans for CJC-1295 No DAC. Related short-acting GHRH drugs peak fast: tesamorelin under the skin peaks in the blood at about 9 minutes (0.15 hours). The growth-hormone pulse follows: after an IV GHRH shot in healthy people, GH peaked at about 15 minutes.

Half-life

Not established in humans. Natural GHRH lasts about 7 minutes in the blood (6.8 minutes after IV). One of this peptide's 4 swaps (D-Ala at position 2) slowed GHRH(1-29) breakdown in 10 men from 4.3 to 6.7 minutes. Product and community pages quote about 30 minutes for the full 4-swap version, but no human study shows that. Do not use the DAC version's figure (5.8 to 8.1 days).

Cleared

Not established in humans. If the 30-minute figure is right, almost all of it would be gone within about 2.5 hours (5 half-lives); that short life is why it gives a GH pulse and is dosed daily. The Ipamorelin in the same vial has a 2-hour half-life in men (IV).

Half-life is how long it takes the body to remove half of a dose.1253419110

Twice a day. Morning before breakfast, and at bedtime at least 2 hours after your last meal. Wait about 30 minutes before eating. 5 days on, 2 days off each week (for example Monday to Friday). Units are for a 10 mg blend vial mixed with 2 mL water (5 mg per mL).

• Lower end · once-daily wellness pulse

  100-200 mcg once daily, before bed

  A simplified once-daily pre-bed protocol some run for anti-aging and general wellness, typically with a 5-days-on, 2-days-off rhythm.18

• Most common · saturation-dose standard

  100 mcg (combined with 100 mcg Ipamorelin), 2-3 times daily

  The community 'saturation dose' — biohackers believe 100 mcg fully occupies the GHRH receptor, so higher single doses add little. Nearly always paired with Ipamorelin.18

• Higher end · post-workout GH ride

  200 mcg (with 200 mcg Ipamorelin) post-workout

  Targeted post-exercise dosing athletes use to ride the natural growth-hormone response to training.18

Research protocols

• Healthy adults, CJC-1295 with DAC (the long-acting version, not this vial)

  In one trial, people got a single shot under the skin at one of 4 rising doses; in a second, they got 2 or 3 shots, weekly or every 2 weeks. The authors found it safe and fairly well tolerated, especially at 30 or 60 mcg per kg of body weight. Never use these doses for No DAC: the DAC version is long-acting, with a half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days.1

• Older men, natural-sequence GHRH(1-29) (11 men aged 64-76)

  2 mg injected under the skin every night for 6 weeks. No significant side effects.7

• Young men, sleep study (natural GHRH)

  One IV shot of 0.3 mcg per kg of body weight given at set points during the night.6

• Healthy men, GHRH plus a ghrelin-side peptide (GHRP-6)

  1 mcg per kg of body weight of each, alone and together. Together released about 4 to 5 times more growth hormone than either alone.8

• Tesamorelin, FDA-approved GHRH drug (Egrifta SV)

  1.4 mg under the skin of the belly once a day, for HIV-related belly fat.12

• Biohacking community (Peptide Protocol Wiki, 180 reports; not a study)

  Most popular: 100 mcg CJC-1295 No DAC plus 100 mcg Ipamorelin per shot, 2 to 3 times a day, for 8 to 16 weeks. Simpler: 200 mcg of each once a day at bedtime, 5 days on and 2 off, for 12 weeks or more. The store plan (200 mcg of blend twice a day, 5 on and 2 off) matches the popular plan at twice a day if your vial is an even split.18

CJC-1295 No DAC is not FDA-approved, and the 100 mcg 'saturation dose' is community-derived, not from dose-response studies. Do not transfer doses between DAC and No DAC forms — they have very different half-lives. FDA flags limited safety data and serious adverse-event reports for compounded CJC-1295.

Dosing guidance built from the cited research and community reports. It is not a prescription.

On

12 weeks (5 days on, 2 days off each week)

Break

4 weeks

A full course at the store pace takes 3 vials. A mixed vial keeps for up to 90 days.

Why the break helps

The break has practical reasons. Raising growth hormone can raise blood sugar: on tesamorelin, a related FDA-approved GHRH drug, 5% of patients reached a diabetes-level HbA1c by week 26 versus 1% on placebo. And there is no long-term human safety data for this peptide; the FDA says clinical data are limited. The 2 days off each week and the 4-week break limit nonstop use and let you judge how you feel without it. Community runs are usually 8 to 16 weeks, sometimes longer.

Common

• Redness, a firm bump, or mild pain where you injected. A community side-effects guide puts this at about 10 to 30% of users; it is usually minor and goes away on its own.

  What to do Rotate sites and use a fresh syringe every time. A cold pack can help. If redness spreads or gets hot and painful, treat it as an infection (see below).

• Flushing or warmth in the face within minutes of a shot. A community side-effects guide puts this at about 1 to 10% of users and says it usually fades within 30 to 60 minutes.

  What to do Sit down until it passes. If it comes with dizziness, a pounding heart, or fainting, stop and see a doctor (see below).

• Headache, or tingling or numbness in the hands soon after a shot (community reports)

  What to do Drink water and rest. If it keeps happening, stop and talk to a doctor.

• Puffiness, water retention, joint or muscle aches. The FDA label for tesamorelin, a related GHRH drug, links these to the extra growth hormone.

  What to do These usually fade or go away when you stop. Stop and see a doctor if numbness or pain in the hand and wrist does not go away.

Stop and get help

• Allergic reaction: hives or rash, swelling of the face, lips, or throat, trouble breathing, or feeling faint. On tesamorelin, a related drug, 4% of trial patients had an allergic-type reaction such as itching, redness, flushing, hives, or rash.

  What to do Stop and call 911 (or your local emergency number) right away.

• Racing heart, a sudden drop in blood pressure, dizziness, or fainting after a shot. The FDA has serious adverse-event reports for CJC-1295 of fast heart rate and a whole-body flushing reaction.

  What to do Lie down. If it does not pass within minutes, or you faint, call 911. Do not inject again before seeing a doctor.

• Any severe or unusual reaction after a shot. The FDA notes a published study in which Ipamorelin, the other peptide in this vial, was given into a vein (IV) to speed up stomach emptying and caused serious adverse events, including death. The FDA has no safety information for Ipamorelin given by some other injection routes, so the risk of shots under the skin is unknown.

  What to do Inject only under the skin, never into a vein. If you feel very unwell after a shot, call 911 (or your local emergency number) and do not inject again before seeing a doctor.

• Signs of high blood sugar: strong thirst, peeing much more often, blurry vision

  What to do Stop and ask a doctor for a blood sugar or HbA1c test. Growth hormone makes the body less sensitive to insulin.

• Infection at the injection site: redness that spreads, heat, pus, red streaks, or fever

  What to do Stop injecting and see a doctor the same day.

• A new lump, or a known growth getting bigger

  What to do Stop and see a doctor. Growth hormone is a growth signal, and the related drug tesamorelin must not be used with active cancer.

Do not use if

• You have cancer now, or have had it: the related drug tesamorelin is not allowed with active cancer because it raises growth hormone, a known growth factor.
• You have a pituitary tumour, or a history of pituitary surgery, head radiation, or serious head injury: the tesamorelin label rules these out.
• You have diabetes, prediabetes, or diabetic eye disease, unless your doctor agrees and checks your blood sugar.
• You are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or breastfeeding: tesamorelin is not allowed in pregnancy, and there is no safety data for this peptide.
• You are under 18.
• You compete in a drug-tested sport: WADA bans GHRH analogues such as CJC-1295, and Ipamorelin, at all times.

Sources131720

Storage

Keep it

Keep the mixed vial in the fridge (2-8 °C / 36-46 °F), away from light. Do not freeze it, and never leave it in a hot car. Do not use it if it turns cloudy or has specks in it.

How long

Use within 90 days of mixing. A mixed vial kept in the fridge holds its strength for 60-90 days, then slowly starts to lose potency. Wipe the rubber top with an alcohol swab before every draw.

Drawing your dose

Syringe: a 0.3 mL (30-unit) U-100 insulin syringe with half-unit marks, so small doses are easy to read.

1. Your vial is a blend: 10 mg in total of CJC-1295 No DAC plus Ipamorelin. Every dose on this page is the blend total. If your label says 5 mg + 5 mg, each 200 mcg dose holds about 100 mcg CJC-1295 No DAC and 100 mcg Ipamorelin.
2. Each unit line on a U-100 insulin syringe holds 50 mcg of the blend. Draw to the 4-unit line for 200 mcg. On twice-a-day plans, community guides use 100 mcg of CJC-1295 No DAC per shot, and keep 200 mcg of each peptide for a single bedtime shot.
3. The last draw can come up a little short, because a few drops stay in the vial; tilt the vial and pull from the lowest point.
4. Inject on an empty stomach. In healthy people, a sugar drink taken an hour before a GHRH shot cut the growth-hormone peak by about 60%. Community guides wait 2 to 3 hours after a meal and about 30 minutes before eating.
5. Before every draw, hold the syringe at eye level, flick out air bubbles, and push the plunger back to the exact line.
6. Pinch a fold of skin, insert the needle at 45 to 90 degrees, push slowly, and wait a few seconds before pulling out. Use a new sterile syringe every time and never share one.

• Ipamorelin

  Already in your vial. Ipamorelin releases growth hormone through the ghrelin receptor while CJC-1295 No DAC uses the GHRH receptor. In people, the two kinds of signal together released about 4 to 5 times more GH than either alone (with a related ghrelin-side peptide). In swine, Ipamorelin raised GH without raising the stress hormones cortisol or ACTH. The blend itself has not been tested in a trial.8918

• MOTS-c

  Part of the store's Prime stack. MOTS-c works on a different system, how muscle uses sugar and fat: in mice it prevented diet-related insulin resistance and weight gain. That may offset some of growth hormone's push on blood sugar, but they have not been tested together.16

• SS-31

  Part of the store's Prime stack. SS-31 (elamipretide) binds the inner part of mitochondria, the cell's power plants; the FDA gave it accelerated approval in September 2025 for Barth syndrome, a rare mitochondrial disease. The approval was based on better strength in the muscle that straightens the leg at the knee. It works on a different system from the night-time GH pulse; they have not been tested together.17

Interactions

• Tesamorelin, sermorelin, or another vial of CJC-1295 (with or without DAC)

  These all hit the same GHRH receptor. Stacking them doubles up on one signal and has not been studied.

  What to do Use only one GHRH-type peptide at a time.

• Growth hormone shots or other GH boosters (MK-677, GHRP-2, GHRP-6, extra Ipamorelin)

  GHRH and ghrelin-side peptides multiply each other's effect, so adding more raises growth hormone further, along with water retention and blood-sugar effects.

  What to do Do not add other GH boosters without a doctor's advice.

• Insulin, metformin, and other diabetes medicines

  Growth hormone makes the body less sensitive to insulin, which can raise blood sugar.

  What to do Ask the doctor who prescribes them first, and check your blood sugar more often.

• Hydrocortisone or other steroid replacement for adrenal insufficiency

  The tesamorelin label says people on this replacement may need a higher dose after starting a GHRH drug.

  What to do Tell your doctor before you start.

• Medicines broken down by liver CYP450 enzymes, such as corticosteroids, sex hormones, seizure medicines, and cyclosporine

  Growth hormone may change how fast the liver clears these drugs (tesamorelin label).

  What to do Tell your doctor you use it, and do not change your medicines on your own.

• Food, especially sugar, close to the shot

  Raised blood sugar blunts the growth-hormone pulse: a sugar drink an hour before a GHRH shot cut the GH peak by about 60%.

  What to do Inject at least 2 hours after eating and wait about 30 minutes before your next meal.

Videos

• CJC-1295, Ipamorelin, Tesamorelin & Sermorelin: Deep Dive on the Best GH PeptidesQuinn Stillson MD · 2026
• Dr. Explains Why CJC/IPA is KING of Growth Hormone PeptidesDr. Jones, DC · 2026
• Real Dr Explains CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin - The CLASSIC StackThis Is Not Covered - Dr. Ashley Froese · 2026

Sources

1. 1Teichman et al., J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2006 (CJC-1295 with DAC in healthy adults)Clinical trial
2. 2Jetté et al., Endocrinology 2005 (CJC-1295 developed from GHRH(1-29), rats)Study
3. 3Frohman et al., J Clin Invest 1986 (natural GHRH breaks down within minutes)Study
4. 4Soule et al., J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1994 (D-Ala2 swap slows GHRH(1-29) clearance in 10 men)Study
5. 5Davies et al., Clin Endocrinol 1984 (oral glucose blunts the GH response to GHRH)Study
6. 6Kerkhofs et al., Am J Physiol 1993 (GHRH and deep sleep in young men)Study
7. 7Vittone et al., Metabolism 1997 (nightly GHRH(1-29) in older men, 6 weeks)Study
8. 8Peñalva et al., J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1993 (GHRH plus GHRP-6 synergy in men)Study
9. 9Raun et al., Eur J Endocrinol 1998 (Ipamorelin, the first selective GH secretagogue)Study
10. 10Gobburu et al., Pharm Res 1999 (Ipamorelin pharmacokinetics in healthy men)Study
11. 11Sigalos & Pastuszak, Sex Med Rev 2018 (safety and efficacy of GH secretagogues, review)Review
12. 12FDA label: Egrifta SV (tesamorelin), DailyMedDrug label
13. 13FDA: Bulk drug substances that may present significant safety risks (CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin entries)Reference
14. 14Cayman Chemical: CJC-1295 (no DAC, Modified GRF 1-29) product sheet (sequence, storage)Reference
15. 15Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports: 2026 doping substances, based on the WADA list (S2)Reference
16. 16Lee et al., Cell Metab 2015 (MOTS-c and insulin resistance in mice)Study
17. 17FDA news release 2025: accelerated approval of Forzinity (elamipretide, SS-31) for Barth syndromeReference
18. 18Peptide Protocol Wiki: CJC-1295 No DAC community protocols (180 reports)Community
19. 19Peptide Protocol Wiki: CJC-1295 No DAC overview (half-life claim, storage, timing)Community
20. 20Peptide Protocol Wiki: CJC-1295 No DAC side effectsCommunity

Where people discuss it

• r/Peptides (subreddit)
• Peptide Protocol Wiki — CJC-1295 No DAC community (180 reports)

Some peptides, like semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy), are FDA-approved medicines. Most of the peptides people research are not. That label sounds like the FDA tested something and turned it down. Usually it means something else: nobody has paid for the studies the FDA needs to see. Here is why.

The FDA doesn’t test drugs. Companies do.

The FDA does not run its own drug tests. A company that wants to sell a new medicine has to test it first, and pay for it. It studies the drug in animals, then in people: first 20 to 100 volunteers, then a few hundred, then up to 3,000. Then it sends all the results to the FDA. FDA scientists review them and decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

So approval always starts with a company asking for it. If no company applies, the FDA has nothing to review, however promising the research looks.

Those studies cost about a billion dollars

A study in the medical journal JAMA estimated that bringing one new drug to market costs a typical company about $1.1 billion. That figure includes the money spent on drug ideas that failed along the way, because many drugs that start human testing never make it.

A patent is how a company earns that money back

A patent is a right the government gives an inventor. For up to 20 years from the day the inventor applies, nobody else may make or sell the invention without permission.

For a drug company, that right is what makes the billion-dollar bet worth it. While the patent lasts, the company is the only seller, so it can charge enough to pay back the studies and the failures. When the patent runs out, other companies can sell cheap copies, called generics, and the price drops.

The FDA adds a shorter shield of its own. For 5 years after a brand-new drug is approved, no copycat version can apply for approval. That helps, but it is much shorter than a patent can last.

Why most peptides can’t be patented

To get a patent, an invention has to be new, and it has to be something people made, not something found in nature. Most popular peptides fail one test or both.

They come from nature. Many are copies or small pieces of molecules your body already makes. KPV is a 3-building-block piece of the hormone that tans your skin. BPC-157 is copied from a protein in stomach juice. In 2013 the US Supreme Court ruled that something that exists in nature, like a human gene, cannot be patented just because someone found it and pulled it out.

They aren’t new anymore. Many were first described in research papers decades ago. Scientists were already testing KPV in the 1980s. Once something has been published, it no longer counts as new, so nobody can patent it now, and any patents from back then have long since run out.

Without a patent, a company that paid for the studies would soon face rivals selling the same peptide without having paid for any research. Few companies will spend a billion dollars on a product anyone can copy. So nobody goes first, and the large human studies never happen.

The workaround: change the molecule

Drug companies do make peptide medicines, but they change the peptide first. A changed molecule is a new invention, so it can be patented. Semaglutide is a lab-made version of GLP-1, a gut hormone your body releases after meals, changed so one shot lasts a week. Tesamorelin (Egrifta) is the body’s own growth-hormone signal with a small fatty chain added. Both went through the full studies, and both are FDA-approved.

The natural versions, and the many peptides nobody has changed and patented, stay where they are: studied in labs and animals, used by the biohacking community, and never put through large human trials.

What this means for you

When a peptide is “not FDA-approved,” it usually means no company has paid for the large human studies. It does not mean the FDA tested it and found it harmful.

It also does not mean it is proven safe or proven to work. Without those studies, nobody knows the best dose for sure, or what rare or long-term side effects it may have. And the FDA does not check research peptides for purity or strength the way it checks approved medicines. That is why this page labels every finding by the kind of study behind it, and lists who should not use it.

Sources for this section

1. 1FDA: How drugs are developed and approved (the FDA does not test drugs; companies submit the evidence)
2. 2FDA: The drug development process, step 3: clinical research (study sizes for each phase)
3. 3Wouters, McKee & Luyten, JAMA 2020, corrected 2022: median cost to bring a new drug to market, $1.14 billion
4. 4US patent law, 35 U.S.C. § 154: a patent lasts 20 years from the filing date
5. 5FDA: Frequently asked questions on patents and exclusivity (5-year new chemical entity exclusivity)
6. 6US Supreme Court, Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics (2013): naturally occurring genes cannot be patented