Sermorelin Dosage Chart and Where to Inject

Key takeaways

• There is no adult sermorelin label. The adult trials used 1 mg twice daily, 2 mg once nightly, or 10 mcg/kg nightly (about 0.7 to 0.9 mg); the former pediatric label used 30 mcg/kg at bedtime. Most US clinics prescribe 200 to 500 mcg nightly, three to ten times less.
• Units depend on concentration, not on the drug. A 6 mg vial in 3 mL is 2,000 mcg/mL, so 300 mcg is 15 units; the same 300 mcg is 10 units from a 9 mg vial in 3 mL and 6 units from a 15 mg vial in 3 mL.
• The studied schedules were every night at bedtime, or twice a day, without breaks. Five on, two off and other cycles were never tested.
• Inject subcutaneously into the abdomen (2 inches from the navel), the front or outer thigh, or the back of the upper arm if someone else injects; rotate every time, with a 4 to 6 mm, 29 to 31 gauge needle.
• These are studied doses, reported so you can judge a prescription. The pharmacy label overrides this page.

A sermorelin dosage chart has to start with an uncomfortable fact: no adult dose has ever been approved, and the doses that produced the published hormone changes in older adults, 1 to 2 mg a day, are three to ten times higher than the 200 to 500 mcg a night most US telehealth programs prescribe. The chart below lists what the trials and the former Geref label used, converts common prescription doses into insulin-syringe units for the three vial sizes pharmacies usually dispense, and shows where to inject. It is a companion to the sermorelin profile, the parent GH secretagogue comparison and the sermorelin before and after timeline, which covers what to expect and when.

Studied doses versus clinic prescriptions

The gap in numbers: 300 mcg a night is about 3 times lower than the 1 mg injections that restored GH and IGF-1 in 1992, 7 times lower than the 2 mg nightly dose of 1997, and 2 to 3 times lower than the weight-based dose of the 16-week trial; at 200 mcg the gap against 2 mg a day is 10 times. The former pediatric label, for a 20 kg child, worked out to 600 mcg a night, more than most adult prescriptions. The only adult arm that used sermorelin itself below 2 mg a day, 0.5 mg twice daily, changed nothing significantly (Corpas 1992); the stabilized analog did raise IGF-1 at about 0.7 to 0.9 mg a night (Khorram 1997), the best argument that a sub-milligram dose can work, and still two to four times a typical prescription. None of this proves clinic doses do nothing; it proves nobody has checked. An IGF-1 before the first injection and again at 8 to 12 weeks is the only test; the before and after timeline shows what the trials saw at each point.

Units per dose at common concentrations

Compounded sermorelin arrives as a powder, and the concentration is set by the bacteriostatic water added: milligrams in the vial divided by millilitres of water. A 6 mg vial in 3 mL is 2 mg/mL, or 2,000 mcg/mL; 9 mg in 3 mL is 3,000 mcg/mL; 15 mg in 3 mL is 5,000 mcg/mL. On a U-100 insulin syringe 100 units is 1 mL, so:

units = dose in mcg ÷ concentration in mcg/mL × 100

Worked examples: 300 mcg from a 6 mg vial in 3 mL is 300 ÷ 2,000 = 0.15 mL, and 0.15 × 100 = 15 units; 1 mg from a 9 mg vial in 3 mL is 1,000 ÷ 3,000 = 0.333 mL, or 33.3 units.

• Fractional units are hard to draw. 6.7 or 16.7 units cannot be measured on a syringe marked in whole units; a half-unit syringe gets close, and a pharmacy can usually pick a water volume that puts your dose on a whole mark (9 mg in 4.5 mL is 2,000 mcg/mL), and our BAC water calculator solves for that volume. Ask before you improvise.
• Vial size is not dose. A 10 mg vial at 300 mcg a night lasts about 33 nights; at 500 mcg, 20 nights; at the 2 mg nightly dose of the 1997 trial, 5 nights. The vial size says nothing about how much to draw.
• The label wins. Convert from the concentration printed on the pharmacy label; if the vial or water volume changes between refills, the units change too. The units guide and the reconstitution calculator exist for that check.

When to inject

Every adult trial that dosed once a day injected at night, the 16-week trial at 9 pm, and the former pediatric label specified bedtime (Prakash & Goa 1999), because the GH surge and the deepest slow-wave sleep both belong to the first hours of the night; GHRH given in small pulses then increased deep sleep in healthy volunteers, while a continuous infusion did not (Marshall 1996). Most clinicians add two instructions the trials never tested: 30 to 60 minutes before sleep, and at least two hours after the last meal, because food and insulin blunt GH release. The trials dosed every night, or twice a day, without breaks; the twice-daily schedule is the one that raised IGF-1 with sermorelin itself (Corpas 1992), while 2 mg once nightly raised GH but not IGF-1 and its authors concluded single nightly doses are less effective (Vittone 1997). Five nights on and two off has no study basis; it exists to cut cost and injection fatigue. There is no label rule for a missed dose; the trials simply dosed again the next night, and a double dose to catch up has no basis.

Where to inject

Sermorelin is injected subcutaneously, into the fat under the skin, with a short insulin-syringe needle.

• Abdomen. The default. At least 2 inches (5 cm) from the navel, away from the waistband crease and from skin that is red, bruised, hard, scarred or lumpy.
• Thigh. The front or outer part of the middle third; lean people should lift a skin fold so the needle stays out of muscle.
• Back of the upper arm. Only when someone else gives the injection.

Use a 4 to 6 mm needle at 90 degrees: the FITTER consensus found 4 mm pen needles suitable for adults of any size, 6 mm the shortest insulin-syringe needle, and the 12.7 mm half-inch needle a risk for intramuscular injection, especially in the thigh and in lean people (Frid 2016); 29 to 31 gauge is the comfortable thickness for a watery solution. Rotation matters more for a nightly drug than a weekly one, and injection-site reactions were sermorelin's most common side effect in the pediatric program (Prakash & Goa 1999): move at least half an inch from the last spot, work through a zone systematically, and switch zones each week. Technique, pain tips and the signs of a reaction that needs a call are in how to inject peptides; mixing the vial is in how to reconstitute peptides.

Sermorelin dosage for women

There is no women's dose: there is no adult label, and the one adult trial that enrolled women used the same weight-based dose for both sexes, with GH and IGF-1 up in both and the lean-mass and insulin-sensitivity changes in men only (Khorram 1997). Clinics prescribe women the same 200 to 500 mcg range. Sermorelin should not be used in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, and there is no trial in perimenopause or menopause; sermorelin for women covers that question.

Sublingual tablets, lozenges and oral sermorelin

Clinics sell sermorelin troches and sublingual tablets, often cheaper than injections. Sermorelin is a 29-amino-acid peptide, which the gut digests like any protein, and its former approval covered injection only. A PubMed search on October 10, 2026 found no published human trial of oral, sublingual or troche sermorelin raising GH or IGF-1, and the products on sale publish no absorption data, so the milligram numbers on a lozenge cannot be compared with the chart above. An IGF-1 before and after is the only way to find out whether one does anything.

Bottom line

The studied adult doses are 1 to 2 mg a day; the usual prescription is 200 to 500 mcg a night; and the units you draw depend entirely on the concentration printed on your label, 15 units for 300 mcg at 2,000 mcg/mL and 6 units for the same dose at 5,000 mcg/mL. Inject at bedtime under the skin of the abdomen or thigh, rotate every night, and judge the dose by an IGF-1 at 8 to 12 weeks rather than by a chart, including this one.

Frequently asked questions

+−How many units is 300 mcg of sermorelin?

It depends only on the concentration on your vial. From a 6 mg vial reconstituted with 3 mL (2,000 mcg/mL), 300 mcg is 0.15 mL, which is 15 units on a U-100 insulin syringe. From a 9 mg vial in 3 mL (3,000 mcg/mL) it is 10 units, and from a 15 mg vial in 3 mL (5,000 mcg/mL) it is 6 units. The formula is dose in mcg divided by mcg per mL, times 100. If the pharmacy changes the vial size or the water volume between refills, the units change too.

+−Where do you inject sermorelin?

Under the skin, into subcutaneous fat: the abdomen at least 2 inches (5 cm) from the navel, the front or outer thigh, or the back of the upper arm if someone else gives the injection. Use a fresh 4 to 6 mm, 29 to 31 gauge needle, go straight in at 90 degrees, and move at least half an inch from the last spot every night. Injection-site redness and pain are sermorelin's most common side effects, and rotating sites is the main way to limit them.

+−When should you take sermorelin?

At bedtime. Every adult trial that dosed once a day injected at night (one at 9 pm), the former pediatric label said bedtime, and the body's largest natural growth hormone pulse comes in the first hours of sleep. Most clinicians add 30 to 60 minutes before sleep and at least two hours after the last meal, because food and insulin blunt GH release; that timing is sensible physiology rather than a tested instruction. The one trial that raised IGF-1 with sermorelin itself dosed twice a day, morning and night.

+−How often do you take sermorelin?

In the trials, every night (or twice a day) without breaks, for 14 days, 6 weeks or 16 weeks. The former label was once daily at bedtime. Schedules such as five nights on and two off, which many clinics use, have never been tested and exist to lower cost and injection fatigue, not because a study showed they work. If you miss a night, there is no label rule; the trials simply dosed again the next night, and a double dose to catch up has no basis.

+−What is the sermorelin dosage for women?

There is no separate dose. The only adult trial that included women gave ten women and nine men the same weight-based dose, 10 mcg/kg nightly, and GH and IGF-1 rose in both sexes; the body-composition changes appeared only in the men. Clinics prescribe women the same 200 to 500 mcg nightly range as men. Sermorelin should not be used in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, and there is no trial in perimenopause or menopause.

+−Can sermorelin be taken orally or as a sublingual tablet?

Nothing shows that it works that way. Sermorelin is a 29-amino-acid peptide, which the gut digests like any protein, and its former approval covered injection only. A PubMed search on October 10, 2026 found no published human trial of oral, sublingual or troche sermorelin raising growth hormone or IGF-1. Lozenges and tablets sold by clinics have no published absorption data, so the milligram numbers on them cannot be compared with injected doses.

+−How long does sermorelin stay in your system?

Minutes. Sermorelin is cleared quickly, which is why it produces one short pulse: in the 16-week trial, growth hormone rose within about ten minutes of a bedtime injection and stayed up for about two hours. IGF-1, the downstream hormone, builds and fades over weeks rather than hours. Sermorelin is prohibited in tested sport as a growth factor, and anti-doping laboratories test for it, so athletes should not rely on the short half-life.

+−What is the maximum dose of sermorelin?

No adult maximum has ever been set, because no adult dose has ever been approved. The highest doses in the trials were 2 mg a day: 1 mg twice daily for 14 days, and 2 mg once nightly for 6 weeks, both without significant adverse effects in a few dozen older men. Above that there are no data. The pituitary caps its own GH output through feedback, so larger doses mainly buy more flushing and injection-site reactions. These are studied doses, not targets.

Sources

1. StudyCorpas E et al. Growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone-(1-29) twice daily reverses the decreased GH and IGF-I levels in old men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1992;75:530-5. (1992)
2. StudyVittone J et al. Effects of single nightly injections of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH 1-29) in healthy elderly men. Metabolism 1997;46:89-96. (1997)
3. StudyKhorram O, Laughlin GA, Yen SS. Endocrine and metabolic effects of long-term administration of [Nle27]GHRH-(1-29)-NH2 in age-advanced men and women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997;82:1472-9. (1997)
4. ReviewPrakash A, Goa KL. Sermorelin: a review of its use in the diagnosis and treatment of children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency. BioDrugs 1999;12:139-57. (1999)
5. StudyMarshall L et al. Greater efficacy of episodic than continuous growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) administration in promoting slow-wave sleep (SWS). J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1996;81:1009-13. (1996)
6. GuidelineFrid AH et al. New insulin delivery recommendations (FITTER international consensus). Mayo Clin Proc 2016;91:1231-55. (2016)