IGF-1 DES Dosage: Common Protocol and Animal Study Doses
IGF-1 DES dosage: the training-day protocol dosing guides describe, the animal-study doses actually published, and why no human trial has ever established a dose.
The short version
IGF-1 DES has no approved dose because it has no approved product. Dosing guides most often describe 20-120 mcg by intramuscular injection on training days only, within about 10-15 minutes of finishing training, followed by fast-acting carbohydrate. That is common practice, not a dose any trial or regulator has established. The only published dosing data come from animals: continuous infusion in rats and bolus injections in pigs and marmoset monkeys. Neither matches the method sold to consumers.
- The common-practice protocol is 20-120 mcg, intramuscular, on training days only (about 4-5 times a week) - not trial-established.
- Published animal doses used continuous infusion (rats, mg/kg/day) or bolus injection (pigs and marmosets, mcg/kg), not the intramuscular training-day method sold to consumers.
- Dosing guides almost always pair the injection with carbohydrate, because of the hypoglycaemia signal covered on the main guide.
- Reconstitution and injection-volume math belongs on a calculator, not a guess.
IGF-1 DES has no approved dose, because it has no approved product. This page reports the training-day protocol that dosing guides describe, and separately the animal doses that have been published. The animal studies used different routes and units, so they do not validate the consumer protocol. For the full picture, including the hypoglycaemia research, see the main IGF-1 DES guide.
US legal status - Research use only
IGF-1 DES has no FDA-approved product and no approved indication or dose. No DailyMed listing exists (checked 27 September 2026).
IGF-1 DES dosage: the common protocol
Dosing guides most often describe 20-120 mcg by intramuscular injection, on training days only (about 4-5 times a week). The cycle is 4-6 weeks, with roughly a 4-week break between cycles. This is common practice, not a dose any trial or regulator has established.
Common protocol
What is commonly used, not a dose established in trials. No regulator has set a dose for IGF-1 DES. Sources differ, so the ranges below span them.
- Dose per administration
- 20-120 mcg
- How often
- on training days only, about 4-5 times a week, not on rest days
- Route
- Intramuscular injection
- Cycle length
- 4-6 weeks
- Break between cycles
- 4 weeks
- Common vial size
- 1 mg
- Timing
- Within about 10-15 minutes of finishing a training session, injected into or split bilaterally around the muscle just trained, followed immediately by 20-50 g of fast-acting carbohydrate to offset the hypoglycaemia risk.
The two sources disagree on the top of the dose range (100 mcg vs 120 mcg) and on route wording (one says subcutaneous-or-intramuscular, the other specifies intramuscular into the trained muscle), so the range above spans both. Both attribute the short, per-training-day schedule to the compound's very short reported half-life, unlike the longer-acting IGF-1 LR3.
Plan a cycle in the protocol builder or work out injection volume in the dosage calculator.
The common IGF-1 DES dose is 20-120 mcg, on training days only, about 4-5 times a week, not on rest days. From a 1 mg vial mixed with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water, 70 mcg is 14 units (0.14 mL) on a U-100 insulin syringe.
IGF-1 DES 1 mg vial: units per dose
Full 1 mg vial page: mixing, doses per vial, how long it lasts →
| Water added | Concentration | 1 unit = | 20 mcg | 70 mcg | 120 mcg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mL | 1 mg/mL | 10 mcg | 2 units | 7 units | 12 units |
| 2 mL | 0.5 mg/mL | 5 mcg | 4 units | 14 units | 24 units |
| 3 mL | 0.33 mg/mL | 3.33 mcg | 6 units | 21 units | 36 units |
All IGF-1 DES vial sizes: 1 mg
Units are on a standard U-100 insulin syringe (100 units = 1 mL), rounded to the nearest half unit - half-unit marks are on 0.3 mL syringes. Water volumes are examples: more water means more units per dose, not more doses per vial. For any other vial or dose, use the calculator below.
How many 1 mg vials a cycle takes
| Scenario | Dose | Doses a week | Weeks | Total | 1 mg vials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low end of the common protocol | 20 mcg | 4 | 4 | 0.32 mg | 1 |
| High end of the common protocol | 120 mcg | 5 | 6 | 3.6 mg | 4 |
Whole vials, rounded up. Plan a cycle with your own numbers in the protocol builder. Keep mixed vials cold and use them within the window in how long reconstituted peptides last; where to inject: subcutaneous injection sites.
IGF-1 DES doses used in published animal studies
No published study has given IGF-1 DES to a person and measured a dose. What exists is animal pharmacology, with routes and units that do not translate to the intramuscular microgram doses sold to consumers.
The rat studies measured body-weight gain and nitrogen balance in animals recovering from surgery. They used continuous infusion at 0.9-0.96 mg per kg of body weight per day, which has no relationship to a bodybuilder’s intramuscular injection.
The pig and marmoset study measured how far and how long blood glucose dropped after a single injected dose. It is the source of the hypoglycaemia signal covered on the main guide, and it is also an animal study.
Why training days only, and why the carbohydrate
Dosing guides describe IGF-1 DES as clearing from circulation quickly. That is the reason given for dosing it around individual training sessions, injected into or near the muscle just worked, within 10-15 minutes of finishing. A longer-acting variant like IGF-1 LR3 is described as maintained continuously instead.
The one published blood measurement does not support the “clears quickly” rationale. In rats given a single intramuscular injection, unchanged des(1-3)IGF-1 was still detectable 24 hours later, while IGF-1 LR3 disappeared after about 4 hours Mongongu 2021 - Mongongu C, Coudoré F, Domergue V et al. Detection of LongR(3) -IGF-I, Des(1-3)-IGF-I, and R(3) -IGF-I using immunopurification and high resolution mass spectrometry for antidoping purposes. Drug Test Anal. 2021;13(7):1256-1269., in the references below.
The same guides almost always pair every injection with 20-50 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate within about 15 minutes. This responds to the hypoglycaemia signal detailed on the main guide. That is a harm-reduction step reported by dosing-guide sources, not one any trial has tested for effectiveness.
How to reconstitute IGF-1 DES
Converting a target amount into an injection volume depends on how a specific vial was reconstituted (diluent volume and resulting concentration), which this page cannot know. The dosage calculator does that arithmetic. It does not choose a dose.
What is not established
- No approved dose exists, because no product has completed FDA review.
- No dose has been proven safe or effective by any regulator. The animal figures above are those experiments’ own measurements, not a general result. The training-day protocol is current practice from dosing guides, not a trial finding.
- No published human pharmacokinetic study exists for IGF-1 DES, so I could not trace any half-life figure circulating online to a study.
Who should not use it
No FDA-reviewed contraindication list exists, because no such review has happened. Given the documented hypoglycaemia signal, nobody should self-direct an unapproved research chemical if they have diabetes or any other condition affecting blood-sugar regulation, take other medication, or are pregnant. Involve a clinician who knows your history.
IGF-1 DES side effects and risks
The clearest documented signal is hypoglycaemia, measured directly for this molecule in an animal study rather than borrowed from a related drug’s label. See the main guide for the study detail.
Beyond that, no long-term human safety data exists at any dose or schedule. A vial bought outside a trial system carries no verified content, purity or actual concentration.
Related
- IGF-1 DES: what it is, research and legal status
- IGF-1 LR3 dosage: why there is no established dose
- Dosage calculator
- Research peptides and the law
IGF-1 DES dosage calculator
Preset to a 1 mg vial and 20 mcg, the low end of the common protocol. Enter your own vial size, water and dose to get the syringe units to draw.
Your vial
Printed on the vial. There is no standard size - enter what yours says.
This changes how much you draw - never how many doses the vial holds.
100 units per mL. 1 unit = 0.01 mL. This is what almost every insulin syringe sold is, in every barrel size.
Capacity only. A 1 mL U-100 syringe holds 100 units - the scale decides that, not the barrel.
Draw this much
= 0.04 mL on a 1 mL U-100 syringe
- Concentration
- 500 mcg/mL
- Exact volume
- 0.04 mL
- Dose you actually get
- 20 mcg
- Doses per vial(unaffected by water volume)
- 50
Where to buy IGF-1 DES for research
Each vendor is checked against my vendor checklist.
I don't list a vendor for IGF-1 DES yet. Before buying from anyone, work through the vendor checklist.
Common questions
What is the usual IGF-1 DES dose?
Dosing guides most often describe 20-120 mcg by intramuscular injection on training days only (roughly 4-5 times a week). The dose is given within 10-15 minutes of finishing training, split bilaterally near the muscle just worked, for a 4-6 week cycle with about a 4-week break. That is common practice reported by dosing guides, not a dose established by any trial or regulator.
What dose did the animal studies use?
The published animal studies used two approaches, and neither matches consumer use. Rats on continuous infusion by osmotic minipump received 0.9-0.96 mg per kg of body weight per day. Pigs and marmoset monkeys given single intravenous bolus injections to measure blood-glucose effects received 20-270 micrograms per kg of body weight. These are real published doses, but they were given to animals by infusion or intravenous injection, not intramuscularly on training days.
Is there an FDA-approved IGF-1 DES dose?
No. IGF-1 DES has no FDA-approved product and no approved indication. The figures on this page come from dosing guides describing current practice and from published animal studies, not from FDA review or a label.
How often should IGF-1 DES be injected?
Dosing guides describe injecting on training days only, roughly 4-5 times a week, rather than daily. The reason given is a very short duration of action: guides say IGF-1 DES clears from circulation quickly, so it is timed around a training session. A longer-acting variant like IGF-1 LR3 is described as maintained continuously. The one published blood measurement does not support that rationale. In rats given a single intramuscular injection, unchanged des(1-3)IGF-1 was still detectable 24 hours later, while IGF-1 LR3 disappeared after about 4 hours.
Why do dosing guides say to eat carbohydrate right after injecting?
Because of the hypoglycaemia signal covered on the main guide. A published animal study found des(1-3)IGF-1 was the most potent of several IGF-1 variants at lowering blood glucose, with a longer-lasting effect than native IGF-1. Dosing guides respond by pairing every injection with 20-50 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate within about 15 minutes. That is a harm-reduction step reported by those sources, not one any trial has tested.
How do I work out reconstitution and injection volume?
It depends on your vial's concentration and diluent volume, which this page cannot know. Use the dosage calculator to work out the volume for your vial and target amount. It does the arithmetic and does not choose a dose.
What are the main risks?
The clearest documented signal is hypoglycaemia, measured directly for this molecule in an animal study rather than borrowed from another drug's label. See the main guide for the study detail. Beyond that, there is no long-term human safety data at any dose or schedule and no FDA-reviewed safety label. A vial bought outside a trial system has no verified content or purity.
When should I stop and get medical care?
Get emergency care (call 911 in the US) for signs of severe hypoglycaemia: confusion, shaking, seizure or loss of consciousness. Do the same for a severe allergic reaction: facial or throat swelling or difficulty breathing. Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 for a suspected overdose or a reaction that is not an emergency. This page is not a substitute for a clinician who knows your history.
References (5 sources)
Bibliographic detail is fetched from PubMed, not written by me - so a citation here cannot drift from the paper it names. Study design comes from PubMed's own tags rather than my judgement.
- 1.Martin AA, Tomas FM, Owens PC et al. IGF-I and its variant, des-(1-3)IGF-I, enhance growth in rats with reduced renal mass. Am J Physiol. 1991;261(4 Pt 2):F626-33.StudyPMID 1928375
- 2.Lemmey AB, Martin AA, Read LC et al. IGF-I and the truncated analogue des-(1-3)IGF-I enhance growth in rats after gut resection. Am J Physiol. 1991;260(2 Pt 1):E213-9.StudyPMID 1996625
- 3.Tomas FM, Walton PE, Dunshea FR et al. IGF-I variants which bind poorly to IGF-binding proteins show more potent and prolonged hypoglycaemic action than native IGF-I in pigs and marmoset monkeys. J Endocrinol. 1997;155(2):377-86.StudyPMID 9415072
- 4.Mongongu C, Coudoré F, Domergue V et al. Detection of LongR(3) -IGF-I, Des(1-3)-IGF-I, and R(3) -IGF-I using immunopurification and high resolution mass spectrometry for antidoping purposes. Drug Test Anal. 2021;13(7):1256-1269.StudyPMID 33587816
- 5.America's Poison Centers - confirms 1-800-222-1222 as the national Poison Control number, free and confidential, 24 hours a day.- America's Poison Centersother