Sermorelin 5 mg vial dosage

What Sermorelin is

Class:

GHRH analogue (first 29 amino acids)

Also called:

GHRH(1-29)NH2, Geref, Sermorelin acetate

Used for:

Marketed to adults for sleep, body composition and aging. Its former FDA approvals, as Geref, were for growth hormone deficiency in children and a 0.05 mg diagnostic test; both are discontinued.

Human evidence:

Limited human data. Randomised trials exist but sit in paediatric growth hormone deficiency, and the review reporting the treatment regimen hedges it as limited data with the effect on final adult height yet to be determined. The nearest adult evidence is an IGF-1 biomarker result in hypogonadal men. No randomised trial in healthy adults for the marketed outcomes was located.

Half-life:

Not established for the marketed adult use in humans

US status:

Unapproved drug. No FDA-approved sermorelin is marketed today. It was first approved in 1990 as GEREF (NDA 19-863, a 0.05 mg ampule for testing the pituitary's ability to release growth hormone), then in 1997 (NDA 20-443, 0.5 mg and 1 mg vials for idiopathic growth hormone deficiency in children with growth failure), both held by EMD Serono. The sponsor discontinued both in 2008, and FDA withdrew both approvals effective 18 June 2009. FDA formally determined in 2013 that they were not withdrawn for reasons of safety or effectiveness. Supplied today through compounding pharmacies; requires a prescriber.

The full picture, with every study: Sermorelin guide.

How to mix a 5 mg Sermorelin vial

For this vial: 1 mL of bacteriostatic water makes 5 mg/mL, so 400 mcg is 8 units (0.08 mL) on a U-100 insulin syringe. Pick a different volume from the units table if you want bigger or smaller draws; the number of doses stays the same.

1. Wipe the rubber stoppers of both the peptide vial and the bacteriostatic water vial with an alcohol swab and let the alcohol dry. ^[3][4]
2. With a new sterile needle and syringe, draw up the amount of bacteriostatic water you have chosen for the dilution. ^[3][4][5]
3. Inject the water into the peptide vial by aiming the stream against the inside glass wall, which helps prevent foaming. ^[6]
4. Swirl or roll the vial gently until the powder has fully dissolved; do not shake it. Do not inject the solution if it is cloudy or has particles in it. ^[3][4][6]
5. Label the vial with the date and time it was mixed, the amount of water added and how long it can be used after mixing. ^[3]
6. Store the mixed vial in the refrigerator at 2-8°C (36-46°F) and do not freeze it. ^[6]

Step by step with pictures: how to reconstitute peptides. About the water itself: bacteriostatic water.

Storing Sermorelin vials

• Freeze-dried (lyophilized) peptide keeps far longer than peptide in solution; peptide suppliers advise storing the powder at -20°C away from bright light. ^[7]
• Protect peptide vials from heat and light. ^[7][8]
• Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles; a prescription peptide label also says not to freeze a vial once it has been mixed. ^[6][7]
• Once a multi-dose vial, such as bacteriostatic water, has been opened (needle-punctured), date it and discard it within 28 days unless its manufacturer states another date. ^[9][10]

More detail: peptide storage and shelf life.

Injecting safely

• Clean the injection site with an alcohol swab and let the skin dry completely before injecting. ^[11][12]
• Pinch up a fold of skin and fat (not muscle) and insert the needle at a 45- to 90-degree angle: 90 degrees where there is enough fatty tissue, 45 degrees where there is little. ^[11][12][13]
• Pulling back on the plunger (aspiration) is not necessary for a subcutaneous injection, because the chance of the needle being in a blood vessel is small. ^[11]
• Inject slowly, at roughly 10 seconds per mL. ^[11]
• Common sites are the belly, the thigh and the upper arm; rotate sites, keeping each injection at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the last. ^[6][11][12]

Hygiene and warning signs

• Use a new sterile needle and syringe for every injection and every time you enter a vial; never reuse them. ^[5][9][12]
• Never share needles, syringes or pens with anyone, even if the needle is changed; unsafe injection practices spread hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. ^[5][8][9]
• Put used needles and syringes in a sharps disposal container straight away (FDA-cleared if possible), never loose in the trash, recycling or toilet, and dispose of the container following your community's guidelines. ^[14][15]
• Contact a health care provider if the injection site shows signs of infection, such as redness, swelling, red streaks or a fever. ^[12]

Where to inject: subcutaneous injection sites.

How Sermorelin works

• Sermorelin is a synthetic 29-amino-acid analogue of human growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), the shortest synthetic peptide with the full biological activity of GHRH. The natural hormone is 44 amino acids long. ^[16][17]
• Given intravenously or subcutaneously, it specifically stimulates growth hormone secretion from the anterior pituitary. ^[16]
• Growth hormone secretagogues such as GHRH prompt the pituitary to release its own growth hormone, so release stays pulsatile and feedback control of growth hormone and IGF-I is preserved - one reason they have been studied as alternatives to growth hormone itself. ^[17]

What the Sermorelin research found

Human evidence: limited human data. Each result says what was studied.

• Human studyIn 43 prepubertal children with growth hormone deficiency of hypothalamic origin, randomised to low-dose sermorelin (30 mcg/kg/day), high-dose sermorelin (60 mcg/kg/day) or growth hormone for 6 months, height velocity was lowest on the low dose and similar between the high dose and growth hormone. Only the growth hormone group gained height relative to bone age. ^[18]
• Human studyA 1999 review found that once-daily subcutaneous sermorelin sustained increases in height velocity over 12 months in some prepubertal children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency. Its effect on final adult height had not been determined, and where sermorelin was given as an infusion or in three daily doses, height-velocity gains were smaller than with once-daily growth hormone. ^[16]
• Human studyAs a diagnostic test, a single 1 mcg/kg intravenous dose gave a rapid, relatively specific result with fewer false positives than other provocative tests. A normal response does not rule out deficiency caused by the hypothalamus. ^[16]
• Human studyIn 11 healthy men aged 64 to 76 with low IGF-I, nightly 2 mg subcutaneous self-injections of GHRH(1-29) for 6 weeks raised nocturnal growth hormone but not IGF-I. Two of six strength measures improved, while weight, body composition, glucose and lipids did not change. ^[19]
• Human studyIn a retrospective review of 14 men on testosterone therapy who took sermorelin combined with GHRP-2 and GHRP-6 three times daily (mean 134 days), IGF-1 rose from 159.5 to 239.0 ng/mL. It was an uncontrolled review of hormone levels, and sermorelin was not given alone. ^[20]

Sermorelin side effects and risks

Sermorelin's approved GEREF products were discontinued in 2008 and no current label is listed on DailyMed, so there is no regulator-reviewed adverse-reaction table; adult safety data come from small, short studies.

• Human studyIn the paediatric trials reviewed, transient facial flushing and pain at the injection site were the most commonly reported adverse events. Single intravenous doses and repeated daily subcutaneous doses were described as well tolerated. ^[16]
• Human studyIn the 6-week study of 11 older men injecting GHRH(1-29) nightly, no significant adverse effects were observed. ^[19]

Other things to know

• Prohibited in sport at all times as a growth hormone releasing factor, and USADA states a therapeutic use exemption is highly unlikely to be approved.
• USADA names oedema of the arms, legs and face, joint and nerve pain, and growth-hormone-excess-driven insulin resistance; with chronic GH excess, hypertension, cardiac hypertrophy and potentially cardiomyopathy.
• The studied doses are weight-based and paediatric. The fixed adult doses circulating commercially are a different regimen, not a scaled version of the studied one.
• Black-market supply adds contamination and mislabelling risk on top of everything above.

Reported side effects and what the studies measured: Sermorelin side effects.

Where this vial size comes from

Sermorelin is sold as a 5 mg vial by the pages below, each checked on the date shown. I list them as evidence that this size exists, not as a recommendation to buy from them.

• Biotech PeptidesvendorLists it as: Sermorelin (5mg) $ 43.00 · checked 2026-09-28
• EZ PeptidesvendorLists it as: Sermorelin 5mg $ 44.00 · checked 2026-09-28

The doses come from the sourced common protocol on the Sermorelin dosing page, and every number on this page is arithmetic on those doses and this vial size.

Other Sermorelin vial sizes

• 5 mg
• 10 mg vial

Questions

How much water do I add to a 5 mg Sermorelin vial?

There is no single correct amount: water changes how many units a dose is, not how many doses the vial holds. With 1 mL the vial is 5 mg/mL and 400 mcg is 8 units (0.08 mL) on a U-100 insulin syringe. The units table gives 1, 2, 5 mL.

How many doses are in a 5 mg Sermorelin vial?

25 doses at 200 mcg, 12 doses at 400 mcg, 8 doses at 600 mcg.

How long does a 5 mg Sermorelin vial last?

At 400 mcg a dose and once nightly, about 1.7-2.4 weeks. How long a mixed vial keeps is a separate limit; see storage below.

How many 5 mg vials do I need for a 4-week run?

1 vial at 200 mcg 5 times a week for 4 weeks; 4 vials at 600 mcg 7 times a week for 4 weeks.

What does 1 unit equal in a 5 mg Sermorelin vial?

50 mcg with 1 mL, 25 mcg with 2 mL, 10 mcg with 5 mL of bacteriostatic water, on a U-100 syringe.