Peptide ghrelin receptor agonist and growth hormone secretagogue

Ipamorelin

aka ipamorelin acetate · NNC 26-0161

Evidence grade
Grade C: Preliminary human data
for raising growth hormone for sleep and body composition
User score everyone · n = 48
US FDA Not approved FDA safety-risk list (Category 2) · checked 2026-11-13
WADA 2026 Prohibited (S2.2.4) at all times · checked 2026-11-13
EU FDA's 2024 search found no ipamorelin listing in the EMA and other European references searched; a later authorization was not found. · checked 2026-11-13

Goals: Sleep · Recovery & injury · Fat loss · Muscle & strength Compare with another peptide →

User reports

approximate — combined from two independent Reddit reads

Men 45–60

2 men aged 45–60

small sample · n = 2

Outcome positive 2 of 2

Benefits fat loss 1 of 2 · other 1 of 2 · recovery 1 of 2 · skin 1 of 2 · sleep 1 of 2

Side effects none reported

Stopped 0 of 2 Used with other compounds 2 of 2

All men

8 men

small sample · n = 8

Outcome positive 7 of 8 · mixed 1 of 8

Benefits fat loss 5 of 8 · muscle 3 of 8 · strength 3 of 8 · other 2 of 8 · skin 2 of 8 · sleep 2 of 8 · libido 1 of 8 · mood / anxiety 1 of 8 · recovery 1 of 8

Side effects acne 1 of 8 · fatigue 1 of 8 · insomnia 1 of 8

Stopped 0 of 8 Used with other compounds 8 of 8

Everyone

48 people

  • Positive: 34 of 48 (71%)
  • Mixed: 8 of 48 (17%)
  • Negative: 4 of 48 (8%)
  • No effect: 2 of 48 (4%)
Benefits reported of 48
Benefits reported (n = 48)
ItemReports
Sleep22 of 48 (46%)
Fat loss15 of 48 (31%)
Muscle14 of 48 (29%)
Recovery14 of 48 (29%)
Strength13 of 48 (27%)
Skin7 of 48 (15%)
Energy6 of 48 (13%)
Other6 of 48 (13%)
Side effects reported of 48
Side effects reported (n = 48)
ItemReports
Insomnia8 of 48 (17%)
Heart rate up5 of 48 (10%)
Other5 of 48 (10%)
Vivid dreams5 of 48 (10%)
Fatigue4 of 48 (8%)
Flushing4 of 48 (8%)
Water retention3 of 48 (6%)
Acne1 of 48 (2%)
Why people stopped of 48
Why people stopped (n = 48)
ItemReports
Side effects2 of 48 (4%)

Stopped 2 of 48 (4%) Used with other compounds 47 of 48 (98%)

User reports are anecdata, not evidence: self-selected, unverified, often combined with other compounds.

In their words

  • “significant sleepiness and vivid dreams”

  • “good sleep, good recovery, minimal side effects”

  • “rapid heartbeat, dizziness, swollen throat, blurry vision”

  • “I was tired after taking it until I reduced dose.”

  • “I'm 48m and it has done wonders for my sleep/recovery, fat loss, and skin improvement.”

  • “I'm a 56 yo male and I've had excellent results with GH secretagogues raising my IGF-1.”

  • “It help add strength/muscle and I leaned out a bit. Took about 6 weeks for it to become noticeable.”

  • “I did the exact cycle the OP explained and also got great results. Increased strength and body recomp. My sleep suffered though.”

Read summaries and method notes

Read 1. No verified man aged 45–60. All five users stacked ipamorelin with CJC or other compounds, so nothing is ipamorelin-specific. Benefits: sleep, recovery, waking energy; adverse: fatigue/somnolence, vivid dreams, insomnia, water retention, flushing, raised heart rate, injection-site reactions. One user had two good months, then on restarting had rapid heartbeat, dizziness, throat swelling, blurred vision and fainting and discarded the vial.

Read 2. Two men aged 45–60: a 48M (100–200 mcg in the evening with CJC-1295) reported much better sleep, faster recovery, fat loss and firmer skin; a 56M reported excellent subtle changes with a measured IGF-1 rise and no side effects. All men (n=7, including a 61M and four TRT users) were all positive. Everyone (n=43, 12 threads): 33 positive, 5 mixed — deeper sleep (19), fat loss (15), muscle (14), recovery and strength (13 each). Side effects: insomnia/night waking (7, often from evening doses), vivid dreams (4), flushing (3), raised resting heart rate (3). 42 of 43 stacked with CJC-1295/Mod-GRF.

Note 1. All qualifying users were stacked, usually with CJC-1295. Two threads from the same author were deduplicated.

Note 2. 42 of 43 users stacked ipamorelin with CJC-1295/Mod-GRF; only a 50F used it alone. The 61M is counted in all men, not 45-60. Several r/BodyHackGuide reports (including 47M and 60M) and 'my rats' comments were excluded.

Each read counted people independently. Overlap between the two reads is estimated from shared threads and removed; counts are approximate. How we count.

Summary

Ghrelin receptor agonist that stimulates a short GH pulse in human studies. Controlled human evidence for improved sleep or body composition was not found, and selectivity does not establish an absence of effects on other hormones. Safety for subcutaneous and long-term use remains uncertain.

Proposed mechanism

  • Ghrelin receptor agonism stimulates GH release in early human pharmacological studies.
  • Absolute claims of no cortisol, aldosterone, prolactin or hunger effects exceed the available selectivity data.
  • Increased lean mass or reduced fat with resistance training has not been established in controlled human trials.

Safety

  • Hypokalemia, insomnia and discharge hyperglycemia occurred more often in the treatment arm of the surgical trial
  • Two postoperative deaths occurred in treated patients; drug causality is unclear
  • FDA identifies injection-route, impurity and immunogenicity uncertainties
  • Long-term and subcutaneous safety are not established

From labels, regulators and trials. No signal in small studies ≠ safe.

Evidence C raising growth hormone for sleep and body composition

C stands. Human work shows a short GH pulse only. The one published disease trial (post-operative ileus) missed its endpoint, but that is a different use, so it neither lifts nor sinks the grade - same rule as VIP and LL-37.

Human trials · 2

  1. NCT006720742014Phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial 117 people

    Adults undergoing bowel resection; 114 received study treatment

    Time to tolerated food was not significantly improved versus placebo; this trial did not assess sleep or physique. Source

  2. NCT012803442014Phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-finding study 320 people

    Patients recovering from bowel surgery

    Study recorded as completed in 2014; results were not found in the registry. Source

Bar length = trial size on a log scale.

Dose ranges

Reported ranges from labels and studies, with context. Not a recommendation.

  • clinical trial
    0.03 mg/kg intravenously twice daily for up to seven days or discharge after bowel surgery Source
  • clinical trial
    4.21–140.45 nmol/kg as a single 15-minute intravenous infusion in healthy volunteers Source

Editorial ratings EDITORIAL

Editors’ judgement, 0–5. Opinion, not data; separate from grade and user score.

  • Safety withdrawn — see safety update —
  • Sleep 5 out of 5
  • Recovery 4 out of 5
  • Cognitive 3 out of 5

Sources

  1. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25331030/
  2. clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT01280344
  3. fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/certain-bulk-drug-substances-use-compounding-may-pres
  4. wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/2026list_en_final_clean_september_2025.pdf
  5. fda.gov/media/182088/download
  6. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10496658/
  7. fda.gov/media/185412/download
  8. fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar/july-23-24-2026-meeting-pharmacy-c

Reddit threads read · 16

Research checked 2026-11-13.