The best-documented ipamorelin and CJC-1295 side effects follow from what both peptides are built to do: raise growth hormone. Approved drugs that raise growth hormone carry label warnings for fluid retention, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and glucose intolerance. Neither ipamorelin nor CJC-1295 is an approved medicine, and each has only a handful of short human studies behind it.
What ipamorelin and CJC-1295 are
The two peptides push the pituitary gland to release growth hormone (GH) through different switches.
- CJC-1295 is a lab-made version of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). It was designed to bind to albumin in the blood so it lasts far longer than natural GHRH, with a half-life of about eight days.
- Ipamorelin is a five-amino-acid peptide that acts on the ghrelin receptor, the same “hunger hormone” receptor targeted by other growth hormone secretagogues. It released GH in rats and pigs, and in pigs it did so without raising cortisol, which made it look selective. That selectivity has not been shown in long-term human studies.
Neither appears in the FDA’s Drugs@FDA database of approved products. By contrast, tesamorelin, another GHRH analogue, is approved as Egrifta for one narrow use: reducing excess abdominal fat in adults with HIV and lipodystrophy. Its label is the closest guide to what this class of drug does in people.
What has actually been tested in humans
| Peptide | Study | Who and how many | What was found |
|---|---|---|---|
| CJC-1295 | Two randomized, placebo-controlled trials lasting 28 and 49 days (Teichman, 2006) | Healthy adults aged 21 to 61, at two sites | GH rose 2- to 10-fold for six days or more after one injection; IGF-1 rose 1.5- to 3-fold. No serious adverse reactions reported. |
| CJC-1295 | Overnight GH sampling before and after one injection (Ionescu, 2006) | Healthy men aged 20 to 40 | Baseline (“trough”) GH rose 7.5-fold; IGF-1 rose 45%. |
| CJC-1295 | Phase 2 trial in HIV-associated abdominal obesity (NCT00267527) | 120 planned | Listed as terminated. No reason and no results posted. |
| Ipamorelin | Phase 2 trial after bowel surgery (Beck, 2014) | 117 hospital patients, intravenous, up to 7 days | No significant difference from placebo in recovery of gut function. Adverse events were reported in 87.5% on ipamorelin and 94.8% on placebo. |
| Ipamorelin | Larger phase 2 trial after bowel surgery (NCT01280344) | 320 enrolled | Listed as completed; no results posted on ClinicalTrials.gov. |
That is close to the whole human record. None of these studies tested the uses the products are sold for online, such as body composition, recovery or anti-aging, and none followed people for months. We found no published randomized trial of the two peptides taken together.
Ipamorelin and CJC-1295 side effects: what raising GH does
Because there is so little direct data, the most useful evidence comes from drugs and trials where GH itself was raised. Three sources point the same way.
The tesamorelin label. The FDA-approved prescribing information for Egrifta WR warns that fluid retention “is thought to be related to the induction of GH secretion” and can show up as swelling, joint pain and carpal tunnel syndrome. It warns of glucose intolerance or diabetes: in trials, HbA1c reached 6.5% or higher in 5% of people on the drug versus 1% on placebo. It also notes that the effects of prolonged high IGF-1 levels “are unknown”.
Growth hormone in healthy older adults. A Stanford systematic review pooled 18 study populations with 220 people given GH. They were significantly more likely to have soft tissue swelling, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and breast enlargement in men, and somewhat more likely to develop diabetes or impaired fasting glucose.
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An oral ghrelin-receptor drug. Ibutamoren (MK-677) works on the same receptor as ipamorelin. In a two-year trial of 65 adults aged 60 to 81, it raised fasting blood glucose by an average of 0.3 mmol/L and reduced insulin sensitivity. Increased appetite, mild leg swelling and muscle pain were the most common side effects, and cortisol rose. Ipamorelin is a different molecule, so this shows what the receptor class can do, not a proven ipamorelin effect.
| Effect | Documented in | How it showed up in trials |
|---|---|---|
| Fluid retention | Tesamorelin label; GH review; MK-677 trial | Swelling of the legs and other soft tissues, joint pain, muscle pain |
| Nerve compression | Tesamorelin label; GH review | Carpal tunnel syndrome; tingling and reduced sensation are listed among label adverse reactions |
| Higher blood sugar | Tesamorelin label; GH review; MK-677 trial | Raised HbA1c or fasting glucose, found on blood tests; reduced insulin sensitivity |
| Sustained high IGF-1 | Tesamorelin label | Found only on a blood test. Long-term effects unknown. |
| Allergic-type reactions | Tesamorelin label (4% of patients in trials) | Itching, redness, flushing, hives and rash; the label tells patients to seek prompt medical attention |
The tesamorelin label also tells prescribers not to use it in people with active cancer, because GH is “a known growth factor”. Someone buying ipamorelin or CJC-1295 online gets no such screening.
What the FDA has said
Both peptides were nominated for use by compounding pharmacies, and the FDA reviewed them. Its page on substances that may present significant safety risks, current as of April 2026, says:
- Ipamorelin acetate was placed in category 2 for outsourcing facilities (503B) on September 29, 2023. The FDA cites possible immune reactions, unnatural amino acids that complicate quality testing, and a published study that identified “serious adverse events including death” when ipamorelin was given intravenously for gut motility. The page does not name that study.
- CJC-1295 is listed among substances previously in category 2 whose nominations were withdrawn. The FDA says it has identified “serious adverse events associated with CJC-1295 including increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reaction,” and that “available clinical data are limited.”
The same page lists related GH-releasing compounds. It notes that a hip fracture trial of ibutamoren “was terminated early due to a potential safety signal of congestive heart failure.” Our guide to whether peptides are legal explains what these categories mean.
What is simply unstudied
- Long-term use. The longest published CJC-1295 trial ran 49 days. A 12-week trial was registered but terminated without posted results.
- The combination. Stacking a GHRH analogue with a ghrelin-receptor agonist has not been tested in a published trial.
- The product itself. A gray-market vial has not been tested as a drug. Our guides to “research use only” labels and certificates of analysis explain what the paperwork does and does not prove.
- Injection risks. Non-sterile preparation can cause abscesses. See injection-site infections.
Ipamorelin and CJC-1295 in sport
Both are banned at all times under class S2.2.4 of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2026 Prohibited List, which names CJC-1295 as a GHRH analogue and ipamorelin as a growth hormone secretagogue. In 2025, USADA gave a triathlete a four-year sanction in a case involving both peptides among others.
If you have used either peptide, the effects documented for GH-raising drugs are ones a doctor can check simply: a fasting glucose or HbA1c blood test for blood sugar, and an IGF-1 level, which is the test the tesamorelin label tells prescribers to monitor.
Sources
- Teichman SL, et al. Prolonged stimulation of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I secretion by CJC-1295, a long-acting analog of GH-releasing hormone, in healthy adults. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2006.
- Ionescu M, Frohman LA. Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295, a long-acting GH-releasing hormone analog. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2006.
- Raun K, et al. Ipamorelin, the first selective growth hormone secretagogue. European Journal of Endocrinology, 1998.
- Beck DE, et al. Prospective, randomized, controlled, proof-of-concept study of the Ghrelin mimetic ipamorelin for the management of postoperative ileus in bowel resection patients. International Journal of Colorectal Disease, 2014.
- Liu H, et al. Systematic review: the safety and efficacy of growth hormone in the healthy elderly. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2007.
- Nass R, et al. Effects of an oral ghrelin mimetic on body composition and clinical outcomes in healthy older adults: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2008.
- DailyMed (National Library of Medicine). Egrifta WR (tesamorelin) prescribing information.
- ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT00267527 (CJC-1295 in HIV-associated visceral obesity) and NCT01280344 (ipamorelin after bowel resection).
- US Food and Drug Administration. Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks.
- US Food and Drug Administration. Drugs@FDA: FDA-Approved Drugs.
- World Anti-Doping Agency. The 2026 Prohibited List.
- US Anti-Doping Agency. Triathlon Athlete Anthony McCauley Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violations.