HCG dosage is set by the condition being treated, not by a chart on a clinic page. The FDA’s prescription labels for this hormone list regimens for three approved uses: undescended testicles in boys, one pituitary form of low testosterone in men, and ovulation induction in infertile women. Those same labels carry a statement in capital letters that HCG has not been demonstrated to work as an obesity treatment, and the FDA states on its consumer page that HCG is not approved for weight loss.<\/p>\n
The label’s own wording makes the point better than any summary. “The dosage regimen employed in any particular case will depend upon the indication for use, the age and weight of the patient, and the physician’s preference” (NOVAREL prescribing information, DailyMed, September 25, 2025). PREGNYL, the Organon product, prints that sentence word for word (DailyMed, December 4, 2025).<\/p>\n
Three prescription products sit in this family: NOVAREL and PREGNYL, both derived from the urine of pregnant women, and OVIDREL, the recombinant version. We read the dosage and indications sections of all three, plus the FDA consumer page on the diet products that trade on the same hormone.<\/p>\n
Both urinary-derived labels describe their regimens as ones “advocated by various authorities” and hand the final choice to the prescriber. Age and weight sit in that sentence because the approved uses span a boy of four and a woman in her thirties. An adult buying drops online belongs to neither group, and no label addresses that buyer.<\/p>\n
The first approved use is prepubertal cryptorchidism not due to anatomical obstruction. The labels list four options, one of them 4,000 USP Units three times weekly for three weeks, another 500 USP Units three times weekly for four to six weeks, and PREGNYL adds a sentence about timing: “Generally, institute therapy in children between the ages of 4 and 9.”<\/p>\n
The second use is hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in males, meaning hypogonadism secondary to a pituitary deficiency. The label lists a short course of 500 to 1,000 USP Units three times a week for three weeks, followed by the same dose twice a week for three weeks. A longer option follows at 4,000 USP Units three times weekly for six to nine months, with the dose reduced to 2,000 USP Units three times weekly for three additional months.<\/p>\n
The third use is induction of ovulation and pregnancy in an anovulatory, infertile woman pretreated with menotropins. There the label reads: “5,000 to 10,000 USP Units one day following the last dose of menotropins,” with a note that menotropin labeling recommends the 10,000 figure.<\/p>\n
Three contraindications apply to all of it: precocious puberty, prostatic carcinoma or another androgen-dependent neoplasm, and a prior allergic reaction to HCG. The label adds that HCG may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman.<\/p>\n
OVIDREL is recombinant choriogonadotropin alfa, and its label is written in micrograms rather than units. “Ovidrel PreFilled Syringe 250 \u00b5g should be administered one day following the last dose of the follicle stimulating agent,” it states, for subcutaneous use, and the product “should not be administered until adequate follicular development is indicated by serum estradiol and vaginal ultrasonography.” Administration is withheld when the ovarian response is excessive.<\/p>\n
An ultrasound and an estradiol level come before that injection, which separates a monitored prescription from a vial of unknown strength.<\/p>\n
The unit question matters for anyone comparing numbers found online. The NOVAREL label’s own table shows a 10,000 unit vial yielding 10,000 units per milliliter when 1 mL of diluent is added, or 1,000 units per milliliter when 10 mL goes in. A figure such as 5,000 units carries no meaning without the concentration printed beside it, which is one reason this page prints no injection instructions.<\/p>\n
The obesity question sits at the top of the indications section on both urinary-derived labels, in capitals, before any approved use is named:<\/p>\n
“HCG HAS NOT BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO BE EFFECTIVE ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF OBESITY. THERE IS NO SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THAT IT INCREASES WEIGHT LOSS BEYOND THAT RESULTING FROM CALORIC RESTRICTION, THAT IT CAUSES A MORE ATTRACTIVE OR \\”NORMAL\\” DISTRIBUTION OF FAT, OR THAT IT DECREASES THE HUNGER AND DISCOMFORT ASSOCIATED WITH CALORIE-RESTRICTED DIETS.”<\/p>\n
A prescription label lists its approved uses and the dose attached to each. Obesity appears in that section only to be excluded, so there is no weight loss dose to look up. The numbers that circulate online trace back to the Simeons protocol and its descendants, and none of them sits in an FDA-approved label.<\/p>\n
The FDA consumer update “Avoid Dangerous HCG Diet Products,” updated July 13, 2020, describes how these products reach buyers: oral drops, pellets and sprays, sold online, at weight loss clinics and in some retail stores, paired with a diet that “limits calories to 500 per day.” The agency states that HCG is not approved for weight loss and is not approved for use without a prescription for any purpose. Its list of risks from such a diet covers gallstone formation, an imbalance of the electrolytes that keep muscles and nerves working, and an irregular heartbeat. For the wider legal question of which peptides can be sold without a prescription, see are peptides legal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carolyn Becker, who directs the Office of Unapproved Drugs and Labeling Compliance in the FDA’s drug center, put the evidence question plainly in that same update: “any loss is from severe calorie restriction. Not from the HCG.”<\/p>\n What the trials injected is on the record. Bosch and colleagues gave 40 women with a body mass index above 30 daily injections of saline or HCG six days a week for six weeks, all on a diet supplying 5,000 kilojoules a day, and reported that the HCG group “showed no advantages over those on placebo in respect of any of the variables recorded” (South African Medical Journal, February 1990). Stein and colleagues ran a 32 day double-blind comparison in 51 women with 28 injections and found no statistically significant difference in weight loss, waist and hip circumference or hunger ratings (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, September 1976).<\/p>\n We set out the rest of the controlled trials and the 1995 meta-analysis on our HCG side effects page<\/a>, including Lijesen and colleagues’ conclusion that there is “no scientific evidence that HCG is effective in the treatment of obesity” (British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, September 1995).<\/p>\n The approved male use is hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, a pituitary deficiency. Men already taking testosterone who ask about HCG to protect sperm production are asking about a different use, and none of the three labels lists testosterone therapy as a companion indication. Lee and Ramasamy reviewed the question and write that hCG therapy “can help re-establish or maintain spermatogenesis in hypogonadal men” (Translational Andrology and Urology, July 2018). Their abstract sets out the role and the evidence behind it and does not reduce the matter to one regimen.<\/p>\n For a reader, the practical point is this: the ranges quoted for that use come from clinical practice and review articles, not from an approved label. That does not make them wrong. It makes them a decision for a prescriber holding the lab results.<\/p>\n A prescription is a question for a clinician with your history and your labs. Our clinic directory<\/a> lists practices by city, and we do not screen licenses, so check each clinic’s license with the state medical board before you book. Our compound pages<\/a> cover the peptides that come up most often in clinic visits.<\/p>\n There is no single dose. The NOVAREL and PREGNYL labels say the regimen depends on the indication, the patient’s age and weight, and the physician’s preference. For ovulation induction both labels list 5,000 to 10,000 USP Units one day following the last dose of menotropins. For hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in a male they list 500 to 1,000 USP Units three times a week for three weeks, then the same dose twice a week for three weeks. OVIDREL is written in micrograms, at 250 \u00b5g one day following the last dose of the follicle stimulating agent.<\/p>\n No. Obesity appears in the indications section of the labels only inside a statement in capitals that HCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity. The FDA consumer update of July 13, 2020 states that HCG is not approved for weight loss and is not approved for use without a prescription for any purpose.<\/p>\n NOVAREL and PREGNYL are derived from the urine of pregnant women and their labels use USP Units. OVIDREL is recombinant choriogonadotropin alfa and its label is written in micrograms. The two cannot be compared number for number.<\/p>\n None of the three labels lists testosterone therapy as a companion use, so no label gives a dose for it. Lee and Ramasamy, writing in Translational Andrology and Urology in July 2018, state that hCG therapy can help re-establish or maintain spermatogenesis in hypogonadal men. Dosing for that use comes from clinical practice, and a prescriber with the lab results sets it.<\/p>\n The NOVAREL label lists three contraindications: precocious puberty, prostatic carcinoma or another androgen-dependent neoplasm, and a prior allergic reaction to HCG. It also states that HCG may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. The OVIDREL label requires ultrasound and estradiol evidence of follicular development before the injection.<\/p>\n The FDA consumer update describes products sold as oral drops, pellets and sprays, paired with a diet that limits calories to 500 per day, and states that HCG is not approved for use without a prescription for any purpose. Compounded preparations are not FDA-approved drugs either.<\/p>\n All three sit in DailyMed and are linked below: NOVAREL dated September 25, 2025, PREGNYL dated December 4, 2025, and OVIDREL dated December 28, 2023. We read them on November 4, 2026.<\/p>\n Sources:<\/p>\n This article is general information for people comparing peptide clinics and weight loss programs. It is not medical advice, it is not a recommendation for or against any product, and it carries no dosing guidance. Compounded preparations are not FDA-approved drugs. Talk with a licensed prescriber about your own history before starting, stopping or changing anything.<\/p>\nHCG dosage in men on testosterone sits outside the label<\/h2>\n
Questions to put to a prescriber before a first injection<\/h2>\n
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Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
What is the typical dose of HCG?<\/h3>\n
Is there an HCG dose for weight loss?<\/h3>\n
Why do some HCG products come in units and one in micrograms?<\/h3>\n
How much HCG do men take alongside testosterone?<\/h3>\n
What does the label rule out before any HCG injection?<\/h3>\n
Are the oral drops sold for weight loss the same drug?<\/h3>\n
Where can I read the labels myself?<\/h3>\n
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