Tesamorelin
TH9507, Egrifta, Egrifta SV, Egrifta WR
Forms: Formulations Egrifta, Egrifta SV and Egrifta WR (approved 2025) contain the same active substance.
Stabilized analogue of the full 44-amino-acid GHRH. FDA-approved to reduce excess abdominal (visceral) fat in people with HIV lipodystrophy.
Legal status: FDA-approved (2010) for HIV-associated abdominal fat; the EU application was withdrawn in 2012 after regulators judged benefits did not outweigh risks.
What it gives
What people use it for and what the sources report. Strength is a general category from the literature: mild, clear or strong.
Purpose
Medical: reduction of excess abdominal fat in HIV-associated lipodystrophy. Off-label in sport: visceral fat loss and raising GH/IGF-1; benefits outside the HIV trials are unproven.
What people seek and what studies show
Used to reduce belly (visceral) fat and to raise GH and IGF-1. In two large placebo-controlled trials in people with HIV, visceral fat fell by about 15% more than on placebo, waist size and triglycerides fell and distress about belly appearance eased, while fat under the skin did not change. A small trial also found modest falls in liver fat. Effects in lean, healthy athletes have not been studied.
Effects
Evidence: Approved medicine — studied in people for its medical use
Sought effects by goal (as reported)
Possible side effects
Possible does not mean certain: whether they appear depends on dose, duration, individual response and monitoring. Below — what to watch for and how to notice it early.
8 possible side effects
level · how often it is reportedWhat the levels mean
Level: general category from the literature, not your personal risk
How often
- common
- reported often
- possible
- reported in some people
- rare
- reported occasionally
How to lower the risks
For 4 of 8 possible side effects there are specific ways to lower the chance: everyday measures, supplements and options a doctor may consider. For the rest — general advice. No measure removes a risk completely.
Products obtained without a prescription are often fake, mislabeled or non-sterile, and there is no way to check at home. For legal supplements, look for third-party testing (Informed Sport, NSF).
More daily movement, fewer fast carbs, check fasting glucose and HbA1c.
How each option helps (7)
- Glucose monitoring — Rising fasting readings reveal insulin resistance from GH or other drugs early.
- Regular blood tests — Fasting glucose, insulin and HbA1c catch rising blood sugar early — key with GH, its secretagogues and insulin.
- Regular cardio training — Improves insulin sensitivity — useful against the blood-sugar rise from GH and its secretagogues.
- Working with a doctor — Interprets glucose markers and treats early metabolic problems.
- Berberine — Meta-analyses: lower fasting glucose and HbA1c (about 0.6% in type 2 diabetes); smaller effect when glucose is normal.
- Alpha-lipoic acid — Small drops in fasting glucose, insulin and HbA1c in meta-analyses; no real counter to GH- or insulin-driven resistance.
- Psyllium husk fiber — Slows sugar absorption: lower fasting glucose and HbA1c, mostly in people with diabetes.
No check-up or blood test lowers this risk; avoid with any personal or family history of cancer.
Low-level side effects
How each option helps (2)
- Working with a doctor — Finds the cause of joint or muscle pain — estradiol pushed too low by an aromatase inhibitor, GH-driven swelling, statin muscle effects — so treatment can be adjusted.
- Coenzyme Q10 — May ease statin-related muscle aches (one meta-analysis positive, results mixed); no help for joint pain from low estrogen.
How each option helps (1)
- Working with a doctor — Tells harmless water retention from swelling due to heart, kidney or liver trouble; steroid labels warn that edema can come with heart failure.
How each option helps (1)
- Working with a doctor — Finds treatable causes of numbness early: low vitamin B12 on metformin, copper deficiency from excess zinc, nerve compression from GH-driven swelling.
Check-ups and blood tests
Which tests and check-ups to do and when. This is a guide — agree the exact schedule with your doctor.
Which doctors can help
Get medical help at once if
- A new lump (including in the neck), trouble swallowing or persistent hoarseness, unexplained weight loss, or blood in stool or urine — see a doctor promptly.
In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
For women
Contraindicated in pregnancy because of possible harm to the fetus; it is not virilizing.
Myth & fact
“Tesamorelin removes belly fat for good.”
In trials, visceral fat fell during treatment but rose again over the following six months in patients switched to placebo.
Combinations
No specific combination notes for this substance yet. The stack check still adds up side effects that several substances share.
Sources
Possible side effects by body system, combinations, how to lower the risks and which tests to do — free.
Open the stack check