IGF-1 LR3 dose range
The amounts people commonly use, from the low end to the high end, with syringe units, schedule and half-life. The 9 published studies are one click away.
Animal studies only Growth hormone axis Also called LR3IGF-I, Long R3 IGF-I, long[Arg3] IGF-I
Common use ranges
From user guides and clinic write-ups. No drug label exists, and no study has tested these amounts in people. Community and vendor guides agree closely on 20 to 50 mcg a day, rising to 100 mcg at the top. None are clinical sources.
- Half-life
- Not measured in any published study
- How it is taken
- Subcutaneous injection, sometimes intramuscular after training
- How long people use it
- 4 to 6 weeks on, then 2 to 4 weeks off is most common. Some guides run up to 8 weeks, with 12 weeks as an outer limit, then 4 to 8 weeks off.
- Mixing used for the units
- 1 mg vial + 2 mL water. 1 unit on a U-100 insulin syringe = 5 mcg.
Pick your vial size and how much water you add. The units below change to match.
1 mg vial + 2 mL water: 1 unit = 5 mcg
| Tier | Each dose | Syringe units1 mg vial + 2 mL water | How often | Schedule | Vial lastsat this tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting [1] | 20 mcg | 4 units 0.04 mL | once a day | 20 mcg once a day for the first 1 to 2 weeks | 6+ weeks |
| Typical [2] | 40 mcg | 8 units 0.08 mL | once a day | 20 to 50 mcg once a day, after a workout or in the morning, with food | about 4 weeks |
| Higher [3] | 80 mcg | 16 units 0.16 mL | once a day | 50 to 100 mcg once a day after training, often split across 2 to 4 muscles | 12 days |
Good to know
- Low blood sugar can start 30 to 60 minutes after a shot, so food is eaten within 30 minutes.
- Its half-life is about 20 to 30 hours, much longer than native IGF-1.
- There are no human clinical trials of IGF-1 LR3. It is banned in sport by WADA.
- Several guides keep the dose at or under 50 to 60 mcg a day because low blood sugar gets more likely above that.
Sources for these amounts
- Starting: Form Blends, IGF-1 LR3 (start at 20 mcg) · Bio Hack Lab, IGF-1 LR3 1 mg vial dosage guide (weeks 1 to 2, 20 mcg) · Peptide Protocol Wiki, IGF-1 LR3 community protocols (beginner 20 to 40 mcg)
- Typical: Form Blends, IGF-1 LR3 (20 to 50 mcg a day) · Bio Hack Lab, IGF-1 LR3 1 mg vial dosage guide (20 to 50 mcg once daily) · Peptide Protocol Wiki, IGF-1 LR3 community protocols (standard 20 to 50 mcg)
- Higher: Peptide Protocol Wiki, IGF-1 LR3 community protocols (advanced 50 to 100 mcg) · Ascend wiki, IGF-1 LR3 (50 to 100 mcg muscle recovery protocol)
How long people use it: Form Blends, IGF-1 LR3 · Peptide Protocol Wiki, IGF-1 LR3 community protocols · Bio Hack Lab, IGF-1 LR3 1 mg vial dosage guide
Half-life: Gillespie et al, Effects of chronic renal failure on plasma clearance of IGF-I, des-(1-3)IGF-I and LR3IGF-I, Am J Physiol 1996 · Shoubridge and Read, Preferential intestinal delivery of LR3IGF-I over IGF-I in preweaning and adult rats, Endocrinology 2003
Take the IGF-1 LR3 chart with you
Get a one-page printable chart for IGF-1 LR3, with the syringe units for each vial and water mix. We can also email you when a new IGF-1 LR3 study is published.
This page shows what labels, clinics and users report, and what studies gave. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation for anyone. Many of these compounds are not approved for human use. Check your own medicines and lab work with a licensed clinician before using anything.
See the science: 9 published studies
No human dose data. No published human study of IGF-1 LR3 states an amount given. Every figure on this page comes from animal studies.
Amounts given to animals in studies
Read this first. The one rat study that watched kidney function found LR3 made it worse, with more tubule calcification. A seized black market vial held a His-tagged lab reagent whose effects in people have never been studied.
Every study used for this page
Proof grade: Animal studies only. No human dose data has been published. Amounts are quoted as each study reported them. Where the abstract does not state an amount, the row says so.
| Study | Who was studied | Amount given, as reported | Route | How often | How long | What the authors reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PMID 12697696Shoubridge and Read, Endocrinology 2003 | Rat, 19 day old and adult, n=5 to 6 per group | 2.6 mcgrams/kg, spiked with labelled peptide (LOWEST verified) | Into the vein | one time bolus | blood and tissue at 5 and 10 min | Cleared from blood faster than IGF-1 and reached gut tissue at about twice the IGF-1 level |
| PMID 7683875Tomas et al, Biochem J 1993 | Rat, 160 g streptozotocin diabetic (group sizes not in abstract) | graded doses up to 695 mcgrams per day | Under the skin by pump | continuous | 7 days | 2.5 to 3 times more potent than IGF-1 at restoring growth and nitrogen balance |
| PMID 8138750Martin et al, J Endocrinol 1994 | Rat, male Sprague Dawley, acute kidney failure (group sizes not in abstract) | 1.5 mg/kg per day (HIGHEST verified) | Under the skin by pump | continuous | 7 days, plus a 3 day arm | Better weight gain, but kidney filtration fell further than in controls and there was more tubule calcification. The paper calls this a harmful effect |
| PMID 7803042Lemmey et al, Growth Factors 1994 | Rat, growing, after 70% or 80% bowel removal (group sizes not in abstract) | 278 mcgrams per day, up to 700 mcgrams per day in the dose arm | Under the skin by pump | continuous | 7 days | More potent than IGF-1 for weight gain and feed efficiency. Dose-related drop in malabsorption |
| PMID 11472075Tomas, Growth Horm IGF Res 2001 | Rat, young 5 week and adult 12 week, fed at 100, 78, 56 or 33% of free feeding | 98 nmol per day per kg body weight | Under the skin by pump | continuous | 7 days | Held body weight 3 to 8% higher but did not spare muscle protein. In adult rats it made food restriction worse |
| PMID 12067429Dunshea et al, Br J Nutr 2002 | Pig, newborn hand reared, 42 pigs in study 1 and 18 in study 2 | 2, 4 or 8 mcgrams per hour, then 16 mcgrams per hour | infusion | continuous | 8 days, then 9 plus 9 days | Raised daily weight gain and milk intake in free fed piglets but not in limit fed ones |
| PMID 9415072Tomas et al, J Endocrinol 1997 | Pig (group sizes not in abstract) | 20 and 50 mcgrams/kg | one time bolus injection | one time | sampled to 4 h | About 2 to 3 times more potent than IGF-1 for lowering blood sugar, and the only variant that also cut plasma amino acids more than IGF-1 |
| PMID 8897852Gillespie et al, Am J Physiol 1996 | Rat, chronic kidney failure model (group sizes not in abstract) | tracer dose of labelled peptide | Into the vein | one time | single study | Total clearance of LR3IGF-I was higher than IGF-1 and rose further in kidney failure, with more peptide breakdown |
| PMID 20675162Kohler et al, Growth Horm IGF Res 2010 | none, a seized vial | Not stated in the abstract | n/a | n/a | n/a | A black market injection vial held His-tagged Long-R3-IGF-I, a biochemistry reagent. The authors say its effects in people have never been studied |
How to read the study numbers
- One study, one group. Each figure is what one team chose for its own participants or animals.
- Route matters. An amount given into a vein (IV) is not the same as the same amount under the skin, in the nose or by mouth.
- Animals are not small people. An animal amount is shown as the study gave it. It is not a human amount.
- Short studies. Many studies ran days or weeks. They do not show what happens over longer use.
Common questions
Is there a human dose for IGF-1 LR3?
No published human study of IGF-1 LR3 states an amount given. The figures on this page come from animal studies only.
Where do these IGF-1 LR3 numbers come from?
From 9 published studies, each linked to its PubMed or ClinicalTrials.gov record. Every figure was checked against the study abstract or its open full text. Proof grade: Animal studies only.
How long does IGF-1 LR3 stay in the body?
No published study has measured the half-life of IGF-1 LR3, so nobody knows exactly how long one dose stays in the blood.
Is this a recommendation for how much IGF-1 LR3 to use?
No. This page shows the amounts reported by drug labels, clinics and users, next to what researchers gave in studies. It is not medical advice and not a recommendation for anyone. Talk to a licensed clinician before using any of it.