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CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin

CJC-1295 (no DAC) + Ipamorelin

GH & GrowthInjectable📊 Correlative data

CJC-1295 (No DAC) + Ipamorelin is the most popular growth-hormone stack in the peptide world — a GHRH paired with a GHRP that hit the GH axis through two different receptors for a bigger, cleaner pulse than either alone. This guide breaks down how CJC-1295 works, the crucial DAC vs No-DAC difference, why it's stacked with Ipamorelin, dosing references, safety and legal status.

Research & educational use only. The information below summarizes published research and mechanisms. It is not medical advice or a recommendation for human use. The protocol that uses it — dosing, sequence and what to retest — is inside Skool ($10/mo).

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin quick facts

Reported research dosing200mcg-600mcg
RouteSubq
Cycle length3-6 Months
Frequency1-3x Daily AM/Workout/PM · 5 On 2 Off or Daily
Half-lifeShort (both components)
FormsInjectable
Evidence levelHuman PK on components
Coach Cam’s take

The classic GH-support pairing. Timing beats dose — fasted and before bed.

How CJC-1295 works

CJC-1295 is a synthetic analog of growth-hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH). It binds GHRH receptors on the pituitary's somatotroph cells, activates adenylate cyclase and raises intracellular cAMP — which prompts the pituitary to release a pulse of your own growth hormone. Because it works upstream on your own gland (rather than replacing GH like injected HGH), it preserves natural feedback regulation.

DAC vs No-DAC — the key difference

This is the single most important thing to understand about CJC-1295. DAC (Drug Affinity Complex) binds the peptide to serum albumin, stretching its half-life to roughly 6–8 days — so one dose keeps GH and IGF-1 elevated for days (dosed ~1–2× weekly). No-DAC (also called Modified GRF 1-29) has a short half-life of about 30–60 minutes, producing a sharp, brief pulse that clears fast.

Most people prefer No-DAC precisely because it's more physiologic — it creates a natural spike-and-clear pulse rather than the constant, non-physiologic GH elevation DAC produces. That pulsatile pattern is why No-DAC is the version paired with Ipamorelin.

Why it's stacked with Ipamorelin

Ipamorelin is a GHRP (ghrelin-receptor agonist) — a different receptor from CJC-1295's GHRH receptor. Combining a GHRH (CJC-1295 No-DAC) with a GHRP (Ipamorelin) produces a synergistic GH pulse larger than the sum of either alone: CJC amplifies the amount of GH released while Ipamorelin triggers the release cleanly, without the cortisol/prolactin bump of older GHRPs. That's why this specific pairing is the classic, go-to GH stack.

Dosing (research reference)

Because No-DAC CJC-1295 is short-acting, the literature references it dosed alongside Ipamorelin, often 1–3× daily and frequently timed around sleep or fasting to align with natural GH pulses. It's supplied as a lyophilized powder, reconstituted with bacteriostatic water — the calculator above converts a research amount into syringe units. This summarizes existing references for education only, not dosing advice or a recommendation for human use.

Safety & side effects

Common reported effects mirror GH-axis stimulation: water retention, tingling/numbness, head-rush or flushing (more with No-DAC's sharp pulse), and possible effects on insulin sensitivity and blood sugar. The bigger-picture caution is that raising GH and IGF-1 is not risk-free — higher IGF-1 has been linked to certain cancer risks and can fuel existing tumors, so this is not something to take casually. Long-term human safety data is limited and research-market purity varies.

This stack sits alongside the oral secretagogue MK-677 (which raises GH/IGF-1 for ~24h with more appetite and fluid retention) and the FDA-approved GHRH analogs Sermorelin and Tesamorelin. CJC + Ipamorelin is favored for its clean, synergistic, pulsatile profile.

CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin are not FDA-approved and are sold as research compounds (research use only). GH secretagogues are also banned in competitive sport under WADA. Compounding status is subject to ongoing FDA review. Follow the laws and sport rules that apply to you.

Where to get CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin

Buy CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin at AminoWell USA →
Use code CAMERON at checkout

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin reconstitution calculator

Research reconstitution calculator

For research reconstitution math — 100 units = 1 mL on a U-100 syringe. Enter the vial size and bacteriostatic water to convert a research amount into syringe units.
U-100 syringe
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Enter the vial size to calculate

Bacteriostatic water is the diluent — sterile water with 0.9% benzyl alcohol, which is what lets a vial be drawn from more than once. It does not come with the vial, and unlike the compound it is bought again every time.

Need bacteriostatic water? Get it at AminoWell USA (my company) → Code CAMERON.

The evidence for CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin

Graded by what exists behind each claim.

✅ Clinically validated

📊 Correlative data

🧪 Theoretical / extrapolated

What community dosing logs are worth →

How to read these tiers: they say how much human evidence exists, not how well something works — and ✗ flags harm, never a disappointing trial. How the evidence tiers work →

What CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin actually does

Start with the name, because it is wrong, and the error is not cosmetic. CJC-1295 is a specific molecule: modified GRF(1-29) carrying a drug affinity complex — a maleimidopropionyl group that forms a covalent bond with circulating albumin, giving a half-life of days Teichman 2006. Remove the DAC and you have not made a shorter version of CJC-1295. You have made modified GRF(1-29), which is a different compound with a different history. Every vial labeled "CJC-1295 no DAC" contains mod GRF(1-29), and the naming convention hides that.

What mod GRF(1-29) actually is. Sermorelin — GHRH(1-29) — with four substitutions: D-Ala at position 2, Gln at 8, Ala at 15 and Leu at 27. The first is the important one. Native GHRH is destroyed by dipeptidyl peptidase-4, which cleaves the Tyr1-Ala2 bond, and a D-amino acid at position 2 is not a substrate for that enzyme. One stereochemical change takes the half-life from roughly 10 minutes to roughly 30. The other three substitutions resist trypsin-like cleavage and asparagine deamidation, which is a shelf-life property as much as a pharmacological one.

Now the synergy, which is the reason the two are sold together. The GHRH receptor couples to Gs and raises cyclic AMP. GHS-R1a, the ghrelin receptor ipamorelin hits, couples to Gq and raises intracellular calcium. Two different second-messenger systems converging on the same exocytotic machinery produce more release than either alone — and the effect is more than additive because calcium and cAMP potentiate each other at the level of the secretory vesicle.

And a second, separate mechanism that most explanations get wrong. McMahon 2001 tested this directly in bovine somatotropes and in cattle, with GHRP-6 at 1, 3 and 10 mcg/kg intravenously and GHRH at 0.2 mcg/kg. Feeding suppresses GH release; the combination reversed that suppression with a fivefold greater release. The mechanism they report is that GHRP-6 stimulates hypothalamic GHRH secretion and restores somatotrope responsiveness to GHRH — and, importantly, it did so without altering somatostatin. The widespread claim that a GHRP works by suppressing somatostatin is not what this experiment found. It works by raising endogenous GHRH and by making the pituitary cell answer GHRH again.

That is also the mechanistic case for fasted dosing, and it is stronger than the folklore version. The suppression the combination reversed was post-feeding suppression. Dosing fasted means you are not asking the drug to overcome a state it only partly overcomes.

Cell, rodent, human — and where it stops

Step one, in humans, for each half separately. CJC-1295 with DAC has published human pharmacokinetics showing prolonged stimulation of GH and IGF-1 secretion Teichman 2006, and a companion paper established something the field expected to go the other way: pulsatile GH secretion persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295 Ionescu 2006. That result matters here because the usual argument for choosing the no-DAC version is that a long-acting GHRH would flatten the pulse — and the measurement says the pulse survived. The main reason people give for preferring mod GRF(1-29) was tested and did not hold. The peptide is also detectable: Timms 2019 describes an immuno-polymerase chain reaction screen for CJC-1295 and other growth-hormone-releasing peptides.

Step two, the synergy in humans, and the evidence is thinner than its reputation. Damjanovic 1996 is the human demonstration usually pointed at, and it is a single patient — a case of pituitary enlargement from primary hypothyroidism, studied before and after thyroid hormone replacement. GHRP-6 alone gave an area under the GH curve of 197.2 rising to 650.4 mcg/L·min after treatment; the two peptides together gave 1043.2 rising to 2046.7. The synergy is unmistakable in that individual and the authors conclude that GHRP-6 works through a non-GHRH-dependent mechanism. It is one person, in an unusual endocrine state. Anyone citing it as proof of synergy in healthy adults is over-reading it, and this page would rather say so than borrow the authority.

Step three, chronic combination dosing in animals. Fintini 2005 treated GHRH knockout mice long term with a GHRH analog and a growth hormone secretagogue, together and separately — the closest thing to a controlled test of the pairing over time that exists in any species.

The obstacles, named one at a time. (1) Nobody has run the combination against placebo in humans with a body-composition or IGF-1 endpoint. Not once. Every claim for the pair is assembled from separate component studies. (2) The clean human synergy data is one case report Damjanovic 1996 and the mechanistic work is bovine McMahon 2001. (3) The dosing on the card, 200–600 mcg, is a combined figure that does not state the split between the two peptides — and since they act on different receptors with different dose-response curves, the ratio is a pharmacological variable that nobody has optimized. (4) Blends are sold premixed, so the buyer cannot verify either component independently.

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin pharmacokinetics — how much of it actually gets in

The card says "short, both components", which is true and hides that the two are short for different reasons and by different amounts.

What degrades the GHRH half. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 at the Tyr1-Ala2 bond — blocked by the D-alanine substitution, which is the entire point of the modification. Residual clearance is by general proteolysis and renal filtration of the fragments. Half-life goes from about 10 minutes for the unmodified parent to roughly 30 minutes. Half an hour is still short, and it is the number that explains why this component is dosed one to three times a day.

What degrades the GHRP half. Almost nothing quickly. Two D-residues, a non-natural residue at position 1 and a C-terminal amide leave few conventional peptidase sites, which is why the card gives ipamorelin roughly 2 hours against the GHRH component's 30 minutes.

Which produces the mismatch nobody accounts for. The two peptides in the vial have half-lives differing roughly fourfold. Injected together, the GHRH signal is essentially gone while the GHRP signal is still substantially present — so for most of the exposure window you have a GHRP alone, which is not the combination the synergy argument describes. The synergy applies to the first half hour.

The oral barrier and the injectable comparator. Neither component survives the gut: a 29-residue peptide and a peptidase-resistant pentapeptide both face gastric acid, pancreatic proteases and a brush-border peptidase layer, and neither has a transporter. Subcutaneous injection is the only route with any published human exposure data behind it, and the arithmetic is ordinary: a 300 mcg combined dose is roughly 0.1 µmol of material into 5 L of plasma, producing low-nanomolar concentrations — which is the right order for a receptor whose EC50 sits near 1.3 nmol/L Raun 1998. The dose is not arbitrary; it is roughly what the receptor requires.

What would have to be true, and how you would know it was not

Three predictions. The first is the only endpoint that distinguishes this combination from either half alone.

1. IGF-1 is the endpoint, and the test that matters is the combination against one component. Draw IGF-1 at baseline and at 8 and 12 weeks, same laboratory. Then do the thing nobody does: run the GHRP alone for the next 12 weeks at the same total frequency and draw again. The entire premium for a blend rests on the pair beating one component, and that comparison has never been published in humans Damjanovic 1996. An individual can run it on themselves for the cost of two extra blood draws.

2. Fasted versus fed is a real experiment, not a ritual. The combination's advantage in the animal work was specifically the reversal of post-feeding GH suppression, with a fivefold difference McMahon 2001. So the prediction is that the same dose given after a meal produces a smaller IGF-1 change over weeks than the same dose fasted — and if 12 weeks fasted and 12 weeks fed produce identical IGF-1, the fasting rule can be dropped, which would make the protocol substantially easier to keep to.

3. The prediction that cuts against the product: glucose handling should deteriorate slightly if this is working. Growth hormone is counter-regulatory to insulin. In the two-year trial of an oral secretagogue that clearly raised IGF-1, fasting glucose rose by 0.3 mmol/L and insulin sensitivity fell Nass 2008. So draw fasting insulin and HbA1c at baseline and 12 weeks. A rising IGF-1 with untouched glucose markers is a pleasant surprise; unchanged IGF-1 with unchanged glucose is the more likely finding and means nothing is happening.

What nobody has tested yet

Four experiments, none of them expensive, that would replace the inference this whole product category runs on.

Nobody has run the pair against placebo in healthy adults. Not once, with any endpoint. The combination is one of the most widely used protocols in this space and its evidence base is two component pharmacokinetic papers Teichman 2006 Ionescu 2006, a case report Damjanovic 1996 and a knockout-mouse study Fintini 2005.

Nobody has optimized the ratio. The two peptides act at different receptors with different potencies, and premixed vials fix a ratio nobody derived. A three-arm study varying the GHRH:GHRP ratio at constant total dose, with IGF-1 as the endpoint, is the most obvious missing experiment in this entire section of the Vault.

Nobody has tested whether the half-life mismatch matters. If the synergy needs both peptides present at once, then separating the injections by 90 minutes should perform worse than giving them together, and giving the GHRH component twice per GHRP dose should perform better. Both are testable and neither has been tried.

Nobody has looked for desensitization on a 3–6 month protocol. The card recommends 3 to 6 months of continuous use. Ionescu 2006 showed pulsatility survives continuous GHRH stimulation over weeks; nothing addresses the ghrelin receptor over months, and a monthly IGF-1 series through a full cycle would answer it for the price of five blood draws.

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin — its own safety story, not its class's

The class block above covers GH secretagogues generally. Three things belong to this combination.

The stacking error this combination invites. The GHRP component acts at GHS-R1a. So do MK-677, GHRP-2, GHRP-6, hexarelin and MK-777. Adding any of those to this blend is not a stack; it is a double dose at one receptor — more desensitization rather than more effect. Adding a different GHRH analog is the same error on the other half. The only combination with a mechanistic rationale is exactly one GHRH plus exactly one GHRP, which is what this product already is.

The metabolic effect is the real dose-limiting one and it is measured. Two years of a secretagogue that normalized GH and IGF-1 to young-adult levels raised fasting glucose by 0.3 mmol/L and reduced insulin sensitivity Nass 2008. That is the most relevant human safety number available for this whole class, and it argues for the marker panel above rather than against the compounds.

Fluid retention and carpal tunnel symptoms are the practical ceiling. Both are dose-related GH effects, both appear when the axis is pushed hard, and both reverse on reduction. They are the body's own dose-finding signal and are more useful than any number a vendor prints.

The purity problem is doubled here. A premixed two-peptide vial cannot be assessed component by component, and the ratio in the vial is not verifiable by the buyer. If the GHRH component has degraded — and it is the less stable of the two — the product silently becomes a GHRP-only injection at a GHRP dose the buyer never chose.

Sources read for this page

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin — safety, predicted from mechanism

Predicted from mechanism, not from a human safety trial. How that reasoning works →

What the mechanism predicts

Derived from the molecule, not a trial.

What has actually been reported

How to reduce the risk

Same mechanism as the prediction.

What it does to your bloodwork

A fact about the assay.

What it overlaps with

Don't run this if

The honest unknown

Not medical advice. If you take prescription medication or have a diagnosed condition, check this with a pharmacist or doctor.

When to take it

Fasted — and pre-bed is the best of the windows

Food is the problem here, and specifically carbohydrate and fat. Both trigger somatostatin release, and somatostatin is the brake on growth hormone — eating before the injection pharmacologically cancels it. Two clear hours either side.

Pre-bed is the strongest window because the largest natural GH pulse happens in the first hours of deep sleep, so you are stacking with it rather than asking the pituitary for something it is not primed for. Fasted pre-training is the second-best, for the same reason in a different rhythm.

From half-life and route, not a dosing trial.

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin — interference & stacking

Predicted from mechanism, not from an interaction study. How mechanism-predicted claims are made →

What CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin moves on your bloodwork

Expected direction, not a measured one.

Everything above follows from one fact: these raise GH and therefore IGF-1. Nothing here needs a trial of the specific molecule.

Everything on this page, in an order

This one is free and stays free. What Skool adds is the rest of the shelf — 278 compounds and 371 supplements with the protocol, the stack order and the bloodwork to run beside it.

Join Skool — $10/mo →

Bloodwork to run alongside CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin

Baseline first, then again at 8–12 weeks.

MarkerWhat it’s watching for
IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1)The number that actually tracks your GH exposure — dose by this, not by feel
Fasting InsulinGH raises insulin resistance; this moves before glucose does
HbA1c (Hemoglobin A1c)The slower confirmation that the insulin change is real
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)Fasting glucose, and liver and kidney at baseline

The “Running GH Peptides or MK-677” panel covers these in one order — 9 markers, $132.30 with the discount applied.

Check results you already have → · All 103 markers A–Z

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin — frequently asked questions

What is CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin?

It's a growth-hormone stack: CJC-1295 is a GHRH analog that tells the pituitary to release GH, and Ipamorelin is a GHRP that triggers a clean GH pulse. Together they act on two receptors for a larger, synergistic pulse of your own growth hormone.

What's the difference between CJC-1295 with DAC and no DAC?

DAC binds the peptide to albumin, extending its half-life to ~6–8 days (constant, non-physiologic GH). No-DAC has a ~30–60 minute half-life, giving a sharp, natural pulse. No-DAC is preferred for being more physiologic and is the version paired with Ipamorelin.

Why stack CJC-1295 with Ipamorelin?

They hit different receptors — CJC (GHRH) amplifies how much GH is released, Ipamorelin (GHRP) triggers the release cleanly. The combination produces a bigger GH pulse than either alone, without the cortisol/prolactin spike of older GHRPs.

How is CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin dosed?

The No-DAC version is short-acting, so the literature references dosing it with Ipamorelin 1–3× daily, often around sleep or fasting. It's reconstituted with bacteriostatic water — use the calculator above. This is educational, not dosing advice.

What are the side effects of CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin?

Reported effects include water retention, tingling, and flushing, plus possible effects on blood sugar. The key caution is that raising GH/IGF-1 carries theoretical cancer-related risk, so it isn't casual. Long-term human data is limited.

Is CJC-1295 / Ipamorelin FDA-approved?

No — both are sold as research compounds and are not FDA-approved. GH secretagogues are also banned in competitive sport under WADA.

References & further reading

  1. Prolonged GH and IGF-1 secretion with CJC-1295 in healthy adults (Teichman 2006)
  2. Ipamorelin, the first selective growth hormone secretagogue (Raun 1998)
  3. CJC-1295: complete guide to the GHRH analog (No DAC vs DAC)
CC
About the author — Coach Cam (Cameron Williams)

Cameron holds a degree in Exercise Science and has spent years coaching, educating and building tools around peptides, performance and longevity. This guide is educational and research-focused — it is not medical advice, and research compounds are for research use only.

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin inside a finished plan

One arm of 3 Protocol Blueprints, free to read in full.

The Fat Loss Blueprint16 weeks · CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin runs alongside the lean-mass armThe Muscle & Strength Blueprint20 weeks · CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin runs as the gh / igf-1 armThe Sleep Blueprint8 weeks · CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin runs as the depth arm

What CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin is used for

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin appears under 3 goals in the goal router.

🔥 Lose fatLean-mass protection while cutting💪 Build muscle & strengthGH / IGF-1 axis🌙 Sleep betterSleep depth, slow-wave & recovery quality

Where this goes next

The full protocol$10/mo

CJC No Dac/Ipamorelin is the lean-mass arm of this plan. The page above is the free breakdown of one compound; the plan it belongs to — the dosing, the order to correct things in, the week-by-week schedule and what to retest — is a lesson inside Skool.

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