Podcast episode 153 (in German)
HMG – the hormone from the convent, between fertility treatment and steroid cycles
November 30, 2026
For the first studies, around 300 women in nuns’ retirement homes collected urine, as the researcher himself tells it. Today HMG is a well-studied fertility drug — and in a completely different world a source of hope for the time after a steroid cycle.
What it is about
HMG supplies the 2 messengers with which the pituitary gland controls the gonads, FSH and LH, obtained from the urine of women after menopause. It has been used in fertility treatment since 1961, daily and always with ultrasound and blood tests, because the ovaries can overreact. In men with genuine hormone deficiency, together with HCG it usually brings back sperm production, after months, not weeks. The episode also listens to what users report: women who fear making mistakes when mixing it, and men in steroid forums who worry about their fertility after stopping and advise one another. These are self-reports, not evidence of efficacy. The conclusion: the hormone axis usually comes back on its own after a cycle, and for HMG in this situation a controlled study is lacking.
Key points
- In June 2026, HMG in a ready-to-use pen was non-inferior to the powder for mixing in just over 400 women, and early overstimulation occurred in 3.5 percent in both groups; the manufacturer paid.
- A 2025 meta-analysis of 41 studies and 1,673 men with hormone deficiency found sperm again in 78 percent, after a median of 18 months, with better results with FSH than with HCG alone.
- In an analysis of 5,059 posts from Australian steroid forums on how to come down safely, HMG is not mentioned a single time; the discussion there is about HCG, clomiphene and tamoxifen.
- In a British survey of 470 men, almost all who had stopped reported symptoms; those who used post-treatment estimated the relief themselves at around 60 percent, a self-report without a comparison group.
- A study from Sydney found 31 former users unremarkable apart from somewhat smaller testicles; sperm production needed on average just over 14 months to recover.
- In 79 men after a short cycle, 59 percent had normal sperm counts after 1 year without treatment, 69 percent with clomiphene and 88 percent with clomiphene and HCG, analyzed retrospectively from records, not randomized.
- A single case from Kuala Lumpur in 2003: a bodybuilder had no sperm 1 year after stopping 7 steroids, and normal values after 3 months of HCG and HMG under medical supervision.
Where the data stop
For the time after a steroid cycle there is practice, individual cases and record-based studies, but no controlled study on HMG. The case from Kuala Lumpur is a good story, not proof, and the survey figures come from people who want it to have helped. The symptoms after stopping are nonetheless real. Most men in the survey themselves wished for medically supervised post-treatment; andrology exists for exactly this question.
HMG is prescription-only and is dosed according to what ultrasound and lab values show, usually for no longer than 3 weeks. Products from the internet are a different matter: a Polish testing laboratory found that just over a third of seized post-treatment products did not contain the stated active substance, and HMG is a protein mixture whose effect has to be measured biologically. For men, LH is on the doping list.
Listen (in German)
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Amazon Music
Published on November 30, 2026.
The topic in the database
- A hormone preparation obtained from the urine of women after menopause that provides FSH and LH activity at the same time and has been used in reproductive medicine since 1961 …HMG (human menopausal gonadotropin)
All episodes in the app (German)
Information only, not medical advice and not a usage or dosage recommendation. Prescription-only and unapproved substances belong in the hands of a physician. Content as of: 2026-09-25.