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Home > Anti-aging Research > Growth Hormone > Purchasing Growth Hormone in Tijuana


Purchasing Growth Hormone in Tijuana

Update, 8/1/07.  First a note of caution on hGH.  I took it for five years and stopped.  The reason being is that I got cancer of the tonsil that spread to a lymph node in the neck.  It was a stage III about the size of a golf ball.  How it got that big without me noticing it sooner is beyond me.  85% of head and neck cancers are with smokers and I've never smoked plus I've taken a lot of supplements that should have prevented the cancer so I blame it on the hGH.  Oncology told me I had a 30% survival if I got surgery and radiation and an oncology intern told me I didn't have a chance if I didn't get radiation yet I refused the radiation thinking I was a goner anyway.  They had me convinced I'd be dead in 10 months.  I didn't consider living without saliva caused by radiation an option.  I had the surgery.  They removed the tonsils and cut from the back of my ear down to the collar bone and then again over to my Adams apple and removed the neck tumor.  You can barely see the scars now and I've been cancer free for almost three years now but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.  Having had that death sentence really changed my life though.  See Cancerous Growths: Mouth Growths - "if the cancer has spread to lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate is only 25%"

Update 8/27/07:  Maybe it was HPV not growth hormone that got me.  Click here for the whole story.  See:

Oral Sex Implicated in Some Throat and Neck Cancers - washingtonpost.com, 8/27/07 - "Human papillomavirus (HPV), which is believed to be responsible for most cervical cancers, may also be at the root of many cancers of the mouth and throat ... Previous research has found that up to 50 percent of nonsmokers with throat and mouth cancers were infected with HPV"

You are allowed to purchase up to a three-month supply of prescription drugs in Mexico for your personal use provided it is not a controlled substance. Technically you need a prescription from an American or Mexican doctor. Most pharmacies in Mexico will get you the prescription for $10 to $20. You just tell them your name and they make a phone call and about 10 minutes later someone brings the prescription.

Revolution in Tijuana is no longer the main tourist and business area.   As you pass the first revolving gate to cross the border, stay to the right and you'll pass through the second revolving gate in about 100 yards.  As you pass through the second gate, there is a large business square, which includes about 20 drugstores. Most people go to each one and bargain for the lowest price.

The price for Humatrope ranges from $130 to $170 for 15 IU.  I think that 4 IU goes for around $42.  On 6/15/00, Farmacia Castaneda was selling the 15 IU for $135 ($135/15 = $9/IU).  Eli Lilly makes it but the writing is in Spanish.  Farmacia Castaneda's full number from the US is 011-52-66-83-56-05.  (drugstore.com sells Humatrope for $244.75 for 15 IU ($244.75/15=$16.32/IU).

It's cheaper to purchase syringes in the US.  They range in price from $12 to $35 per 100 syringes depending on whether you want the basic nail or the Ferrari (B-D Ultra-FineĀ® IV Short Needle 3/10cc Insulin Syringe).  However, someone told me, and I'm not sure if it's true, that you should stick with a 28 gage needle (or larger which is a smaller number) or it will damage the hGH.  I called Lilly and they recommended the 29 gage.  They said the reason was that the 30 gage could become clogged.  See DiabetesStore.Com for syringes.

Several books and magazines are promoting secretagogues to increase IGF-1.  If you do a Medline search, you will find that some of these also increase cortisol, which is counter productive.  Just do a Boolean Medline search of MK0677 AND cortisol, Hexarelin AND cortisol, etc.).  The first Medline search item for "MK0677 AND cortisol" says "Cortisol was increased after MK-0677 administration 3.7-fold in the pre-sham, 3.6-fold in the post-sham, and 3.6-fold ...".  That's crazy.  See Cortisol - The Grinch of Muscle.  Actual growth hormone increased IGF-1 and deceases cortisol at the same time.

I received a pre-publications proof of Dr. Edmund Chein's book titled "Age Reversal - From Hormones to Telomeres".  On page 86, he says "Amino acid supplements and other HGH releasing products and practices generally have the benefit of being cheap and convenient.  However, HGH releasers are still not the perfect solution.  Supporters of secretogogue use claim that amino acids are a more natural way to bring HGH levels up.  But, many of these natural substances, when taken in large amounts, cause serious side effects and still cannot stimulate HGH enough to bring it to the levels we desire for anti-aging purposes (an IGF-1 level of 280-350)."

One guy e-mailed me that he took the amino stacks and his scrotum swelled up like a tennis ball.  Personally, I worry that it might increase cortisol, increase prolactin, interfere with nitrogen imbalance, etc.  Plus, you have to take a ridiculous amount for a small increase in IGF-1.  Also, Controlling the Incurable Viral STDs - Health & Nutrition Breakthroughs, 10/98 says "no amino acid should be taken exclusively for more than one month. Favoring one amino acid can lead to deficiencies in other amino acids."

You can park on the US side of the Mexican border for free. As you get off at the last exit, you make a left and cross over the interstate. Turn left at the light (E. San Ysidro Blvd) and another left at next light onto Border Village Road (has a Kentucky Fried Chicken on the corner)  and park in the first place available. Click here for a map or here for a Yahoo (zoomable map).

I'm sure you've heard the horror stories about HGH therapy costing over $20,000 per year.  When I was 48 years old and I was using slightly less than the 1.1 IU/day (with one day off every seven days) as discussed in the book "Grow Young with HGH" and my IGF-1 shot up to 422  which is too high.  So I had to cut back.  A doctor told that hGH will only raise IGF-1 by 50 ng/mL per month.  At $130 for 15 IU of Humatrope, I would estimate the yearly cost at $2000 for the HGH.  On top of that is the cost of blood tests and the physician to interpret them.  Some people just get the prescription and blood work from their family physician. 

There are options to get the blood test on you own.  I've started a web page on it at http://qualitycounts.com/fpblood_tests.htm.

Humatrope comes in two vials.  One is the saline and the other the HGH.  After you mix the two, you must use it within two weeks.   I think that you will find that about 34 units on an insulin syringe is about 1 IU of HGH (assuming that you mix the entire vial of saline with the HGH).  That's for the 5 mg/15 IU size.  I noticed that with the 1.33mg/4 IU size contains a larger percentage of saline so the calculations are different.  Currently, I've been trying 1.33 IU once per day for three days with the forth day off.  My rational, and I'm not a doctor, is that it will be out of your system in 12 hours (I'm guessing) and your pituitary will take over again and not only will you get the most out of the pituitary but it will prevent the pituitary from getting lazy.  If that 12 hours isn't enough, the fourth day off should cover it.  Plus, I feel that the pituitary will get used to the higher amount and on the fourth day when it isn't getting any, it will secrete a lot.

The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) publishes a directory of Anti-Aging physicians.  They also have a partial listing at http://www.worldhealth.net/advertisers/clinics/index.html .  The actual directory has a much larger listing.

I'm surprised at the number of people who feel there is one magic bullet such as growth hormone in stopping aging.  Personally, I feel that growth hormone is just one link in the chain of anti-aging therapies.  People should be looking more at the synergic effect of lifestyle, exercise, antioxidants, DHEA, testosterone replacement, estrogen replacement, thyroid replacement, diet, telomerase, etc.  Also, I'm surprised that people are more so paranoid about giving out their social security and/or credit card number than to what is really in their supplements.  I'm just the opposite and for good reason.  See the bottom of my home page.  And last, I'm surprised at the number of people who stop taking an antioxidant because they don't feel any different.  Does something that slows aging have to give you a buzz?  The only reason I take hGH is for anti-aging.  If I were taking it for weight lose or energy, I would have stopped taking it long ago because I don't see where it has that big of an effect.  See my personal picks for longevity.  I feel that depression is overlooked as the reason many feel tired and that antioxidants and/or growth hormone will have little effect.

When you cross the border into Tijuana, there are about 20 drugstores.  The overwhelming majority of their business is repeat customers.  How long do you believe they would be in business if the insulin diabetics were buying wasn't controlling their blood sugar or the hypertension drugs weren't controlling their blood pressure or the Humatrope wasn't raising their IGF-1.  Plus, if you look at the packaging on Humatrope, you'll see that it is not that easy to duplicate.

With that said, their is some fake Serostim going around, mostly in the US.  See Drug Alert: FDA Investigates AIDS-Drug Impostor - WebMD, 1/22/01, which says "The fake version is packaged in boxes that closely resemble the real thing (Serostim). It has the lot number MNK612A -- which is an actual identification number that can be found on legitimate batches of Serostim. But look for the fake expiration date of 08/02. The real expiration of Serostim with that lot number is 08/01 . . . Determine if your Serostim fits the description of the impostor. If it does, do not use it."

For good information on the noninjectable forms of forms of hGH, see: Do noninjectable forms of human growth hormone work? - Nutrition Science News, 11/00.  Also, for people who are sissies about needles and want the real stuff at any cost, see FDA Approves Cool.click Needle Free Device For Saizen (Somatropin) Growth Hormone - PSL Group, 6/26/00 - "Based on our clinical studies, the Cool.click needle-free delivery device reduces the fear and anxiety that many parents and patients experience with needle injections"

Someone asked me about oral hGH at www.cocoonnutrition.org.  Using Cocoon's own numbers, you could turn it around an say that you are paying $145 for 57,600 nanograms.  If 350,000 nanograms is 1 IU, then one 180 day supply is 57,600/350,000 or .165 IU. .165 IU/1 IU as $145/x. x = $145/.165 or $878.78 per IU compared to $9 per IU in Mexico. Even if it were absorbed as well as the injection, it is still a rip-off.  I don't buy their argument that less if more. 

If hGH is out of your reach and it's a higher muscle/fat ratio you're looking for, read the research on CLA.  If you are looking for increased libido, I'd think you'd be better off reading "The Basics" at http://qualitycounts.com/fpimpotence.html.

I've heard that the Saizen brand of hGH does not require refrigeration until it is mixed.  If that is true, it worries me.  I don't see how they can do that without adding preservatives.  A preservative used in vaccines called Thimerosal was later found to be associated with autism.

If this information changes you life for the better, you might want to remember me when you purchase supplements.  I'm affiliated with Amazon.com, iHerb Vitacost.com, Vitamin Shoppe the Life Extension Foundation and drugstore.com. If you access their site though these links or my site (http://www.qualitycounts.com), I get credit for the sale.  I also have an online store at http://www.qualitycounts.com/stores/index.html that has everything from Viagra to computers.

The week of 5/14/01, there was a segment on the local San Diego news that they are cracking down on drugs being brought across the border.  They said that you needed an American doctor and a Mexican doctor's prescription plus you could only bring a 50 days supply.  If they did that to the letter, about 30 drugstore just across the border would be out of business over night.  On that news segment, they showed a guy bringing checked by the border people who had about 25 boxes of Ritalin along with a lot of other drugs.  Ritalin is a stimulant.  What I think they are doing it cracking down on people like that who are abusing the system and selling it on this side of the border.

Medical Disclaimer:  Information provided is for educational purposes only.   If you are ill, I recommend you see a qualified health professional.

Recommended Reading:

Grow Young with HGH by Dr. Ronald Klatz, President, American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine


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Note: Lilly went to a 1.33 mg (4IU) size and a 5 mg (15 IU) size.

Click here to see the package inserts


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