Epithalon Dosage Chart: What Studies Used vs What Reddit Reports

This epithalon dosage chart keeps two things apart that most dosing pages blend: the amounts that published studies actually gave, and the amounts people on Reddit say they inject. They span from 1 microgram in a mouse to 10 mg a day in a person, and the paper trail behind the popular "5 to 10 mg a day" figure is thinner than it looks. Everything here is a summary of published and self-reported ranges, not a recommendation.

The epithalon dosage chart at a glance

The columns answer different questions. The first two come from published abstracts. The third is what dosing websites repeat, mostly without a source. The fourth is anecdote from an unverified, self-selected sample, shown so you can see how far practice drifts from the paper trail.

The popular figure is the third column, and it is where this topic goes wrong. Several dosing pages describe a "Russian protocol" of 10 mg a day for 10 days (100 mg in total) and a "Ukrainian protocol" of 10 mg on five days spread over 17 days. I could not trace either one to a paper abstract, and the pages that state them do not attribute them to a specific study. One chart page that lists a 5 to 10 mg daily range says outright that the schedule is not derived from its cited research.

What published studies actually used

Start with what is verifiable. A 2002 mouse study gave female HER-2/neu transgenic mice either Vilon or epithalon at 1 microgram subcutaneously for 5 consecutive days every month, starting in the second month of life. The largest breast tumors in the epithalon group were 33% smaller than in controls, and tumor HER-2/neu mRNA was 3.7 times lower (PMID 12428286). That is a per-animal dose in the microgram range, in a mouse, and it says nothing about what a person should inject.

Primate and cell work shows effect, not dose. Papers from the same Russian group report that epithalon stimulated evening melatonin production in old female rhesus monkeys and normalized their cortisol rhythm (PMID 11550036, PMID 11524632). A 2003 culture study reported that it induced telomerase activity and telomere elongation in human fetal fibroblasts (PMID 12937682). A 2025 study in human cell lines reported dose-dependent telomere lengthening in normal cells via telomerase, and, in breast cancer lines, lengthening through a different route called ALT activation (PMID 40908429).

The human data is mostly epithalamin. Epithalamin is the bovine pineal extract that epithalon was designed from. In a randomized study, 39 coronary patients received 6 courses over 3 years on top of standard therapy against 40 controls on standard therapy alone, and the treated group had lower mortality (PMID 22451889). A 2007 review of pineal peptides in old monkeys and elderly people reports that epithalamin and epithalon restored night melatonin in people with low pineal output, "having no side effects" (PMID 17969590). Neither abstract gives a milligram dose, and the first is an extract trial from the group that developed the compound, not independent replication.

Put together: the best-supported statement is that nobody has run a published dose-finding trial of synthetic epithalon in people. A 2026 review of peptides in gerontology lists "optimal dosing regimens" among the open gaps (PMID 42021992). Treat any page that presents a single "standard dose" as describing convention, not evidence.

A common Reddit claim is that the original Russian work used epithalamin at 10 mg, and that the equivalent synthetic epithalon dose is about 100 mcg. The commenter who posted the protocol says it came from a group of Russian-speaking biochemists. I could not verify the equivalence, and the claim reads as a plausible explanation for the dose gap, not an established conversion.

What Reddit users report

The data comes from 220 posts and comments across 13 subreddits and 18 threads. Five threads, in r/Peptidesource, r/sleep, r/NTNPerformance, r/Biohacking and r/greyhairreversal, held usable first-hand epithalon reports. That gives 16 accounts, 12 of which named a daily amount. It is a small, self-selected sample of people who chose to post, so read it as texture, not as a survey.

The spread is wide. Three users reported 200 to 300 mcg, three reported 500 to 750 mcg as their top amount, two used 1 mg, three used 5 mg, and one used 10 mg. One account of 10 mg for 4 days came from a user who asked whether to drop to a lower dose because it felt like far too much. No symptom was named, and that user is an outlier, not a data point about safety. Another commenter called half a gram total over 30 to 60 days ideal; that works out to roughly 8 to 17 mg a day and arrived with an animal-owner framing I could not take seriously, so I excluded it from every count.

The loudest voice in the biggest thread is a single self-described protocol author recommending 100 to 500 mcg a day for 10 days on and 20 off, repeated monthly. At least six replies in that thread restate the same range, so the apparent consensus there is one person's protocol echoed. Other users in the same thread said they preferred 5 mg for 10 days and 2 to 3 times a year, and one cited a podcast for 100 mcg over 10 days, two or three times a year.

What people said happened is mixed. Six of the 16 reported better sleep or more vivid dreams, including one who said a smart ring showed REM sleep doubling, and one who said they slept through the night after a cycle while also taking trazodone, which muddies the cause. Two reported nothing noticeable, one after reaching 500 mcg a day:

"I think I got to 500 mcg a day and still didn’t notice much." (a r/sleep commenter, Mar 2026, source)

Another said much the same about low doses and preferred a larger one:

"I noticed nothing on the microdoses that are recommended." (a r/Peptidesource commenter, Oct 2025, source)

Two accounts included something unpleasant: one stopped night dosing because of waking after a couple of hours, and one stopped after about a week:

"I think it was about 7 days - ended a bit early due to brain fog." (a r/sleep commenter, Jan 2026, source)

Only one account gave a time to effect (two days in), so there is no honest "how long until it works" number here. People who felt nothing often never post, so the sample leans toward stories. A commenter with a long insomnia history wrote that a behavioral sleep program, not the peptide, was what turned their sleep around.

Reconstitution math: mg, mL and units

Dose confusion often starts here, not with the milligrams. A U-100 insulin syringe holds 100 units per 1 mL, so 1 unit is 0.01 mL. The units you draw equal the dose in mcg divided by the concentration in mcg per mL, times 100.

Worked example with a 10 mg vial and 2 mL of bacteriostatic water: 10 mg is 10,000 mcg, and 10,000 divided by 2 is 5,000 mcg/mL. That is 50 mcg per unit. A 500 mcg dose is 10 units (0.10 mL). A 5 mg dose is 100 units, a full 1 mL syringe, which is why one 10 mg vial covers only two doses of 5 mg.

Vial size changes how long a course lasts, not the math. A 10-day course at 500 mcg a day uses 5 mg, half of one 10 mg vial. At 5 mg a day it uses 50 mg, five vials. At 10 mg a day it uses 100 mg. A Reddit commenter who owned a 50 mg vial mixed it with 10 mL, giving 5 mg/mL, and drew 2 to 10 units for 100 to 500 mcg. I checked that arithmetic and it is correct, but with 50 mg you would have enough for five 10-day courses at 1 mg a day.

Why concentration matters: one user reported taking 30 units at night without saying how much water was in the vial. At 2.5 mg/mL that is 0.75 mg, at 5 mg/mL it is 1.5 mg, and at 10 mg/mL it is 3 mg. Always record the vial size, the water volume and the dose in mcg, and treat units as the last step, never the first.

I found no published stability data for reconstituted epithalon, so treat shelf-life claims on Reddit and dosing sites as unverified.

Timing, cycle length and what changes the dose

Reports lean toward evening. Five first-hand users dosed at night or before bed, and one said it works best 3 to 4 hours before sleep. No first-hand user reported morning dosing; one commenter in the sleep thread advised starting in the morning because it can wake you up at first, which is an untested suggestion. No controlled study compares morning with evening.

Cycle length is more consistent than dose. Five first-hand users named a 10-day run, one named 10 to 20 days, one had planned 10 and one did about 7. One of the 10-day users had earlier run 21 days. What happens after the run splits the community. One camp repeats it 2 to 3 times a year, the other, following the 100 to 500 mcg protocol, runs 10 days on and 20 off every month. No study compares the two.

What changes the dose in practice:

• Goal. It does not predict dose in the data: sleep-focused accounts ranged from 200 mcg to 5 mg, and the one user chasing a longevity reset went to 10 mg and had second thoughts.
• Purity and fill. An under-filled or mislabeled vial makes every calculation wrong.
• Route. Subcutaneous injection dominates. Nasal and oral preparations exist, but I found no verified absorption data, so no mcg equivalence.
• Body weight and age. One user asked whether a 125 lb woman and a 230 lb man should dose differently. No source I found answers that.
• Other sleep and mood medicines. Some accounts mention trazodone, long-term melatonin or other peptides alongside epithalon, which makes cause and effect hard to read. Stacking several new compounds at once was the most common error other commenters warned about.

Safety and regulatory status

Short-term tolerability looks mild in the abstracts above, but they are small and mostly from one research group. The theoretical worry is telomerase. The 2025 cell-line study found telomere lengthening in cancer cells too, while the 2002 mouse study found smaller tumors. Neither settles what happens in people. Anyone with a cancer history, who is pregnant or breastfeeding, or taking sleep or psychiatric medicines should talk to a clinician before considering any of this.

On regulation, here is what I verified. Epithalon is not an FDA-approved drug. FDA placed it in the "Category 2" compounding risk list in September 2023, citing immunogenicity risk, possible peptide-related impurities and the absence of publications on efficacy in insomnia. On April 15, 2026, FDA published notice that it would remove it from Category 2, which does not by itself make it eligible for compounding. On July 24, 2026, FDA's compounding advisory committee voted 7 to 5, with one abstention, to add it to the 503A bulks list for insomnia, against FDA staff objections. The vote is advisory, and I found no report of a final FDA decision as of October 11, 2026. Check FDA's current list before assuming a pharmacy can supply it.

Today the widely available supply is sold labeled for laboratory research use. Ascension Peptides lists epithalon 10 mg at $50.00 (regular $69.99) as of 2026-10-11. Ascension's testing partner Kovera Labs tests every batch (HPLC, LC-MS identity, net content, endotoxin, sterility and heavy metals) with public batch COAs, and more than 98% pass. It ships in the US only, all sales are final, and a new-customer code PEPTIDEDECK gives 50% off. You can see the Epithalon 10 mg listing here. For vendor comparisons see our where to buy epithalon guide.

For mechanism, benefits and side effects, see the epithalon peptide guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the standard epithalon dosage?

There is no established human dose. Dosing websites repeat 5 to 10 mg a day for 10 days, but I could not trace that to a published abstract. The one verified dose is 1 microgram per mouse for 5 days a month. Among 12 Reddit users who named an amount, daily doses ran from 200 mcg to 10 mg.

How much epithalon per day do Reddit users take?

Of 12 users, 6 stayed under 1 mg a day and 6 used 1 mg or more. The most common single amounts were 500 mcg and 5 mg. This is a small, self-selected sample, not guidance, and the 10 mg user had second thoughts.

How many units is 500 mcg of epithalon?

It depends on the water you added. With a 10 mg vial and 2 mL, the concentration is 5,000 mcg/mL and 500 mcg is 10 units. With 1 mL it is 5 units, and with 4 mL it is 20 units. Always compute from your own vial and volume.

How long is an epithalon cycle?

Among first-hand Reddit users who named a length, 10 days was the most common. Some repeat 2 to 3 times a year and others run 10 days on, 20 days off monthly. No study compares these schedules.

Is epithalon FDA-approved?

No. It has no FDA-approved use. An FDA advisory panel voted 7 to 5 in July 2026 to recommend it for the compounding bulks list for insomnia, but I found no final FDA decision.

Where to buy epithalon

If you have decided to source research material, Ascension Peptides lists epithalon 10 mg at $50.00 as of 2026-10-11, with batch-level testing from Kovera Labs and public COAs. All sales are final, it ships in the US only, and the code PEPTIDEDECK takes 50% off a first order. Match the COA lot to your vial, and ask a clinician before using any peptide.