ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Curious about peptides versus testosterone? Wondering which might be right for your health goals? This deep-dive comparison could save you from serious complications down the road.
Nurse practitioners Kelli White and Nicole Baldwin break down the essential differences between Sermorelin (a peptide) and testosterone replacement therapy, addressing widespread confusion between these distinct hormone treatments. Whether you're an athlete concerned about doping tests or someone seeking better energy, sleep, and body composition, understanding these crucial distinctions is vital before making health decisions.
The episode methodically compares these treatments across multiple factors: their basic hormone types (peptide vs. steroid), mechanisms of action, primary clinical uses, various formulations, onset timing, fertility impacts, side effect profiles, and dependency risks. For athletes and competitive individuals, Kelli emphasizes a critical point—Sermorelin is not an anabolic steroid, making it fundamentally different from testosterone regarding performance testing.
Perhaps most compelling is Nicole's personal story about her extremely fit husband who developed a life-threatening blood clot after just months of testosterone therapy. Despite his regular exercise routine and otherwise excellent health, he now requires lifelong blood thinners and medical monitoring. This real-world cautionary tale highlights why understanding the full risk spectrum matters when considering hormone optimization.
The hosts provide actionable insights about practical considerations too—from testosterone's risk of transfer to children through skin contact to the slower but potentially safer gradual effects of Sermorelin. They've included a helpful comparison chart in the show notes for listeners seeking a visual reference of these differences.
Have questions about which approach might work best for your situation? Reach out to the team through hamiltontelehalth.com, where you can call, text, or email for personalized guidance on navigating these important health decisions. Dont forget to like and subscribe!
This podcast is for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or other professional advice.
Listening to this podcast does not establish an APRN-patient or provider-patient relationship. Content on this show is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your personal, in-person healthcare provider—who knows you and your medical history best—with any ques
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IN THIS EPISODE
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
00:00:57.634 --> 00:01:00.643
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Tattoos and Telehealth.
00:01:00.643 --> 00:01:02.637
I'm Kelly White, nurse practitioner.
00:01:02.637 --> 00:01:12.084
This is my great colleague, nicole Baldwin, and, as always, our lawyers make us say this podcast does not constitute a patient provider relationship.
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This is by no means medical advice.
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We're just two gals chatting it up and we previously recorded some information about samoralin and all about that peptide, because peptides are the new thing, and so for those of you that have listened to that episode, this is a great one to kind of tag along.
00:01:29.078 --> 00:01:41.959
We're going to chat about the big differences between samoralin, the peptide, and testosterone, because those two things really do go hand in hand, but there is a huge difference between the two and we wanted to be sure that we kind of touched on that.
00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:53.540
So if you haven't listened to the podcast about peptides, samoralin, stop, go back, take a listen to Samoralin and then come back and listen to this one, so it'll kind of make more sense, it'll flow a little bit better for you.
00:01:53.540 --> 00:01:58.256
But so, as you guys know, if you've been listening, I shoot archery.
00:01:58.396 --> 00:02:05.324
Nicole is very health conscious, her and her husband work out, and so the world of testosterone comes up a lot.
00:02:06.268 --> 00:02:13.551
In my world it's considered doping for the professional archers, they do get tested and so it's a sensitive subject.
00:02:13.551 --> 00:02:23.736
When they come to me and say, hey Kelly, if I start some more and you know, I know that that's a growth hormone and is it an analog to testosterone and am I going to get tested, is it going to come up?
00:02:23.736 --> 00:02:28.118
You know what's the deal Because there's a lot of information out there about testosterone.
00:02:28.118 --> 00:02:38.735
You know there's testosterone supplement, right, nicole, for people that are like low testosterone, and then there's like doping testosterone and there's like this whole gamut in between.
00:02:38.735 --> 00:02:48.019
And so, as healthcare providers, I especially, um, especially, with hormone replacement therapy, we do a lot of testosterone replacement as and in women.
00:02:48.019 --> 00:03:03.782
I do it, you know, uh, in bio bioidentical hormones compounded in a cream from my ladies that are perimenopausal or menopausal need that little extra, like there's a whole world of testosterone out there, but there's a big difference, right, between the samoralin peptide and synthetic testosterone.
00:03:03.782 --> 00:03:08.016
So kind of explain to us what those differences are and why it matters.
00:03:08.939 --> 00:03:21.192
Sure, and we can put this chart, this side-by-side chart, in the comments and on our page for you to download it, because there is some pros and cons to both, and so we're just going to go over those.
00:03:21.519 --> 00:03:21.820
What's that?
00:03:21.820 --> 00:03:23.846
Can we put those in the show notes for everybody?
00:03:24.146 --> 00:03:25.691
Yeah, yeah, absolutely Absolutely.
00:03:25.691 --> 00:03:29.206
So let's just go, we're going to go comparison.
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So the type of hormone that Samorlan is it's a peptide analog of growth-releasing hormone, where testosterone is a steroid hormone and that's the androgen.
00:03:38.350 --> 00:03:40.929
So two different types of hormones.
00:03:40.929 --> 00:03:54.209
For the mechanism of action, how this works in your body Samorlan simulates the natural growth hormone production via the pituitary gland and testosterone directly replaces low testosterone levels.
00:03:54.209 --> 00:03:56.825
So very two different things there.
00:03:57.406 --> 00:04:06.628
The primary use for samoriline typically is age-related growth hormone deficiency, body composition, sleep, energy.
00:04:06.628 --> 00:04:14.271
Testosterone's primary use is for low testosterone or hypogonadism, libido and muscle mass.
00:04:14.271 --> 00:04:21.970
So some more land age related um deficiency, body composition, lean muscle mass, sleep and energy.
00:04:21.970 --> 00:04:29.947
Testosterone Um primary use is low testosterone treatment, uh, libido and muscle mass.
00:04:29.947 --> 00:04:38.682
So for the formulation for Samorlan it is typically an injection, usually under the skin.
00:04:38.682 --> 00:04:42.230
Testosterone is can also be given an injection.
00:04:42.230 --> 00:04:45.021
It's also a gel or a cream patch or a pellet.
00:04:45.021 --> 00:05:02.542
So the main formulation difference that that that I like specifically for this is that if you have young family or you use the cream or the patch, or if another family member even touches it, it can have great repercussions.
00:05:02.542 --> 00:05:17.103
So for those who have small children or grandchildren, or just around the elderly, or when you have the cream on you have to be very, very, very careful because it will transfer to another person very, very easily.
00:05:17.103 --> 00:05:30.466
So for the formulation of samoriline, it's injection, usually subcutaneous, which cannot be transferred, and for the testosterone the injection can't be transferred but if you're using the gel or the cream or the patch it can be.
00:05:30.466 --> 00:05:35.420
So we just want to make sure that you understand the difference in the two.
00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:50.923
The onset of action for the samorilin it is gradual over time, usually 30 to 60 days, supports natural feedback loop, whereas testosterone does have a faster onset and it gives you that immediate hormone boost.
00:05:50.923 --> 00:05:53.807
So that's the difference of the um, how long it takes to work.
00:05:54.930 --> 00:05:55.091
Um.
00:05:55.091 --> 00:06:06.473
For the effects on fertility uh, some more land preserves or may even improve fertility, whereas testosterone may suppress sperm production and um make fertility difficult.
00:06:06.473 --> 00:06:24.324
So um, very, very different um side effects for that and um Samorlan is not FDA approved Um, it's used for off-label for anti-aging and the growth hormone deficiency, and testosterone is FDA approved for hypogonadism, which is low testosterone.
00:06:24.324 --> 00:06:31.767
Um, it is a controlled substance, um, whereas the uh Samorlan is not a controlled substance Um.
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Common side effects for samorlan are injection site redness, flushing, headache and I say common, but those are the most common.
00:06:39.070 --> 00:06:40.762
But they don't happen commonly.
00:06:40.762 --> 00:06:49.671
So if you're going to have a side effect, it's super rare but it's going to be injection site redness, flushing or maybe a mild headache, but that itself is very rare.
00:06:49.671 --> 00:07:06.411
Common side effects with testosterone is acne, grumpiness, mood changes, the gynomastica, where the men start to have a little bit of extra breast tissue, and increased red blood cells you have to go give blood often and also hair loss as well.
00:07:06.411 --> 00:07:24.651
So with that testosterone, probably the biggest difference that people will this is why one over the other is the acne, the mood changes, the increased breast tissue and having to go give blood on the testosterone as well as hair loss, whereas some Moreland doesn't have any of that.
00:07:25.843 --> 00:07:28.120
And we talked about risk to family members.
00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:40.093
There's none, with the some Moreland high risk with topical forms for risk of transfer to women and children, and then the Each of them have their own different monitoring needs.
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And the last thing I want to talk about is the dependency risk.
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Simoralin comes with a low dependency risk.
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It stimulates natural production, whereas testosterone has a moderate to high risk for dependency and it actually may suppress your own ability to create what testosterone you are creating.
00:07:59.844 --> 00:08:04.540
So those are the main differences with these two create what testosterone you are creating.
00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:05.685
So those are the main differences with these two.
00:08:05.685 --> 00:08:12.656
And we'll have this, uh, this chart, this side-by-side chart, for you guys to uh take a look at, so that you can actually visualize it, see it in your hands and print it out if you want.
00:08:13.565 --> 00:08:19.867
And I think the big thing to remember or to take away, at least for me and these situations is testosterone.
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Natural testosterone is a steroid.
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It is an anabolic, androgenic steroid.
00:08:25.038 --> 00:08:37.806
So oftentimes when you hear people use the term anabolic steroids, they are generally referring to a synthetic, in other words, made in a lab, variation of testosterone that is injected in your body.
00:08:37.806 --> 00:08:39.532
That is not samoriline.
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Samoriline is not an anabolic steroid.
00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:48.716
So that is the biggest difference that I think we need to hit home is where one can actually be considered.
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This is an anabolic steroid.
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This is a synthetic steroid.
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That is not some more Lynn.
00:08:53.816 --> 00:09:06.821
So that is a huge takeaway for people that are athletes, people that are bodybuilding, that are competing, people that are going to be tested, people that are going to need to know can I use this and not worry about, you know, getting tested or getting in trouble?
00:09:06.821 --> 00:09:08.664
That's a huge difference.
00:09:08.664 --> 00:09:17.515
So I think that that's an important thing to take away is that there's a huge difference there and, like Nicole said, a lot of that has to do with the fact that the dependency level right.
00:09:17.515 --> 00:09:25.259
So there's a, there's a, there's a dependency over here that's pretty strong for one versus the other and that also draws the line there between steroids.
00:09:25.579 --> 00:09:38.037
Sure, and I also want to say important close to home, is that my spouse was on testosterone and he ended up with a blood clot.
00:09:38.037 --> 00:09:52.028
Very healthy, like super, like gym, six to seven days a week, super health conscious Um, he hasn't always been, but over the last couple of years he's so you know he has been was in the best shape of his life.
00:09:52.028 --> 00:09:58.369
Um got on some testosterone, was on it for a few months and got a blood clot in his leg.
00:09:58.369 --> 00:10:04.860
Because of his activity level he was a at a extremely low risk for a blood clot.
00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:07.250
We went to the, to the ER.
00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:18.288
We've been to hematology oncology I'm sorry, not hematologist, oncologist, but hematology where they tried to figure out exactly why he got this blood clot and it came down to testosterone use.
00:10:19.189 --> 00:10:28.534
And I don't know how much you guys know about a blood clot, but once you get one you are more prone to them and it can be life changing, life altering.
00:10:28.534 --> 00:10:39.692
Um, blood clots can go to your brain, they can go to your lungs, they can go to your heart, they can be fatal and um, it is not something to uh play around with.
00:10:39.692 --> 00:10:55.326
So, uh, some Moreland does not come with that uh risk, and that was the big thing for us and why we're really big on some Moreland because we want to make sure the benefit always outweighs the risk of any type of therapy and because testosterone does come with this type of risk.
00:10:55.326 --> 00:10:59.615
It's definitely concerning and you know it hit close to home, he.
00:10:59.615 --> 00:11:05.259
He had a blood clot for several, several months and he's on a blood thinner for the rest of his life because of testosterone.
00:11:05.259 --> 00:11:07.926
That's crazy, but he's doing much better now.
00:11:07.926 --> 00:11:08.889
He is.
00:11:08.889 --> 00:11:09.250
He is.
00:11:09.250 --> 00:11:10.312
He is doing much better now.
00:11:10.352 --> 00:11:13.587
But still frequent follow-ups with hematology labs.
00:11:13.587 --> 00:11:19.795
I mean, they ran so many labs on him trying to find what else it could have been, um, and it it all came back.
00:11:19.795 --> 00:11:21.157
It all came back to testosterone.
00:11:21.157 --> 00:11:23.740
So, yeah, so there's a no for us.
00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:33.404
So, um, if we can, if someone else can learn from us and and and avoid, avoid that type of, uh, medical issue, then it's, you know, definitely want to put that out there.
00:11:33.404 --> 00:11:37.905
So we just wanted to make sure we talked to you guys about that and if you guys have any questions, let us know.
00:11:37.905 --> 00:11:42.907
You can find us at hamiltontelehealthcom, you can text us, you can call us, you can email us.
00:11:42.907 --> 00:11:46.268
All that information is on the website and we hope you have a fabulous week.
00:11:47.188 --> 00:11:48.788
All right, you guys, take care, we'll see you next time.
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Bye, bye.