What is iu, mg, mcg, ml, cc?

A more in depth guide to data conversion. This will be helpful to people who have trouble converting their units, or understanding things such as I.U., ml, cc, and other terms associated with chemical enhancement use.

Lesson 1:

Units and their definitions

i.u. (IU) = international unit. This is a unit used to measure the activity (that is, the effect) of many vitamins and drugs. For each substance to which this unit applies, there is an international agreement specifying the biological effect expected with a dose of 1 IU. Other quantities of the substance are then expressed as multiples of this standard. This also means that this measurement is not based on sheer volume or weight of the substance, but rather the effect.

ml = milliliter. This is a VOLUME measurement. It is 1/1000 of a liter. When talking about water or similar liquids, it is equivalent to one cubic centimeter.

cc = cubic centimeter. This is also a VOLUME measurement. Most syringes measure their capacity in cc's. If you have a 5cc syringe, it will hold ~5ml of liquid in it.

mg = milligram. This is a WEIGHT measurement. It is 1/1000 of a gram. The amount of chemical substance is often measured in milligrams. For injectable solutions, this will be reported as a concentration of weight to volume, such as mg/ml (milligrams per milliliter). In the case of orally administered substances, the weight of chemical is labeled; although the actual weight of the pill/capsule may be much higher, because of the use of filler substances. This means that a small pill may be much more potent than a large pill, so don't judge a pill based on its size, but the actual amount of substance for which it is labeled as.

mcg = microgram = 1/1000 of a mg (milligram) There are one thousand micrograms in one milligram.

Conversion factors:

1000 mcg (microgram) = 1 mg (milligram) 1000 mg (milligram) = 1 g (gram) 1000 g (gram) = 1 kg (kilogram) 1000 ml (milliliter) = 1 liter

1ml (water) = 1cc (water)
1ml (oil) ~ 1cc (oil) (~ denotes approximately equal to)

Lesson 2:

Examples putting it all together

Say a user has some Nandrolone Decanoate. One is Deca 300 and the other is Deca 100. Both of these are Nandrolone Decanoate, but they have different concentrations. What this means is....

For the Deca 300:
If you take 1 ml (one milliliter) of this solution, it will take up ~1cc (one cubic centimeter) of space in the syringe. There will be 300mg (three hundred milligrams) of Nandrolone Decanoate in this dosage.

For the Deca 100:
If you take 1 ml (one milliliter) of this solution, it will take up ~1cc (one cubic centimeter) of space in the syringe. There will be 100mg (one hundred milligrams) of Nandrolone Decanoate in this dosage.

If you put the syringes side by side, they appear the exact same, so what is the difference? The Deca 300 has a concentration of 300mg/ml, while the Deca 100 only has a concentration of 100mg/ml. This means that the syringe with Deca 300 has three times (3x) the amount of Nandrolone Decanoate in the same exact volume as the syringe with Deca 100.

A drug's effectiveness has nothing to do with the concentration. If you take three milliliters (3ml) of the Deca 100, it will have the same effect as one milliliter (1ml) of Deca 300.

Lesson 3:

How do I work with substances labeled with I.U.'s (International Units) Dosages for substances such as HCG, HGH, and insulin are measured by their respective IU values.

For example, Global Anabolic makes HCG under the brand pregnyl in 1,500i.u. and 5,000 iu concentrations. The drug comes with two vials. One vial of actual HCG powder and one vial with a liquid to reconstitute the powder into an injectable solution.

If you have a 1,500 iu vial of HCG which comes with a 1ml vial of sterile water, once you mix the vials together, you will now have 1,500 iu of HCG in one milliliter (1ml) of solution. If you do not have the proper syringe, it would be quite tricky to break this down into small dosages such as 500i.u. If all you have available is larger syringes such as 3cc or 5cc, a good trick would be to mix the HCG with your own USP grade water. To make it very easy, if you mix three cc's of water with your vial of 1,500 iu HCG, you will now have a nice concentration of 500 iu per milliliter (500 iu/ml). This was calculated by dividing the units by the volume, so 1,500 iu divided by three milliliters (1,500 iu/3ml) is equal to 500 iu per milliliter.

The same applies for HGH.