Melanotan II

A lab-made, cyclic version of alpha-MSH, the hormone that tells skin cells to make pigment. It was built at the University of Arizona as a sunless tanning agent. It also raises libido and cuts appetite, and it led to PT-141 (bremelanotide). It is not approved anywhere and is sold as a research chemical.

Guides start at 100 to 250 mcg a day for the first 3 days to test nausea and flushing, and as low as 0.1 mg for very fair skin. On r/Melanotan2, 250 mcg is called a beginner dose before moving to 500 mcg; cautious users start at 50 to 150 mcg.

Loading is daily dosing to build pigment, usually for 1 to 6 weeks depending on skin type. Maintenance is 1 or 2 doses a week (some go weekly or less) to hold the colour once it arrives. Guides put maintenance at 0.5 to 1 mg a dose; community reports run lower, from 50 to 500 mcg.

With a 10 mg vial mixed with 2 mL of bacteriostatic water (5 mg/mL), 250 mcg is 5 units and 500 mcg is 10 units on a U-100 insulin syringe. With 1 mL it is 2.5 and 5 units; with 3 mL it is 7.5 and 15 units. Use the calculator for your own mix.

Guides say some pigment change shows in 1 to 2 weeks of loading and a stronger tan over 4 to 8 weeks. Fair skin is slower. Freckles and moles usually darken first.

Not strictly, but brief UV speeds and deepens the result. Guides suggest 10 to 15 minutes of sun during loading and warn against burning. Many r/Melanotan2 users dose on days they get sun or use a sunbed, and long-time users say UV matters more than dose.

The usual playbook: start at 100 to 250 mcg, rise slowly, and inject at bedtime to sleep through the peak. Users also report ondansetron (prescription) or a non-drowsy antihistamine shortly before the shot, and meclizine for some. Nausea usually fades within the first week of daily dosing.

Darker moles and freckles are expected, and case reports describe new moles, once within 24 hours of a single dose. Four case reports describe melanoma during or soon after melanotan use, but a causal link is not proven and several users also used sunbeds heavily. Baseline mole photos and a skin check are the standard advice.

No. FDA has never approved Melanotan II and treats it as an unapproved new drug. It was nominated for compounding, and FDA now lists it among substances previously in category 2 of its interim compounding policies whose nominations were withdrawn, citing case reports of melanoma, PRES, toxidrome and priapism. In 2007 FDA sent a warning letter to an online seller.

WADA's 2026 list does not name it. The S0 class bans any pharmacological substance with no current approval for human therapeutic use, which on its wording would cover MT-II. Athletes should treat it as prohibited.

MT1 (afamelanotide) targets the pigment receptor MC1R and is the active drug in Scenesse, an approved implant for a light-sensitivity disease. MT2 hits several receptors, so it tans faster but brings more nausea, erections, appetite loss and new moles. Users often call MT1 slower and more dependent on UV.

PT-141 (bremelanotide) came out of the MT-II line and favours the brain receptors for desire, with little tanning. It is FDA approved as Vyleesi for low desire in premenopausal women. MT-II does both jobs at once and is approved for neither.

Less reliably. One guide says nasal delivery loses 60 to 70% of the dose and takes 10 to 21 days longer, and suggests 1 to 1.5 mg per application. On r/Melanotan2 some users prefer nasals for fewer side effects, while others saw little until they switched to injection.

No published pharmacokinetic study gives a human half-life. Guides quote about 33 minutes, about 1 hour, or 1 to 2 hours. The effects outlast the drug: one guide says tanning, appetite and sexual effects can last 24 to 48 hours or more after a dose.

One guide says 4 to 8 weeks, fading as skin turns over; another says 2 to 4 weeks without maintenance. A second loading phase after a break is usually shorter.

There is no evidence they do. Guides say oral MT-II is broken down in the gut, with bioavailability below 5%.

Not always. A lab analysis of vials from three online shops, each sold as 10 mg, found 4.32 to 8.84 mg of MT-II, and two shops' vials held 4.1 to 5.9% unknown impurities.

Small 1990s trials only. A 3-man phase I study saw tanning after 5 doses every other day at 0.01 to 0.03 mg/kg, with mild nausea, yawning and spontaneous erections. ED trials at 0.025 mg/kg produced erections in 17 of 20 men, with severe nausea in 12.9%. No large modern trial exists.

Guides say skip it and carry on with the normal schedule. Pigment builds slowly, so one missed dose changes little. Do not double up.