Injections – How much is a ml, cc, IU?

In many countries, steroids are legal and can even be purchased without a prescription. As a result, many of these injectable anabolics are administered by the user. Below is information that helps in the conversion of such drugs. This article does not endorse the use of illegal drugs.

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

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

cc = cubic centimeter. This is also a measure of VOLUME. Most syringes measure their capacity in cc. If you have a 5cc syringe, it will contain ~5ml of fluid.

mg = milligram. This is a measure of WEIGHT. It is 1/1000 of a gram. the amount of chemical is often measured in milligrams. For injectable solutions, this will be reported as a weight-to-volume concentration, such as mg/mL (milligrams per milliliter). For orally administered substances, the weight of the chemical is indicated on the label, although the actual weight of the pill/capsule may be much higher due to the use of fillers. This means that a small pill can be much more powerful than a large pill, so don’t judge a pill based on its size, but on the actual amount of substance it is labeled for.

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

Conversion factors:

1000 mcg (microgram) = 1 mg (milligram)

1000mg (milligram) = 1g (gram)

1000 g (gram) = 1 kg (kilogram)

1000 ml (milliliter) = 1 liter

1ml (water) = 1cc (water)

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

Examples putting it all together

Let’s say a user has Drug XYX from two different companies. One is ‘XYX-300’ from QV and one from BM which is ‘XYZ-100’. They are both XYZ DRUGS, but they have different concentrations. What this means is…

for the XYZ-300:

if you take 1ml (one milliliter) of this solution, it will take up ~1cc (one cubic centimeter) of space in the syringe. There will be 300 mg (three hundred milligrams) of XYZ in this dose.

for the XYZ-100:

if you take 1ml (one milliliter) of this solution, it will take up ~1cc (one cubic centimeter) of space in the syringe. There will be 100 mg (one hundred milligrams) of XYZ in this dose.

If you put the syringes side by side, they look exactly the same, so what’s the difference? the XYZ-300 has a concentration of 300 mg/ml, while the XYZ-100 only has a concentration of 100 mg/ml. This means that the XYZ-300 syringe has three times (3x) the amount of DRUG XYZ in the exact same volume as the XYZ-100 syringe.