Oxytocin
The bonding hormone
social connection
anxiety
emotional balance
stress
libido
A nine-amino-acid hormone the brain releases during birth, breastfeeding and touch. Licensed for labour. The social research that made it famous is large, and the biggest trials of it have not held up.
Goal profile
MOOD
4/8 axes
SEXUAL
1/4 axes
Evidence
1906
first described
33,920
indexed studies
How strong the evidence is
Early human data
More than 2,100 randomised human trials, mostly single doses tested for trust, empathy and anxiety, and the results split. The largest recent trials found no effect, and the injected form used here reaches the brain less reliably than the form those studies used.
Highest study design
randomised human trials
Human studies
16,792
Replication
several groups, one country
Regulatory status
approved outside the US and EU
Last reviewed
2026-09-30
The bar is derived from these five facts, not set by hand. Human study counts follow the weekly PubMed refresh; the rest change only when a trial is published or a regulator acts.
How strong the effect is
strength 2 of 5 · weight 0.30
Noticeable but modest
Real in some people and faint in others, and it depends on the room. The largest trials found no effect, and the injected form reaches the brain less reliably.
What's unique
It works on the signal the brain itself uses for safety and trust, so it is timed to a situation rather than to the clock.
Unexpected positive evidence
The effect depends on the person and the room. In some studies it made people warmer toward their own group and warier of outsiders.
Benefits
the guard you keep up around people comes down within the hour
Social connection · immediate
faces and tone read more easily in conversation
Social connection · immediate
a smaller anxious spike before walking into a room
Anxiety · from week 2
warmer, steadier reactions with people you already know
Emotional balance · from week 2
less of the stress that lingers after a hard conversation
Stress · from week 3
closeness and desire with a partner, measured in a handful of small studies
Libido · from week 3
Timeline
First evening
Within half an hour some people talk more easily and read faces faster; others feel nothing at all. Both are common. Note which one you are.
Week 1
Evenings that used to cost energy start to cost a little less. Nothing feels chemical — it reads more like being slightly more at ease than usual.
Weeks 2–4
What holds is situational: familiar people feel closer faster, new rooms get easier to walk into. It stays tied to the evenings you dose, not the days between.
After the course
It leaves with the last dose — nothing builds up. What stays is what you practised while it was easier, which is the point of timing it to real plans.
Risks
Short-term
Headache, flushing, nausea. At higher doses water retention and low blood sodium — the reason it is dosed low and a few times a week.
Long-term
Repeated use outside labour has barely been studied. Frequent dosing may dull the body’s own response.
Tolerance & withdrawal
Cleared in minutes; what people describe lasts about an hour.
Dosing
Dose
5–20 IU per injection
Ten is where most people start. Above twenty the side effects rise faster than anything else.
Route
Subcutaneous — abdomen
A tiny volume: at this dilution one dose is two units on the syringe.
Timing
30–45 minutes before
What it does fades within about an hour, so it is timed to a situation, not to the clock.
Frequency
Three days a week
A few times a week keeps it tied to real plans. Daily use has not been studied and may dull the body’s own response.
Cycle
4 weeks on, then a break
Short blocks with long breaks between them.
Duration
Four weeks
Nothing longer has been published outside a hospital.
Forms
injectable
~100%
+ Full dose delivered; nothing lost to first-pass
− Daily needles, sites, sharps disposal
Refrigerate 2–8 °C after reconstitution
nasal
Product-specific
+ A needle-free route listed in the source catalog
− Absorption and safety cannot be inferred from the injectable form
Follow the specific product storage instructions
Nasal forms are listed in the source catalog; this does not establish approval, efficacy or equivalent absorption. HEIVE injection calculations do not apply to nasal forms.
Sources
33,920 indexed papers in the source catalog snapshot; not a live PubMed count
Catalog evidence category: known. This is an editorial classification, not a clinical review.
Community anecdotes do not establish safety or efficacy.
Primary regulatory sources are linked below; clinical literature has not been independently reviewed for this FAQ.
FAQ
Oxytocin (The bonding hormone) is a nonapeptide (9 amino acids). The HEIVE catalog describes it as: A nine-amino-acid hormone the brain releases during birth, breastfeeding and touch. Licensed for labour. The social research that made it famous is large, and the biggest trials of it have not held up. It is also known as Pitocin, Syntocinon and OT.
Regulatory sources checked: . Source verification only; no clinician review is claimed.