Progesterone Dose for Men

[Smokin Joe]

I apply it about an hour before bed time.
Very relaxing.

 

[DaytonaJonah]

For those that are benefitting from the Progesterone Cream for the purpose of falling a sleep and sleeping better, do you take the cream right before going to bed, or earlier than sleeping time?

My provider here has a 25mg progesterone capsule that I pull apart and take a half dosage of 12.5mg orally about an hour before bedtime. It works great for helping both my body and my mind to relax. Even if I have to get up in the middle of the night, I easily fall back to sleep.

A good strong cup of coffee in the morning clears the cobwebs and I'm ready to go for the day.

 

[Gianluca]

Thanks, I will try my cream 1hr before. I have been taking it right before bed for two weeks, I haven’t noticed it helps fallowing a sleep probably because of the timing.

 

[Gianluca]

@JA Battle hey so I’m curious about progesterone timing. Most people seem to take it at night. Ur one of the only people I’ve seen take it in the am as well as pm. Do u notice any negatives or positives when taking that am dose? It’s hard to believe that it’s beneficial to take both am and pm. I would imagine that it either has effects to help promote energy, or promote sleepiness. Hard to believe it can be used at both times of day. What’s ur thoughts? Doesn’t the allopregnanolone that’s converted from progesterone help promote sleepiness? How would that be beneficial in the am? But also, naturally progesterone levels are supposedly the highest in the morning, so it’s a little confusing. Again, what’s ur thoughts on all this?

Hi @Gman86 where did you see that naturally Progesterone is the highest in the am?

I have been trying a cream from Empower, 6.25mg (1 click) for a couple of weeks at night, it does help with stress/energy/calmness and other things during the day, sometime I think I feel a bit too much groggy/moody during the day though. In some way it helps with sleep, but I feel I may sleep less deep, or not fully resting at night, I may be getting up in the am groggy but not sure I fully slept. @Cataceous @JA Battle has anyone of you experience this issue with Progesterone taken at night?

My level on the labcorp scale was .1 prior starting, I will check levels this week to see where I am at with 6.25mg transdermally,

 

[JA Battle]

Hi @Gman86 where did you see that naturally Progesterone is the highest in the am?

I have been trying a cream from Empower, 6.25mg (1 click) for a couple of weeks at night, it does help with stress/energy/calmness and other things during the day, sometime I think I feel a bit too much groggy/moody during the day though. In some way it helps with sleep, but I feel I may sleep less deep, or not fully resting at night, I may be getting up in the am groggy but not sure I fully slept. @Cataceous @JA Battle has anyone of you experience this issue with Progesterone taken at night?

My level on the labcorp scale was .1 prior starting, I will check levels this week to see where I am at with 6.25mg transdermally,

I did not notice that issue but would only ever use around 1.7 mg per dose topically in an ethanol solution that likely yielded an only 1.25 mg per dose. I would divide dose into 3 times daily spread out as much as possible

 

[Cataceous]

...
I have been trying a cream from Empower, 6.25mg (1 click) for a couple of weeks at night, it does help with stress/energy/calmness and other things during the day, sometime I think I feel a bit too much groggy/moody during the day though. In some way it helps with sleep, but I feel I may sleep less deep, or not fully resting at night, I may be getting up in the am groggy but not sure I fully slept. @Cataceous @JA Battle has anyone of you experience this issue with Progesterone taken at night?
...

If anything, I'd perceive sleep depth as improved with progesterone. Higher bedtime doses do lead to morning grogginess for me. But it's not a problem with injections under 0.8 mg or so.

 

[Gianluca]

Quick update on my Progesterone (P) cream experiment to raise Progest level.

The 6.25mg applied at night did nothing to raise my P level, it did not even raise it of .1

I have also been thinking that progesterone its self, since decreases 5ar enzyme activity, could limit its conversion to allopregnenolone, the important hormone we have been talking about, at least if taken via injection or a cream.

 

[Gman86]

Quick update on my Progesterone (P) cream experiment to raise Progest level.

The 6.25mg applied at night did nothing to raise my P level, it did not even raise it of .1

I have also been thinking that progesterone its self, since decreases 5ar enzyme activity, could limit its conversion to allopregnenolone, the important hormone we have been talking about, at least if taken via injection or a cream.

Huh, never thought about that. Are u positive that progesterone decreases all 5ar activity? I knew prog decreases the conversion of test into E2 and DHT, but never really thought about the mechanism by which it does it.

If prog does in fact decrease all 5ar activity, are u saying that prog cream and inj prog decreases 5ar activity and oral prog doesn’t have this effect? Or does oral prog decrease 5ar activity less? U specified inj prog and cream when u said it, so jc.

 

[Gianluca]

Huh, never thought about that. Are u positive that progesterone decreases all 5ar activity? I knew prog decreases the conversion of test into E2 and DHT, but never really thought about the mechanism by which it does it.

If prog does in fact decrease all 5ar activity, are u saying that prog cream and inj prog decreases 5ar activity and oral prog doesn’t have this effect? Or does oral prog decrease 5ar activity less? U specified inj prog and cream when u said it, so jc.

I think all type of progesterone may decrease 5ar, but if you take it orally it will be heavily converted into downstream metabolites by the first pass in the liver, allopregnenolone included, same with oral Pregnelonone. I’m wondering what people experience is in regards to anxiety and Progesterone cream or injection, I may start a thread about it. Worsening of anxiety or not helping, may be a good clue of not converting in alloppregnenolone.

I think @Cataceous researched well and long enough Progesterone, I would like to hear his opinion about this.

 

[Gman86]

I think all type of progesterone may decrease 5ar, but if you take it orally it will be heavily converted into downstream metabolites by the first pass in the liver, allopregnenolone included, same with oral Pregnelonone. I’m wondering what people experience is in regards to anxiety and Progesterone cream or injection, I may start a thread about it. Worsening of anxiety or not helping, it may be a good clue of not converting in alloppregnenolone.

I think @Cataceous researched well and long enough Progesterone, I would like to her his opinion about this.

Interesting. I’d like to hear his opinion as well. As far as I know he chooses to take progesterone in an injectable form. Now I would be very interested to hear why he chooses the injectable over other forms

I’m currently using injectable prog before bed. Around 1mg. I don’t experience any anxiety, but I didn’t really experience any anxiety prior to supplementing with prog, so I’m not the best example on how inj prog effects anxiety levels

 

[JA Battle]

I think all type of progesterone may decrease 5ar, but if you take it orally it will be heavily converted into downstream metabolites by the first pass in the liver, allopregnenolone included, same with oral Pregnelonone. I’m wondering what people experience is in regards to anxiety and Progesterone cream or injection, I may start a thread about it. Worsening of anxiety or not helping, it may be a good clue of not converting in alloppregnenolone.

I think @Cataceous researched well and long enough Progesterone, I would like to her his opinion about this.

I’m curious as to the exact mechanism. Is it possible that progesterone just competes with other hormones for the 5ar enzyme. More progesterone binding with the enzyme means other androgens have to share more.

 

[Cataceous]

Progesterone is characterized as "a known competitor for 5 alpha-reductase"[R]. This is the only mechanism I've come across for its reduction of 5ar activity.

I consider oral delivery to be rather unpredictable: "The metabolism of progesterone is complex, and it may form as many as 35 different unconjugated metabolites when it is ingested orally."[R] "Sedation and cognitive and memory impairment with progesterone are attributable to its inhibitory neurosteroid metabolites. These metabolites occur to a greater extent with oral progesterone, and may be minimized by switching to a parenteral route."[R]

I find injected and topical progesterone to be calming, whereas oral pregnenolone and topical DHEA both provoke significant anxiety. "Progesterone, through its neurosteroid active metabolites such as 5α-dihydroprogesterone and allopregnanolone, acts indirectly as a positive allosteric modulator of the GABA-A receptor."[R] DHEA, DHEA-S and pregnenolone sulfate are all negative allosteric modulators of the GABA-A receptor. It's unclear why I don't have problems with oral DHEA, which I assume is largely converted to DHEA-S, supposedly having a similar negative effect on the GABA-A receptor.

 

[Stpfan]

These are all interesting posts. Did any of these progesterone treatments make a better erection or increase libido? My libido is tanked. Erection issues even when using Viagra 100mg. It feels like everything is in my head now? Totally psyched out. E2 is perfect... I feel that it's the anastrozole causing it. I've never tried progesterone treatment yet. I'm all out of ideas.

 

[Cataceous]

These are all interesting posts. Did any of these progesterone treatments make a better erection or increase libido? My libido is tanked. Erection issues even when using Viagra 100mg. It feels like everything is in my head now? Totally psyched out. E2 is perfect... I feel that it's the anastrozole causing it. I've never tried progesterone treatment yet. I'm all out of ideas.

For me there may be some correlation between progesterone use and the quality and frequency of nocturnal erections. Effects on libido seem transitory. The most obvious positive effects are on mood and sleep. More subtly, there's the reduction in estrogenic activity, which can be good or bad, depending on the circumstances. I think supplementation is worth trying for anyone who has low levels. As with all hormones, too much is going to be a problem; without better knowledge it seems prudent to target mid-range serum levels.

Libido is obviously a complex phenomenon. A lot of things need to be working right to have it. I've speculated previously that the complexity of generating erections acts as a genetic fitness test of sorts. The concept might be extended to libido: Is it a test for properly functioning hormones and neurotransmitters? In any case, TRT disrupts several upstream hormones, and I've found that at least for me the loss of LH and GnRH contributes to reduced libido.

 

[Gianluca]

Progesterone is characterized as "a known competitor for 5 alpha-reductase"[R]. This is the only mechanism I've come across for its reduction of 5ar activity.

I consider oral delivery to be rather unpredictable: "The metabolism of progesterone is complex, and it may form as many as 35 different unconjugated metabolites when it is ingested orally."[R] "Sedation and cognitive and memory impairment with progesterone are attributable to its inhibitory neurosteroid metabolites. These metabolites occur to a greater extent with oral progesterone, and may be minimized by switching to a parenteral route."[R]

I find injected and topical progesterone to be calming, whereas oral pregnenolone and topical DHEA both provoke significant anxiety. "Progesterone, through its neurosteroid active metabolites such as 5α-dihydroprogesterone and allopregnanolone, acts indirectly as a positive allosteric modulator of the GABA-A receptor."[R] DHEA, DHEA-S and pregnenolone sulfate are all negative allosteric modulators of the GABA-A receptor. It's unclear why I don't have problems with oral DHEA, which I assume is largely converted to DHEA-S, supposedly having a similar negative effect on the GABA-A receptor.

have you tried Pregnenolone in a topical form? I'm assuming you are not using any Pregnenolone, and HCG neither.

I may try doubling my Progesterone cream to 12.5mg at night, see how I feel and if that helps to increase levels. I was impressed 6.25mg did completely nothing to raise serum Progesterone

 

[DixieWrecked]

These are all interesting posts. Did any of these progesterone treatments make a better erection or increase libido? My libido is tanked. Erection issues even when using Viagra 100mg. It feels like everything is in my head now? Totally psyched out. E2 is perfect... I feel that it's the anastrozole causing it. I've never tried progesterone treatment yet. I'm all out of ideas.

Where is your total T and free T at?

 

[Cataceous]

have you tried Pregnenolone in a topical form? I'm assuming you are not using any Pregnenolone, and HCG neither.
...

I have not tried topical pregnenolone and am not currently taking it in any form, nor hCG. Are there any anecdotal reports of benefits from pregnenolone supplementation that would likely not involve the progesterone pathway?

 

[Gianluca]

I have not tried topical pregnenolone and am not currently taking it in any form, nor hCG. Are there any anecdotal reports of benefits from pregnenolone supplementation that would likely not involve the progesterone pathway?

we can see Nelson's anecdotal and mine, he has been reporting better mood, sleep and better brain function, to note he was using a Pregnenolone capsule in a lipid matrix, which by pass the first "pass" in the liver, in fact he reported no changes in Progesterone.

I experimented as well with topical Pregnenolone only, same good side effects as Nelson, but I also experienced enhanced senses, things like the sun on my skin felt better, even drinking water, eating food and breathing felt more enjoyable. No changes in Progesterone level as well here. I think what I experienced were side effects from isolated Pregnenolone

 

[Gman86]

For me there may be some correlation between progesterone use and the quality and frequency of nocturnal erections. Effects on libido seem transitory. The most obvious positive effects are on mood and sleep. More subtly, there's the reduction in estrogenic activity, which can be good or bad, depending on the circumstances. I think supplementation is worth trying for anyone who has low levels. As with all hormones, too much is going to be a problem; without better knowledge it seems prudent to target mid-range serum levels.

Libido is obviously a complex phenomenon. A lot of things need to be working right to have it. I've speculated previously that the complexity of generating erections acts as a genetic fitness test of sorts. The concept might be extended to libido: Is it a test for properly functioning hormones and neurotransmitters? In any case, TRT disrupts several upstream hormones, and I've found that at least for me the loss of LH and GnRH contributes to reduced libido.

What’s ur inj prog dose currently? Is it still 0.6mg prior to bed?

 

[Cataceous]

What’s ur inj prog dose currently? Is it still 0.6mg prior to bed?

Yes, it's still 0.6 to 0.7 mg at bedtime.