Why does 100mg oral pregnenolone spike my libido beyond belief?

[Medicwithachub]

I also tried 25mg DHEA this morning and I got a massive amount of energy and clarity out of it. My only problem with these two is that they bloat me. I have a 6 pack and am on prep I know I didn’t get fat overnight. I look fucking fat right now. Fat and watery.

 

[Jerajera]

Everything I’ve read here is making me thinking 100mg ED. Nelson tan bloods and said 100mg brought him into low normal range if I remember correctly.

There's also the problem of different bio-availibility standards.

If I remember correctly Nelson was using OTC Pregnenolone. I'm not sure what they're using in those studies, I would assume it's not OTC Preg, but who knows.

I've never tried anything besides compounded pharma micronized neurosteroids, but I suspect the bioavailability could be different from that of OTC formulations, such that 100mg of OTC Preg is not necessarily the same as 100mg of pharma Preg.

 

[Medicwithachub]

There's also the problem of different bio-availibility standards.

If I remember correctly Nelson was using OTC Pregnenolone. I'm not sure what they're using in those studies, I would assume it's not OTC Preg, but who knows.

I've never tried anything besides compounded pharma micronized neurosteroids, but I suspect the bioavailability could be different from that of OTC formulations, such that 100mg of OTC Preg is not necessarily the same as 100mg of pharma Preg.

Good point.

Am I allowed to reference brands here? I have 3 brands, life extension, double woods and pure encapsulations. Been rolling with the LE brand but just got my pure encapsulations today. PE is 30mg, the other two are 100mg.

 

[Jerajera]

I also tried 25mg DHEA this morning and I got a massive amount of energy and clarity out of it. My only problem with these two is that they bloat me. I have a 6 pack and am on prep I know I didn’t get fat overnight. I look fucking fat right now. Fat and watery

I had the same experience with DHEA. 10mg/day of pharma SR DHEA initially made me feel amazing. Driven, mental clarity, etc...only to eventually make me ridiculously bloated and incredibly impatient and aggressive.

Interestingly, it seems the DHEA also significantly raised my Free T and nothing else. I went from 25ng/dL FT to 40ng/dL while changing absolutely nothing else to my protocol.

There's actually a research paper showing a significant increase in Free T (but not Total T) from 25mg/day of DHEA in young and older men.

I'm not sure whether the increase in mental clarity, drive and energy, was from the increase in Free T and FT:E2 ratio, or from the DHEA itself. A lot of people talk about neurosteroids as if their only value is the other hormones they convert into, but those neurosteroids have inherent effects on brain chemistry independent of their metabolites.

I'm also not sure whether the DHEA itself got me bloated or whether it was the very high Free T. My E2 interestingly enough didn't budge when my FT went up 15ng/dL.

This stuff is so complex it makes my head spin.

I'm going to try IR DHEA instead of SR and see whether I can find a sustainable sweet spot that way

 

[Jerajera]

Am I allowed to reference brands here? I have 3 brands, life extension, double woods and pure encapsulations. Been rolling with the LE brand but just got my pure encapsulations today. PE is 30mg, the other two are 100mg

How are you getting your Test? If you're with Defy or another clinic, you should have easy access to Empower, Hallandale and other reputable compounding pharma companies, which I assume have better quality control than OTC brands.

Even a normal doctor should be able to write you a script that will allow you to get pharma neurosteroids

 

[Medicwithachub]

I had the same experience with DHEA. 10mg/day of pharma SR DHEA initially made me feel amazing. Driven, mental clarity, etc...only to eventually make me ridiculously bloated and incredibly impatient and aggressive.

Interestingly, it seems the DHEA also significantly raised my Free T and nothing else. I went from 25ng/dL FT to 40ng/dL while changing absolutely nothing else to my protocol.

There's actually a research paper showing a significant increase in Free T (but not Total T) from 25mg/day of DHEA in young and older men.

I'm not sure whether the increase in mental clarity, drive and energy, was from the increase in Free T and FT:E2 ratio, or from the DHEA itself. A lot of people talk about neurosteroids as if their only value is the other hormones they convert into, but those neurosteroids have inherent effects on brain chemistry independent of their metabolites.

I'm also not sure whether the DHEA itself got me bloated or whether it was the very high Free T. My E2 interestingly enough didn't budge when my FT went up 15ng/dL.

This stuff is so complex it makes my head spin.

I'm going to try IR DHEA instead of SR and see whether I can find a sustainable sweet spot that way

I appreciate your feedback.

My plan is just to stick to pregnenolone, 30mg ED OTC brand and then test in 5-6 weeks? Then titrate up.

 

[Jerajera]

I appreciate your feedback.

Same, thanks for taking the time

My plan is just to stick to pregnenolone, 30mg ED OTC brand and then test in 5-6 weeks? Then titrate up

I think that's a good plan. If you can, try to keep a daily log of how you feel. Make it a numbered metric so that it's easier to track trends over time. That way you might be able to gauge whether you're still low, passed a sweet spot after reaching steady state, etc...

 

[Gman86]

I had the same experience with 10mg/day SR micronized pharma compounded Preg.

Libido shot up to above 16yo me levels, I had to masturbate 6-7 times/day + sex with my girlfriend or I would lose my mind.

I doubt very much it was placebo because I wasn't thinking about sex drive at all when I took the Preg, I had no idea it could have that effect, I was only focused on verbal fluency, mood, etc...

It did help those things to some extent, but the highest impact was definitely libido; completely ridiculous. It calmed down a bit but even after a couple months on it my baseline was a lot higher than pre-Preg.

Full disclaimer though, I've always had a much higher sex drive than average so this won't necessarily happen to someone else. Even on my worst protocols and in the midst of suicidal depression pre-TRT with 6ng/dL Free T, my libido was really high and dick working great.

I wish I'd gotten as lucky when it comes to neurotransmitter action and my reward system

Do u take the 10mg of preg on an empty stomach in the morning?

Any negatives to taking it that u’ve noticed?

And did u ever try upping the dose past 10mg?

 

[Mastodont]

I wonder what the half life of this Pregnenolone is... at 10 days you are most certainly already there.

Pretty sure if levels are tanked, they will need a much longer time span to settle at the level the dose will take you.

 

[Jerajera]

Do u take the 10mg of preg on an empty stomach in the morning?

Any negatives to taking it that u’ve noticed?

And did u ever try upping the dose past 10mg?

I never paid attention to fasting levels when taking it to be honest.

No negatives aside from bloating but I think that was more from the DHEA since I'd been on Preg for 2 months with any trouble and started getting bloated 2 weeks or so into taking DHEA.

I started at 10mg/day SR and at the end was at 25mg/day SR. Didn't notice much of an improvement, and given the impact of 10mg I think in retrospect I should've stuck with that, if not downright dropped to 5mg.

I'm also torn on choosing between SR and IR versions of those neurosteroids. I haven't really looked into the difference, I don't know that there are really any studies out there.

I think part of my issues with TRT have been the constant high levels 24/7 from longer esters. The best I've felt has been on Prop and the cream, and the worst on daily Cypionate.

So maybe there's something similar with neurosteroids where IR and letting your levels come down is healthier. I also remember a guy on reddit talking about how Pregnenolone had turned his TRT experience from a nightmare to something amazing, saying he'd found he only needed to take the Preg twice/week; more than that and he wouldn't feel as good.
Of course as with any anecdotal n of 1 evidence, take with a grain of salt, but I don't think he was making it up

 

[Mastodont]

Pregnenolone had turned his TRT experience from a nightmare to something amazing, saying he'd found he only needed to take the Preg twice/week; more than that and he wouldn't feel as good.

You wouldn't happen to remember the dose he took twice a week, i had amazing benefits from life extension preg when i took 100mg in the morning, but things went south when i tried to do it daily.

 

[Jerajera]

You wouldn't happen to remember the dose he took twice a week, i had amazing benefits from life extension preg when i took 100mg in the morning, but things went south when i tried to do it daily.

It was 10mg 2x/week, but sublingual.

 

[Mastodont]

It was 10mg 2x/week, but sublingual.

Amazing how such a small dose can have significant effect on some people.

 

[Jerajera]

Amazing how such a small dose can have significant effect on some people.

I think the difference might partly lie in pharma vs OTC formulations. I've never seen any data on this but it wouldn't surprise me if pharma compounded Preg had higher bioavailability than OTC Preg products, at least most of them.

 

[Medicwithachub]

Side note.. I’ve thrown in 50mg of OTC sublingual (capsules) DHEA the last two days and I’ve got a massive amount of clarity/mood boost from it. Im aware of placebo but this is different.

Looks like I’ve got some bloods to draw eh?

 

[Bbobtucker]

I am taking life extension and opening the 100mg capsules.

Probably not relevant, but how gross is it doing it that way? How's the taste?

 

[mikeb29]

Just started 100mg a day too. Feel like my aggression is up (in a good way) and weight seems to be dropping too.

 

[Aging Disgracefully]

Side note.. I’ve thrown in 50mg of OTC sublingual (capsules) DHEA the last two days and I’ve got a massive amount of clarity/mood boost from it. Im aware of placebo but this is different.

Looks like I’ve got some bloods to draw eh?

Can I ask why you are taking it sublingually and not just oral (mostly interested in the Preg)?

 

[Medicwithachub]

Came back to update…

I abandoned pregnenolone because I thought it was causing ED for a short time when I in fact had slightly elevated prolactin due to a medication I was taking.

I started back with 200mg ED. At about the 3 week mark something miraculous happened. Something clicked and I just felt calm.

A big problem I’ve been having for years is that small tasks seem impossible for me. I do them still but long term goals always felt so far away. I always felt incredibly stressed. Memory was kinda fucked. Word recall was slow. I thought I had a fucking vitamin deficiency and ran a 500$ panel and everything was fine.

I am going to assume it’s preg. Now I haven’t tested preg levels yet but I did have my blood work which I’ll go grab and share. Everything is solid. Nothing else has changed in my protocol.

I’ve been feeling great since. So calm and collected. My speaking seems smoother. Words come naturally. I have zero stress and I feel amazing. My mental endurance is fucking unreal. I can go 16-18 hours straight, fasted AM run, prep all my meals, get my kid off to school, crush a 10 hour work day, hit the gym, crush 3 hours with or class and lab and get home by 10:30 and still feel good.

I’ll check back in in a few weeks but I think preg has been my missing link… I haven’t felt this good since when I initially got on TRT 8 years ago.

 

[Medicwithachub]

Can I ask why you are taking it sublingually and not just oral (mostly interested in the Preg)?

No reason. I take life extension caps and break them open.