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

[Medicwithachub]

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

It’s not at all. It doesn’t taste. It’s just chalky.

 

[Jerajera]

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.

Thanks for the trip report. How long has it been since that 3 week mark when things clicked?

What's the rest of your protocol if you don't mind sharing (Test, AI, other neurosteroids, etc...)?

 

[Mastodont]

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

That's a lot of powder in your mouth, have you previously swallowed these or always did it sublingually, i have 50mg LE capsules, and having taken them by swallow, it seems to amp me up a little and ruin sleep. I better try them sublingually, is there a reason you went with 200mg, smaller doses did nothing?

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Which bloods should I draw? I am thinking preg, DHEA-S, progesterone, prolactin and what else? I saw a comment by Nelson about a specific panel that he created for people. Thinking of doing that but it was pretty expensive. Anyhow, price doesn’t matter, I want to dial myself in more.

I would ask your doctor for a panel like this one:

Hormone Panel for Men on TRT- Comprehensive

This hormone panel for men on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) contains upstream and downstream hormones to testosterone. TRT has been shown to decrease upstream hormones like pregnenolone and progesterone, and slightly decrease DHEA. Downstream ho

www.discountedlabs.com

Use coupon excelmalevip for 20% off

 

[Nelson Vergel]

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.

I have used Empower's 100 mg capsule and also this OTC product on Amazon. Both brought my preg from nil to 95 ng/dL.

Allergy Research Group - Pregnenolone 100 mg - Hormone, Memory and Mood Support - 60 Scored Tablets​

 

[Systemlord]

I am assuming that due to being on TRT for as long as I have that my pregnenolone levels are tanked. I’d assume some other things are also out of whack (progesterone maybe?)

LH induces pregnenolone production, therefore exogenous T can lower pregnenolone by suppressing LH. For some men this reduction in pregnenolone goes unnoticed.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Anabolic steroids and TRT decrease SHBG, DHEA, pregnenolone and progesterone in men.

Response of serum testosterone and its precursor steroids, SHBG and CBG to anabolic steroid and testosterone self-administration in man. Ruokonen A, et al. J Steroid Biochem. 1985. Abstract The influence of high doses of testosterone and anabolic steroids on testicular endocrine function...

www.excelmale.com

 

[elias2117]

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

Are you still on the cream? Can you please share your experience, I'm about to start the 20% cream of 200 mg. I have a real problem with bloating and e2 on just 120 mg cyp a week. I'm injecting MWF subq, so I'm hoping the cream will help with those issues. From what I read DHT helps with controlling e2 and shbg.

 

[DaytonaJonah]

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.

Curious to know if you're still experiencing good results. In this thread earlier, you went back to 30mg every day and said you would titrate up...that was back in Oct. How was the journey up the "titrate" mountain? Any difficulties? Are you now including any DHEA with the 200mg daily pregnenolone?

 

[Medicwithachub]

Curious to know if you're still experiencing good results. In this thread earlier, you went back to 30mg every day and said you would titrate up...that was back in Oct. How was the journey up the "titrate" mountain? Any difficulties? Are you now including any DHEA with the 200mg daily pregnenolone?

No, I’m not.

Fuck pregnenolone. It seems the effects are awesome and quickly wane, no matter what dosing protocol. I am done trying to figure this shit out.

It also bloats me the fuck up. I have zero abs and legit look fat like I am carrying a baby. No shit. It blew me up like a balloon. It does this every time.

So no, I can’t dial it in.

 

[Medicwithachub]

I also have no labs to back this up.

I know this.. my dick is nonexistent. I have zero libido. It’s barely coming back. Last dose was 6 days ago and I get small bits of libido here and there.

Low dose DHEA was good though. Also no bloods.

 

[newuser]

I also have no labs to back this up.

I know this.. my dick is nonexistent. I have zero libido. It’s barely coming back. Last dose was 6 days ago and I get small bits of libido here and there.

Low dose DHEA was good though. Also no bloods.

I belive your high progesterone level causing this problem and bloating.

 

[ExpTrain]

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

do you still take dhea now?