Is pregnenolone alone enough to cover progesterone and DHEA needs?

[tasfarelel]

In the context of a nearly complete hormone replacement strategy that I'm following - is supplementing progesterone/pregnenolone/DHEA in any way beneficial compared to pregnenolone alone?

I experienced a tremendous increase in my subjective well-being when supplementing ~500mg/day of pregnenolone (mostly better sleep and higher resistance to stressors). In my hormone replacement strategy, I aim for slightly supraphysiological levels of the beneficial hormones (DHT, progesterone, pregnenolone). Similarly, I'm trying to lower the potentially problematic hormones (estrogen, cortisol, serotonin, prolactin, histamine, TSH, PTH). I would like to have progesterone above normal levels (for a male). I am lowering the possible DHEA to estrogen conversion with Aromasin. Since doing so more strictly/controlled in the last 1 year, my subjective physical and psychological well-being are better than ever at an age >45y. However, I have to say that I have never had any physical or psychiatric issues (therefore, I wrote "subjective well-being", I may do well without all of this). I am following this strategy mainly for esthetic reasons and to increase the consistency of my work performance (usually ~10-12h/day without breaks on weekends and in a high-stress environment).

What do you think?

 

[sweetpeat]

I can't imagine that you would need to supplement progesterone or DHEA with a pregnenolone dosage that high.
Here is a thread that discusses using pregnenolone as HRT for comparison, if you haven't seen it:

Oral pregnenolone as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in humans

As many of my readers know, the first step in steroid synthesis is the so-called "side-chain cleavage", which converts cholesterol into pregnenolone (P5). That step is known as the rate-limiting step in the steroid cascade, and its function depends on the redox status and ATP levels. In other...

raypeatforum.com

Out of curiosity, have you had any blood work done to see where your levels are?
I find the idea of pregnenolone as HRT fascinating, but anything over 50ish mg seems to give me insomnia. And constipation.

 

[tasfarelel]

Great, thanks for pointing me to that thread!

No full blood work yet. I will report once I have one done.