Pregnenolone And Hyperaldosteronism

[Orius]

Just a quick question about electrolyte activity I've been noticing. Sodium and potassium both come back high in my blood work. Thyroid is normal. I go to the gym regularly and I'm on a mineral restoration protocol called The Root Cause Protocol. My daily magnesium intake is quite high.

I've been orally taking 50mg pregnenolone and 25mg DHEA since around August (so approximately 5 months now). I'm 34. No major side effects. My crown is balding but it's been doing that for years now and there is no acceleration. The balding sucks but I don't feel I can do anything about it. I'm not taking finasteride and minoxidil is a pain in the ****.

I consulted with Ray by e-mail and based on my labs, he believes I've found really good brands of both DHEA and pregnenolone. He thinks 25mg DHEA isn't going to do me much harm. My progesterone is above normal and estrogen is in normal range. He thinks the elevated progesterone is preserving my body.

The thing that bothers me is that my kidney tests show a reduced eGFR. I'm still in normal range, but reduced from before. My potassium and sodium are both upper range if not over most of the time, so my body is retaining. I believe this is because the pregnenolone is converting to aldosterone.

Is this dangerous?

My goal is mainly bone resorption, as long-term prednisone use damaged my skeleton. Also the pregnolone is helping me amazingly with my stress levels. Stress no longer impacts my body like it used to, and my auto-immune condition is in remission. I can't say enough good things about this stuff....

But the possible aldosterone connection concerns me. My T is also above normal, which probably means even more DHT is happening. I am going to re-assess all of this in January, but for now I just wanted to ask about the aldosterone connection.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Makrosky]

Hi!

I don't know about the pregnenolone converting to aldosterone. Never ever heard about anyone having this kind of issues with preg.

25mg DHEA seems a lot. You must have a really good thyroid function if you are not aromatizing it to estrogen!!!

Btw what is this root cause protocol? Maybe you could tell us more about it? It would be nice.

 

[Orius]

Hi!

I don't know about the pregnenolone converting to aldosterone. Never ever heard about anyone having this kind of issues with preg.

25mg DHEA seems a lot. You must have a really good thyroid function if you are not aromatizing it to estrogen!!!

Btw what is this root cause protocol? Maybe you could tell us more about it? It would be nice.

My thyroid is perfect, probably the best it's ever been. I think it's actually the pregnenolone that prevents conversion to estrogen, by increasing progesterone (the antagonist of estrogen).

The Root Cause Protocol mainly focuses on mobilizing toxic iron in the body so that it's not sitting around causing inflammation. Most people who are iron deficient yet not improving from supplementation are actually very low in magnesium and bioavailable copper in the form of ceruloplasmin. The protocol helps this through whole food nutrition with an emphasis on increasing magnesium and ceruloplasmin in the diet and through supplements. It has taught me a lot. I've experienced bone resorption in just a few months of doing it.

I asked Ray about the 50mg preg/5mg DHEA combo and he said "people on the forum attribute many things to me that I never said". I found this odd. He also said that my DHEA intake was fine at 25mg, based on my labs.

I've been lifting weights a lot more recently though, so I need to get re-tested. I can't afford a DHT test at $200, but the rest of the hormones I can check. Also I started taking DHEA during a time when my adrenals were offline due to prednisone use, and it took them months to get to normal. I need to get ACTH re-tested soon to see the status of my adrenal function.

What I can't currently explain are my high electrolyte levels. My blood pressure is technically normal but it's actually high for me. My BP normally sits below normal ranges... unless that was actually dysfunctional and now I'm seeing normal health. The electrolyte readouts don't indicate wellness through. I'm having a hard time explaining the retention.

The decline in eGFR, increase in creatinine and blood urea all indicate a kidney issue. The potassium and sodium elevations indicate retention. To me these all point to aldosterone.

 

[tankasnowgod]

The Root Cause Protocol mainly focuses on mobilizing toxic iron in the body so that it's not sitting around causing inflammation. Most people who are iron deficient yet not improving from supplementation are actually very low in magnesium and bioavailable copper in the form of ceruloplasmin.

If you've got a toxic amount of iron in the body..... why not just go for phelebotomy? Blood donation is easy, cheap, and effective.

How would someone know they are iron deficient without a full iron panel?

And lastly.... I don't think most iron supplements are beneficial, even for those who truly are iron deficient.

 

[Dhair]

My thyroid is perfect, probably the best it's ever been. I think it's actually the pregnenolone that prevents conversion to estrogen, by increasing progesterone (the antagonist of estrogen).

The Root Cause Protocol mainly focuses on mobilizing toxic iron in the body so that it's not sitting around causing inflammation. Most people who are iron deficient yet not improving from supplementation are actually very low in magnesium and bioavailable copper in the form of ceruloplasmin. The protocol helps this through whole food nutrition with an emphasis on increasing magnesium and ceruloplasmin in the diet and through supplements. It has taught me a lot. I've experienced bone resorption in just a few months of doing it.

I asked Ray about the 50mg preg/5mg DHEA combo and he said "people on the forum attribute many things to me that I never said". I found this odd. He also said that my DHEA intake was fine at 25mg, based on my labs.

I've been lifting weights a lot more recently though, so I need to get re-tested. I can't afford a DHT test at $200, but the rest of the hormones I can check. Also I started taking DHEA during a time when my adrenals were offline due to prednisone use, and it took them months to get to normal. I need to get ACTH re-tested soon to see the status of my adrenal function.

What I can't currently explain are my high electrolyte levels. My blood pressure is technically normal but it's actually high for me. My BP normally sits below normal ranges... unless that was actually dysfunctional and now I'm seeing normal health. The electrolyte readouts don't indicate wellness through. I'm having a hard time explaining the retention.

The decline in eGFR, increase in creatinine and blood urea all indicate a kidney issue. The potassium and sodium elevations indicate retention. To me these all point to aldosterone.

Which brand of pregnenolone are you taking?

 

[Makrosky]

My thyroid is perfect, probably the best it's ever been. I think it's actually the pregnenolone that prevents conversion to estrogen, by increasing progesterone (the antagonist of estrogen).

The Root Cause Protocol mainly focuses on mobilizing toxic iron in the body so that it's not sitting around causing inflammation. Most people who are iron deficient yet not improving from supplementation are actually very low in magnesium and bioavailable copper in the form of ceruloplasmin. The protocol helps this through whole food nutrition with an emphasis on increasing magnesium and ceruloplasmin in the diet and through supplements. It has taught me a lot. I've experienced bone resorption in just a few months of doing it.

I asked Ray about the 50mg preg/5mg DHEA combo and he said "people on the forum attribute many things to me that I never said". I found this odd. He also said that my DHEA intake was fine at 25mg, based on my labs.

I've been lifting weights a lot more recently though, so I need to get re-tested. I can't afford a DHT test at $200, but the rest of the hormones I can check. Also I started taking DHEA during a time when my adrenals were offline due to prednisone use, and it took them months to get to normal. I need to get ACTH re-tested soon to see the status of my adrenal function.

What I can't currently explain are my high electrolyte levels. My blood pressure is technically normal but it's actually high for me. My BP normally sits below normal ranges... unless that was actually dysfunctional and now I'm seeing normal health. The electrolyte readouts don't indicate wellness through. I'm having a hard time explaining the retention.

The decline in eGFR, increase in creatinine and blood urea all indicate a kidney issue. The potassium and sodium elevations indicate retention. To me these all point to aldosterone.

Which preg and dhea supps are you using?
50mg seems quite low to offset 25mg DHEA that's why I said your thyroid must be working reaaally good.

 

[ecstatichamster]

are you taking K2 MK4 and D3 (or adequate sunlight)?

are you eating calves liver?

 

[Orius]

If you've got a toxic amount of iron in the body..... why not just go for phelebotomy? Blood donation is easy, cheap, and effective.

How would someone know they are iron deficient without a full iron panel?

It's hard to differentiate between genuine iron deficiency anemia and toxic iron retention because both appear as deficiency in the blood work. Generally a ferritin below 30ng/L is genuine iron deficiency, whereas above that could actually indicate inflammation. Ferritin rises when there is inflammation in the body, which toxic iron itself can cause. So you have to go by symptoms.

Usually if people start taking higher doses of magnesium plus whole food vitamin C while shoring up ceruloplasmin, ferritin will rise quite a lot as iron is released from the tissues. It's at that point that you can consider phlebotomy to get rid of it.

I'm still trying to navigate it all myself. It's not easy.

50mg seems quite low to offset 25mg DHEA that's why I said your thyroid must be working reaaally good.

Why do you think my thyroid has to be working well to support those dosages?

are you taking K2 MK4 and D3 (or adequate sunlight)?

are you eating calves liver?

I don't take D3, I think the whole industry behind it is loco and higher doses act like immune suppression. Whole food vitamin A matters way more than D3. The ratio of vitamin A to D3 should be 10:1 in the body. In the winter time people should be taking vitamin A before they consider D3.

I also don't take K2 as I don't see the point if the diet is diversified with greens, etc.

I get almost all my nutrients from whole food sources. The exceptions are boron and magnesium.

Yes, I eat pasture raised calf liver once a week, or beef liver. Whichever is available.

What I can't figure out is my high electrolytes. My sodium and potassium intakes are not ridiculous. I don't know why I'm retaining.

 

[tankasnowgod]

It's hard to differentiate between genuine iron deficiency anemia and toxic iron retention because both appear as deficiency in the blood work. Generally a ferritin below 30ng/L is genuine iron deficiency, whereas above that could actually indicate inflammation. Ferritin rises when there is inflammation in the body, which toxic iron itself can cause. So you have to go by symptoms.

Ah, the "Ferritin rises with inflammation" argument. Well, yes, but... how much? 5ng/L? 50? 500? You don't know, do you? In reality, it's about 10 or so.

And as for going by symptoms..... you never read up on iron overload, did you? Symptoms may not even present when someone had ferritin levels at 1000 ng/L, which can cause permanent damage to the liver. You should absolutely not just go by symptoms. You should go by Iron Panels. That's not my idea, that's the opinion of iron researcher E. D. Weinberg.

Usually if people start taking higher doses of magnesium plus whole food vitamin C while shoring up ceruloplasmin, ferritin will rise quite a lot as iron is released from the tissues. It's at that point that you can consider phlebotomy to get rid of it.

You got a source for that?