Progesterone And Penis

[milk_lover]

When I did the pregnenolone experiment for three months of daily 50 mg, I gained a lot of fat in women places like the thighs, and the ****. Also, I developed mild gyno. My penis definitely shrunk and my libido decreased noticeably, in addition to insensitivity in that region. I just wanted to share my experience with pregnenlone as I feel it converts to too much progesterone and rarely any DHT. I also gained weight. Now I just take no more than 20 mg when I take DHEA.

 

[cdg]

I've used progesterone quite a lot. When I first got diagnosed with thyroid cancer I used it to bring my temperatures back from the brink. I took it consistently for about six months, at high doses. The last two months I did experience shrinking of my **** size and an almost totally elimination of my sex drive, but that didn't matter too much to me at the time because I just didn't want to die.

Thanks for this important input. What was the high dose you took? Thanks

 

[gilson dantas]

@milk_lover
I would like to hear more on the subject of pregnenolone;
I do not know if I understand well;
I knew that progesterone acts as antiandrogen; its use may shrink a penis;
but I did not know that pregnenolone has a similar effect;
how can it happens if we have R Peat articles where he says that pregnenolone is not toxic and that generates steroidal proportionally [without increasing too much of one in relation to other?].
@Blossom you know something about it?

 

[Blossom]

I have never read anything about men gaining weight in 'women places' as milk_lover describes but I always value people sharing their experiences.
I have not read or heard anything from Peat about that happening either but that doesn't mean it couldn't.
Most of the men on this forum ( from what I've read) seem to prefer pregnenolone over progesterone for general purposes and dosages they find useful seem to vary a lot. I hope you get more helpful replies than mine.:p

 

[gilson dantas]

Oh, @Blossom thanks a lot@
I read something here about your [blossom] own experience with pregnenolone, years ago I think [2014];
I´m very interested in to use pregnenolone more than I do [I use 20 mg transdermal every day; and thyroid];
But I am very unsure about larger doses; I´m afraid of those effects [and I don´t know if they are reversibles etc;
A young adult produces 30 mg by day [pregnenolone]
Why so 100 mg [oral use] is a "reasonable first dose" as R Peat says? And I undestood that you used 100 g by day; of course man and woman are different;
but in short, what balance you did make of your experience, what results would be interesting to me perhaps?
saudações!!

 

[Blossom]

Pregnenolone really helped me a lot and 99.9% of my experience with it was positive. I had two days in 2015 where I felt it might have been the reason for my unusually negative mood but it passed by the end of the day each time. Apparently it can do that sometimes and haidut and @Suikerbuik both have explained that phenomenon here before-it has something to do with allopregnenolone. I will try to find a link if you're interested.
I have not had any irreversible effects from pregnenolone. I did take high doses of 500-1000 mgs per day for about a year and it always helped me stay warm and relaxed.
When I first found Peat's work I was in pretty poor health and had been diagnosed with early menopause. I was afraid at the time because of some labs, my low weight and symptoms that I might have a carcinoid tumor of the bowel as well. Sadly I had some real bad experiences with doctors so I felt my only option was to try to help myself. Long story short is that I did turn the situation around eventually with help from this forum and Biochem Nordic. I used a lot of interventions beyond pregnenolone but I still feel like it was helpful and I don't regret ever taking it even on the two bad mood days. Enough about me.:)

I´m very interested in to use pregnenolone more than I do [I use 20 mg transdermal every day; and thyroid];
But I am very unsure about larger doses; I´m afraid of those effects [and I don´t know if they are reversibles etc;
A young adult produces 30 mg by day [pregnenolone]
Why so 100 mg [oral use] is a "reasonable first dose" as R Peat says?

It has been mentioned that some of it converts to other hormones and that it can be recycled in the body for about one week. I'm only speculating that this might be part of the reason for suggesting 100 mgs as a reasonable dose. Many settle on less and some seem to benefit from more. I wish I understood the physiology of it all more myself but all I really have to offer is my personal experience. My gut feeling is that people who are really energetically depleted, with wrecked hormones and in poor health seem to need and benefit from the higher doses. I hope that helps some.

 

[milk_lover]

@milk_lover
I would like to hear more on the subject of pregnenolone;
I do not know if I understand well;
I knew that progesterone acts as antiandrogen; its use may shrink a penis;
but I did not know that pregnenolone has a similar effect;
how can it happens if we have R Peat articles where he says that pregnenolone is not toxic and that generates steroidal proportionally [without increasing too much of one in relation to other?].
@Blossom you know something about it?

I am not the most expert on this matter, but I truly believe pregnenelone if not taken with DHEA made me slightly feminine in that it softens my voice and made me gain weight in the places I mentioned before. I don't know if it was generating steroids proportionally in my case. I think it's case by case.

 

[Suikerbuik]

Don't think it was me @Blossom, most likely @haidut.

 

[Blossom]

Don't think it was me @Blossom, most likely @haidut.

Thanks.:)

 

[gilson dantas]

Thanks @Blossom! and thanks the others companions.
I understood well what you spoke about your experience, @Blossom; and I liked to listen your history; I have reflected about it;
But let´s think about the following.
I understand well the idea that each case is different and that each person responds differently to pregnenolone for instance, etc etc; that´s OK;
But, otherwise, I need to assimilate the theory: what physiological elements we must take into account so that we can understand what leads prgenenolone to act in one way in one person and another way in another person?
which variables should we take into account?
for instance: why pregnenolone produces some steroidals in proper proportion in some people, and in others it may bring serious problems like antiandrogenicity, feminizing or ganin weight in undesirable places?
I do not know if I mean, if I am clear on english.

 

[haidut]

Thanks.:)

Yes, the negative effects on mood are likely mediated through conversion into allopregnanolone. Look up the page on ALLO on Wikipedia. It talks about its negative effects on mood, and how low dose progesterone (which pregnenolone effectively mimics) raises ALLO and has negative effects on mood. The human studies with pregnenolone and schizophrenia showed oral pregnenolone in doses of 400mg - 500mg reliably raised both progesterone and allopregnanolone.

 

[milk_lover]

Yes, the negative effects on mood are likely mediated through conversion into allopregnanolone. Look up the page on ALLO on Wikipedia. It talks about its negative effects on mood, and how low dose progesterone (which pregnenolone effectively mimics) raises ALLO and has negative effects on mood. The human studies with pregnenolone and schizophrenia showed oral pregnenolone in doses of 400mg - 500mg reliably raised both progesterone and allopregnanolone.

So what dose of pregnenolone that is effective against estrogen and cortisol without increasing ALLO and prolactin?

 

[gilson dantas]

THe question of @milk_lover is very good: about the dose of pregnenolone;
but I think it is useful to know WHAT elements of our physiology makes pregnenolone to be a bad thing or not? I mean, the conversion into allopregnenolone is estimuladed or inhibited by which determinations? If we don´t know about it we cannot predict [each person reacts of a personal manner it is not a good answer];

 

[marteagal]

Yes, the negative effects on mood are likely mediated through conversion into allopregnanolone. Look up the page on ALLO on Wikipedia. It talks about its negative effects on mood, and how low dose progesterone (which pregnenolone effectively mimics) raises ALLO and has negative effects on mood. The human studies with pregnenolone and schizophrenia showed oral pregnenolone in doses of 400mg - 500mg reliably raised both progesterone and allopregnanolone.

@haidut, that's interesting. Then, obviously, I completely misunderstood the role of allopregnanolone. Ray Peat mentions allopregnanolone in his article "Serotonin, depression, and aggression: The problem of brain energy":

The neurosteroid, allopregnanolone, for which progesterone is the precursor, facilitates the inhibitory action of GABA, which is known to be deficient in some disorders of mood and movement. This suggests that progesterone will be therapeutic in the movement disorders, as it is in various mood problems." [...] "One of the many actions of the "SSRI" (such as fluoxetine, Prozac), which aren’t related to their effect on serotonin, is to increase the concentration of allopregnanolone in the brain, imitating the action of increased progesterone. Following this discovery, Lilly got Prozac approved as a treatment for premenstrual syndrome. Since the production of allopregnanolone and progesterone depends on the availability of pregnenolone and cholesterol, a low cholesterol level would be one of the factors making this an inappropriate way to treat PMS.

From those two quotes I got the impression that it's actually good when pregnenolone gets converted to allopregnanolone. This would also be supported by several research articles and reviews that I found on pubmed, although, as we know, this can be a contraindication (e.g., in the case of PUFAs).

"Allopregnanolone increases hippocampal neurogenesis, neuronal survival and cognitive functions."
"Progesterone and allopregnanolone neuroprotective effects have been widely recognized. "
"Allopregnanolone enhances the neurogenesis of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in APPswe/PSEN1 mice"

My question therefore is: can allopregnanolone at the same time lower your mood and be neuroprotective and promote neurogenesis? I would be grateful for any clarification. Thanks!

 

[haidut]

@haidut, that's interesting. Then, obviously, I completely misunderstood the role of allopregnanolone. Ray Peat mentions allopregnanolone in his article "Serotonin, depression, and aggression: The problem of brain energy":


From those two quotes I got the impression that it's actually good when pregnenolone gets converted to allopregnanolone. This would also be supported by several research articles and reviews that I found on pubmed, although, as we know, this can be a contraindication (e.g., in the case of PUFAs).

"Allopregnanolone increases hippocampal neurogenesis, neuronal survival and cognitive functions."
"Progesterone and allopregnanolone neuroprotective effects have been widely recognized. "
"Allopregnanolone enhances the neurogenesis of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in APPswe/PSEN1 mice"

My question therefore is: can allopregnanolone at the same time lower your mood and be neuroprotective and promote neurogenesis? I would be grateful for any clarification. Thanks!

If you read the Wiki pages (and the referenced studies) on allopreganolone you will see that it has a U-shaped effect on mood. Lower and higher doses worsen it while moderate doses improve it.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19272715

Depressed people have low levels of ALLO so naturally that correlates with low mood. And just because something may have negative effects on mood in specific concentrations does not negate its other beneficial effects.

 

[marteagal]

Thank you, haidut, it's very clear to me now!

 

[gilson dantas]

That answers are very clear about the specific issue.
But I still thinking that it is useful to know WHAT elements of our physiology makes pregnenolone to be a bad thing or not? I mean, the conversion into allopregnenolone is estimuladed or inhibited by which determinations [not only one of it]?
If we don´t know about it we cannot predict, to deal with it; and we cannot undestand why 20 mg of pregnenolone is bad for one and 300 mg is very good for another;

 

[Makaveli]

When I did the pregnenolone experiment for three months of daily 50 mg, I gained a lot of fat in women places like the thighs, and the ****. Also, I developed mild gyno. My penis definitely shrunk and my libido decreased noticeably, in addition to insensitivity in that region. I just wanted to share my experience with pregnenlone as I feel it converts to too much progesterone and rarely any DHT. I also gained weight. Now I just take no more than 20 mg when I take DHEA.

I'm considering taking pregnenolone but worried about shrinkage. Did it grow back after stopping preg?

 

[ecstatichamster]

i don''t think there is a danger so long as you are aware of changes in sensitivity and lower your dosages accordingly. I also believe it would grow back. But in any event, start small, like 10mg, and build up from there, using your body as a gauge.

 

[Makaveli]

i don''t think there is a danger so long as you are aware of changes in sensitivity and lower your dosages accordingly. I also believe it would grow back. But in any event, start small, like 10mg, and build up from there, using your body as a gauge.

Did your notice that yours grew back at all? I will start at a 10 mg dose every other day probably.