Pregnenolone long-term use...safe?

[tyrub42]

Hi Everyone,

Soooooo long story short, I got my wife some pregnenolone for her constant bitchiness. After the first dose she immediately turned back into the sweetheart I fell in love with. We are both astonished about how well and how fast it worked. I tried a pill today and I have to say I feel more clear-headed and I have had consistent energy all day, even more so than usual.

Anyway, knowing how well it works, we are both just wondering if it is safe to keep taking it indefinitely. I got her 10mg pills and one per day seems to be perfect. So here are a few questions.

Is it safe to take it every day, or should it be cycled? If it should be cycled, how long can she stay on it before cycling off it (and for how long should she cycle off of it)?

Are there any interactions with birth control?

Are there any negative sides we should watch out for? I googled and only read positive things, but it's also written everywhere that we don't completely understand it.

Can I take it also?

We are both around 30 years old if that counts. Thanks!

Best,
Tyler

 

[kisaj]

I take it and it is recommended by my doctor and endo in addition to TRT. I backfilled with 50mg and now take 10mg a day. It is hands down, the best supplement next to actual test cyp. You are finding what almost everyone does. All day natural energy, wipes out anxiety, increased libido, mental clarity, and overall sense of well being.

My wife's doctor also recently recommended this to her because her DHEA and Prog levels were low, causing issues with anxiety, bad periods, and anger. It started working in 2 days and she is a different person already.

To your questions. Yes, it is very safe and it is natural. Your body produces it, but when we get older, the levels deplete. It won't hurt you, but it may be good to get tested to see where your levels currently are. Mine were low-normal and there is a 100% difference between low normal and high normal. The only thing to really watch out for is conversion to estrogen. Taking high doses 25mg+ can cause this to rise and bring on sides.

 

[tyrub42]

I take it and it is recommended by my doctor and endo in addition to TRT. I backfilled with 50mg and now take 10mg a day. It is hands down, the best supplement next to actual test cyp. You are finding what almost everyone does. All day natural energy, wipes out anxiety, increased libido, mental clarity, and overall sense of well being. My wife's doctor also recently recommended this to her because her DHEA and Prog levels were low, causing issues with anxiety, bad periods, and anger. It started working in 2 days and she is a different person already. To your questions. Yes, it is very safe and it is natural. Your body produces it, but when we get older, the levels deplete. It won't hurt you, but it may be good to get tested to see where your levels currently are. Mine were low-normal and there is a 100% difference between low normal and high normal. The only thing to really watch out for is conversion to estrogen. Taking high doses 25mg+ can cause this to rise and bring on sides.

Awesome info as always, bro, thanks! So even at her and my age (around 30), there shouldn't be any reason why 10mg/day would have to be cycled and the only thing to think about is getting levels tested to make sure we don't have naturally high levels already? What do you mean by backfilling with 50mg/day? Is that like a loading phase? Same situation with my wife, BTW. She is LOVING her changes as much as I am. I was hesitant to keep taking it, but from what you say, I guess I will stick with a daily dose as well if I keep feeling good. So you are on it 365 and no problems that you've noticed?

 

[stan08]

Awesome info as always, bro, thanks! So even at her and my age (around 30), there shouldn't be any reason why 10mg/day would have to be cycled and the only thing to think about is getting levels tested to make sure we don't have naturally high levels already? What do you mean by backfilling with 50mg/day? Is that like a loading phase? Same situation with my wife, BTW. She is LOVING her changes as much as I am. I was hesitant to keep taking it, but from what you say, I guess I will stick with a daily dose as well if I keep feeling good. So you are on it 365 and no problems that you've noticed?

Are you using a sublingual tablet? If so, what brand? I can't seem to find the brand I normally use instock anywhere online.

 

[tyrub42]

Are you using a sublingual tablet? If so, what brand? I can't seem to find the brand I normally use instock anywhere online.

No they were OOS so I just got the regular tabs

 

[kisaj]

Nope, it is becoming the new standard protocol in hormone balancing and now that it is getting more attention, it seems to be better understood. If you are not low, you would not notice the benefits as much as you. Still, testing for it is always going to be a recommendation.

Backfilling was recommended by my endo and if you research it, is generally recommended. Build your levels back up and then maintain with low doses. I can go every other day with 10mg and be fine. If I need to be extra crisp, then I will take one every day.

Like I said, my wife had been to multiple doctors and they kept trying to go a script route that we did not want. So we sent her to a hormone specialist and they found her levels low. Scary to think about her going on prozac or some crap when it was her hormones that were out of whack.

 

[anabolix]

Another thing to consider is everyone is different and some like the effects of the cream and some like to take it orally. For me, taking a pill makes me feel spacy and not good. I love the cream though, as i feel great on it! It gives me energy and elevated mood, but i dont get the spacy feeling from it.

 

[bakerwil]

Subbed

 

[kisaj]

It makes me happy that people are discovering this.

 

[Hyde]

We're looking at very low, mild doses here purely for the balance/well-being aspect, and as long as you feel it's helping I'd stay on it. If response ever becomes too lackluster, cycling off for at least a month will probably restore a lot of the effect when resumed.

 

[hsk]

I am looking into taking 10mg daily as well. I am in my mid 30's and have experienced some declines in energy and mental clarity. Is there any difference between sublingual tabs or caps? The place I buy from only has 10mg caps right now.

Also, what is the best way to take it? With pre-meal, post meal, with food, without food, first thing AM, before bed PM, etc? Also any negative interaction with daily supps or noortropics such as Caffeine, Agmatine, CDP Choline, and Noopept?

 

[kisaj]

Buy from a different place and go sublingual. Take it in the morning upon waking and there is no negative interaction. It is a natural hormone that you already produce, but just likely at a much lower amount now that you are getting older.

 

[wicked442]

This all sounds great. I will be running a log using DHEA+preg from AgeForce. I am hoping to get the same good results.

 

[hsk]

Buy from a different place and go sublingual. Take it in the morning upon waking and there is no negative interaction. It is a natural hormone that you already produce, but just likely at a much lower amount now that you are getting older.

Thanks for the reply. I will try to go the sublingual route if possible. Regarding taking capsules though, it just takes longer to build up since some is lost by first pass through the liver, but it should evenatually build up levels through accumulation? Additionally, is 10mg daily enough to cause some of the possible side effects such as hair loss? Or is such a low dose not enough to elicit such a response?

 

[stan08]

I am looking into taking 10mg daily as well. I am in my mid 30's and have experienced some declines in energy and mental clarity. Is there any difference between sublingual tabs or caps? The place I buy from only has 10mg caps right now.

Also, what is the best way to take it? With pre-meal, post meal, with food, without food, first thing AM, before bed PM, etc? Also any negative interaction with daily supps or noortropics such as Caffeine, Agmatine, CDP Choline, and Noopept?

I couldn't find my usual brand (source naturals) of sublingual tablets instock anywhere online. If you were looking for the same brand, then you might want to look for the tablets by Ortho Molecular on your site. It appears they're also sublingual based on the ingredients and comments in the reviews. It's just weird they don't seem to really advertise that fact (at least, not that I saw).

 

[bakerwil]

Buy from a different place and go sublingual. Take it in the morning upon waking and there is no negative interaction. It is a natural hormone that you already produce, but just likely at a much lower amount now that you are getting older.

What if I have non sublingual tabs. What is the difference?
And how long did you do your 50mg a day loading phase and was the dose taken all at once?

 

[Hyde]

What if I have non sublingual tabs. What is the difference?
And how long did you do your 50mg a day loading phase and was the dose taken all at once?

Sublingual will absorb better into the bloodstream through soft tissue in the mouth - greater % of mg will hit the bloodstream. I would take the full 50mg first thing upon waking to best mimic natural hormonal rhythms. Spreading it out would be okay, but it's not necessary, & I wouldn't wait to late in the day to get all the dose in, as this can interfere with sleep (and for someone not on TRT, be more suppressive to natural test production).

 

[kisaj]

Sublingual will absorb better into the bloodstream through soft tissue in the mouth - greater % of mg will hit the bloodstream. I would take the full 50mg first thing upon waking to best mimic natural hormonal rhythms. Spreading it out would be okay, but it's not necessary, & I wouldn't wait to late in the day to get all the dose in, as this can interfere with sleep (and for someone not on TRT, be more suppressive to natural test production).

Good post.

 

[JD261985]

I may be selling myself short by not using this daily. I experience anxiety pretty bad. I used transdermal preg and loved it

 

[kisaj]

Is it more GA than SA? Something to consider is upping your magnesium levels as well for a general state of calmness. Magnesium is great regardless, but it can really help GA.

 

[kisaj]

Preg partially converts to DHEA, but it may not be enough to bring levels to high norm. Supplementation with DHEA addresses that. It is usually recommended to start with preg and assess if DHEA is needed.

 

[kisaj]

That is up to you. I was working off of labs, so I knew what I was at and where I needed to be. I started with 50mg for 3 weeks and then dropped to 25, then to 10. Let me just say that I have never experienced anything like 50mg of preg. I'd take it at 6am and fly through my day until it finally started to taper off around 10-11pm. Then at about 3 weeks I could feel I was adjusting to it and lowered to a more manageable level.

Now that I am cruising at the top of the range in both preg and DHEA, if I take 20mg of preg, I get the same effect as when I first started. It can be fun as a recreational thing to go up for a day. We went on an 11mile hike the other weekend and nobody could keep up, but I kept it my secret. haha

 

[kisaj]

Well, all that would happen is it would normally end up converting to estrogen and you may get some insomnia. I could tell I was filled because at about 3 weeks, I started to break out. I backed it down and immediately cleared up.

 

[kisaj]

I am sure for therapy, under supervision, that could be true. Intramuscular response may be entirely different, too.

They don't call it the fountain of youth for no reason. I've yet to see anyone take it that didn't say it made their lives better.

 

[hsk]

If taking at 10mg daily without back loading, is it still possible to build back up the body's normal to high normal range?

 

[JD261985]

Is it more GA than SA? Something to consider is upping your magnesium levels as well for a general state of calmness. Magnesium is great regardless, but it can really help GA.

**** I was taking ZMA for awhile but stopped after reading it had no effect on test levels. Dammit I can't remember if I was more anxious or not honestly.

 

[anabolix]

I would advise to start low and then go up slowly and see how you like the effects. Some people have heart palpitations when they dose to high. And don't forget to try transdermal, which works WAY better at least for me. One pump of the brand I use is equal to 15 mg...and I "try" and pump out more like 5 mg worth, give or take. I've done a lot of looking around the internet on the use of preg, and I tend to agree that someone in their 30's would probably be happy with equal to/or less than 5 mg. And this is with a day or two off a week, and a more extended hormone "holiday" from time to time. Good stuff!

 

[bakerwil]

Order a bottle of 10mg tabs - I am 46. Will be interesting to see what happens!

 

[bakerwil]

I would advise to start low and then go up slowly and see how you like the effects. Some people have heart palpitations when they dose to high. And don't forget to try transdermal, which works WAY better at least for me. One pump of the brand I use is equal to 15 mg...and I "try" and pump out more like 5 mg worth, give or take. I've done a lot of looking around the internet on the use of preg, and I tend to agree that someone in their 30's would probably be happy with equal to/or less than 5 mg. And this is with a day or two off a week, and a more extended hormone "holiday" from time to time. Good stuff!

Please PM which transdermal company and particular product are you referring too. Thanks you..

 

[kisaj]

**** I was taking ZMA for awhile but stopped after reading it had no effect on test levels. Dammit I can't remember if I was more anxious or not honestly.

You don't take it for test reasons, you take it for recovery and rest. This can have a direct effect on test levels as sleep is one of the biggest culprits of lowered test.

But, I am confused. What does ZMA, remembering if you had anxiety, and pregnenolone have to do with one another?

 

[tyrub42]

You don't take it for test reasons, you take it for recovery and rest. This can have a direct effect on test levels as sleep is one of the biggest culprits of lowered test.

But, I am confused. What does ZMA, remembering if you had anxiety, and pregnenolone have to do with one another?

I think he was referring to your comment to check his mag levels for anxiety purposes (he took ZMA but didn't think to monitor his anxiety when he took it as he didn't realize mag could impact anxiety).

Dude, you have lots of great info about under-appreciated supps. Between this thread and an ashwagandha thread awhile ago, you have really helped me a lot with your info (and probably others as well). FYI after trying sensoril I actually had better sedative results from the NOW ash for some reason and I have switched back to that. Weird, but I didn't question it and went back to what worked the best.

 

[tyrub42]

Regarding preg, for some reason it seems to work best for me just taking it a couple of days a week. I took it several days in a row and stopped getting much from it. Then I took several days off and took it upon waking for my 12-hour day today and WOW. Between that and rhodiola (1g bulk powder), all day energy with almost no stims (75 mg from my green supplement first thing AM and a cup of milk tea with lunch and that actually felt like more of a kick than I wanted).

And my wife is STILL not bitchy at all and is thrilled to be feeling great and in better control of her emotions. She is taking it daily, so I guess she has more of a need for it than I do.

Best 10 bucks I ever spent

 

[kisaj]

Dude, you have lots of great info about under-appreciated supps. Between this thread and an ashwagandha thread awhile ago, you have really helped me a lot with your info (and probably others as well). FYI after trying sensoril I actually had better sedative results from the NOW ash for some reason and I have switched back to that. Weird, but I didn't question it and went back to what worked the best.

That's awesome, man, I appreciate that feedback. I am kind of a weirdo with how much I research and investigate things, and I tend to learn about things that kind of fly under the radar. Glad to be of any assistance.

 

[kisaj]

Regarding preg, for some reason it seems to work best for me just taking it a couple of days a week. I took it several days in a row and stopped getting much from it. Then I took several days off and took it upon waking for my 12-hour day today and WOW. Between that and rhodiola (1g bulk powder), all day energy with almost no stims (75 mg from my green supplement first thing AM and a cup of milk tea with lunch and that actually felt like more of a kick than I wanted).

And my wife is STILL not bitchy at all and is thrilled to be feeling great and in better control of her emotions. She is taking it daily, so I guess she has more of a need for it than I do.

Best 10 bucks I ever spent

That is great. I tend to be like you with preg and eod seems to work best. Lately I have been under heavy stress at work and find that taking it every day is helping cope and not be bogged down mentally. I'll end up going back to eod soon, though.

About your wife- isn't it the greatest thing in the world? We are lucky to have wives that are open to learning more about this and not shutting down or just wanting to mask things with a script.

 

[stan08]

I have to say, pregnenolone and rhodiola are a great combo. Talk about a lot of energy, good mood and focus.

 

[jarrellt67]

Has anyone tried the micronized lipid matrix tablets (sustained release)? I'm curious as to how it compares to sublingual and transdermal.

 

[thebigt]

another option is dermacrine....transdermals have always worked better for me than sublinguals, and dermacrine contains both preg and dhea + the estrogen balancers trans-resveratrol and 7,8-benzoflavone.

 

[jarrellt67]

For those that use (or have used) both pregnenolone and Ashwagandha - have you noticed a reduction in Ashwagandha's calming effects? I recently read that pregnenolone may inhibit or block the GABA receptor.

 

[kisaj]

No, I use them together and love it. I have not noticed any reduction in the calming ability.

 

[jarrellt67]

Started taking 50 mg/day of pregnenolone as a slow release, micronized tablet and so far like it more than sublingual tablets. The focus, energy and mood benefits seem to last all day for me (versus the sublingual tablets which tended to fade in the early afternoon).

 

[kisaj]

What brand for those looking for something like that?

 

[jarrellt67]

What brand for those looking for something like that?

I bought Mcpherson Labs brand. It seemed to be the most recommended on various sites (it's also pharmaceutical grade). I've read Nutricology might be a good (and cheaper) alternative.

 

[jarrellt67]

Well, it appears the McPherson Labs 50mg tablet (which is the only dosage they sell) is a little too much for me. I started getting acne pretty bad a couple days ago. I've also noticed that while my sleep has greatly improved, it's almost too good. I have trouble waking up in the morning and am really groggy for a little while. However, I still really like the slow release action since the energy and mood benefits are very steady for me. Unfortunately, based on information provided by McPherson, their tablets can't be split without losing the slow release action. So, I'm going to order the Nutricology micronized lipid matrix, slow release tablets. Their lowest dosage tablet is also 50 mg but it's scored. So, it can be split without losing the time release action.

 

[jarrellt67]

The switch to micronized lipid matrix tablets was a failed experiment. I kept decreasing the dose but still had problems with waking up in the morning and feeling tired/groggy most of the day. I'm not sure why I had better energy and mood benefits at the beginning (placebo?). Well, back to sublingual tablets. They seem to be the best way to go.

 

[thebigt]

The switch to micronized lipid matrix tablets was a failed experiment. I kept decreasing the dose but still had problems with waking up in the morning and feeling tired/groggy most of the day. I'm not sure why I had better energy and mood benefits at the beginning (placebo?). Well, back to sublingual tablets. They seem to be the best way to go.

have you tried dermacrine? td is by far the best, imo.

 

[jarrellt67]

have you tried dermacrine? td is by far the best, imo.

When I said sublingual was the best way to go, I meant the best way to go for me (in comparison to mlm oral tablets). I haven't tried transdermal creams. So, I can't say if that would be better or not. I've stuck with tablets because of price, convenience and that they seem to work well (at least, the sublingual ones do). Also, I don't want to take DHEA (which is included with pregnenolone in most transdermal creams). So, in my case, sublingual tablets make more sense.

 

[thebigt]

When I said sublingual was the best way to go, I meant the best way to go for me (in comparison to mlm oral tablets). I haven't tried transdermal creams. So, I can't say if that would be better or not. I've stuck with tablets because of price, convenience and that they seem to work well (at least, the sublingual ones do). Also, I don't want to take DHEA (which is included with pregnenolone in most transdermal creams). So, in my case, sublingual tablets make more sense.

lol...you can take a horse to water....

 

[jarrellt67]

lol...you can take a horse to water....

While I do appreciate the recommendation, based on my doctors advice I should stay away from anything with DHEA due my increased risk of breast and prostate cancer (BRCA-2).

 

[mikesalami]

Anyone who posted here about positive experiences on pregnenolone still taking it? I'm a 34 year old guy with anxiety issues... tried a whole bunch of stuff with some success, but can't completely kick it. Head fog, and somewhat low energy are also an issue.

I want to try pregnenolone but am concerned about side effects. It seems like everyone here has had good experiences, but I have read about some bad withdrawal from pregnenolone, as well as long term hair loss. Also I'm taking an SSRI and a bit concerned about interaction with that, although I assume it shouldn't.

 

[kisaj]

There is zero withdrawal from pregnenolone so I don't know who or where you are getting that information from. I've taken it for years.