Optimum Pregnenolone Level?

[GenePoole0304]

I'm reading a medical book written to the layman aahhh I do that sometimes and a novel idea....conventional stuff but expert stuff, hormones involved.
hormones levels are normal for your genetics, epigentics and age..... now you see the normal range for a test they are arrived at with this bell curve so the odd people like the E4 which is 20% or so of the population fall off one of the ends of the curve.
Now these hormones work with each other so if you push one up what is going to happen is like the cue ball is going to break up the rack of balls at the start of a pool game. Now who wants to play that kind of game when we hardly know enough about the simple ones. notice the supplement companies hardly ever mention things like possible side affects, that is what is the important thing.

[circular]

That's a interesting image GenePoole! It's along the lines of something I periodically post that I learned in the book The End of Illness, that anything we supplement with has multiple endpoints, maybe only one or a small number of which have been studied (and hopefully found to be improved by the substance). The rest of the endpoints remain mysterious, good or bad. When I feel something supplemental is useful, I do try to stick to the lowest possible dose I think is achieving the desired outcome, and take my low body weight into account. That way any negative effects are hypothetically limited. I guess we have to weigh the potential impact of the suspected positive outcome within our personal risk environment against the risk posed by all those unknowns. It's definitely a fool's game to some degree.

[circular]

If I drive down my cholesterol (changing diet once again, a little less dairy and heavier plant based) and those pregnenolone & DHEA levels drop should I supplement?

I think I would first get your lipids where you want them and then test your pregnenolone and DHEA levels and go from there. At this point it's only a theory that your high levels are driven by cholesterol and a theory that if you lower cholesterol you'll need more P and DHEA. Follow the biomarkers.

If I supplement now, would it drive down my cholesterol so I could keep the 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee (hah I expect that won't work).

I haven't seen anything to say that supplementing P would drive down cholesterol. With already high P I wouldn't attempt it. But maybe you were just joking, trying to keep your 1/2 and 1/2. Maybe if you reduce other cholesterol-raising inputs enough you can still do well with your 1/2 and 1/2. I'm using ghee and coconut in my coffee for that purpose. I think the ghee is maybe healthier than 1/2 and 1/2.

Anyway, I am assuming I do not have some sort of adrenal gland tumor making the high levels, assume it is the cholesterol and wished I could look at the high levels and say that my brain was being protected by them, to heck with the risk to the arteries.

Your levels are so high I think that even if you lower cholesterol and it in turn lowers your P, then you may still be in excellent shape with regard to P. Probably even better shape. Too much of a good thing is usually just that.

[Julie G]

Interesting theory, Kathleen... and good, cautious advice, Circ. Cholesterol is the precursor to all hormones and I do think that adequate levels are necessary to make pregnenolone (and more,) but working the pathway backwards might be iffy.

FWIW, I did check and my level (94 ng/dL) is using the MS unit of measurement as measured by LabCorp. Like Kathleen, I suspect that my higher fat diet drives my higher pregnenolone, BUT I suspect I've kept my lipid numbers decent (LDL-P 881) by minimizing SFA. I'm guessing we all need to find our happy medium between healthy lipids and hormones.

[circular]

Not sure if this was mentioned here, but I don't recall ever hearing that pregnenolone is an anti-inflammatory that some people use to help control pain. Dr. Ackerley told me this. When I stopped needing SAM-e for chronic pain (after years of needing it), I'd attributed the change to having changed curcumin to the Longvida brand. But I *think* I may have started pregnenolone during the same time frame, so it could be both or the latter helping control pain in place of SAM-e.

[jkramer65]

Hi I recently started getting some of the bloodwork on the Bredesen List and my Progenalone level was 151 ng/dL with a reference range of 15 - 132 ng/dL. This is Progenelone MS. I had all my other hormone tests and was quite low as I'm perimenopausal I guess. Thinking about BHRT. I'm only 53 and still getting a regular period. Do these results mean anything to anyone? All done on Day 3 of my cycle -- which I read can effect ones DHEA result.
FOLLICLE STIMULATING HORMONE : 21.5 mIU/mL
ESTRADIOL 17 BETA: 8.2 pg/mL
PROGESTERONE: 0.41 ng/mL
PROGENALONE: 151 ng/dL
DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE, SULFATE: 67 ug/dL
TESTOSTERONE FREE: 0.5 pg/mL
TESTOSTERONE TOTAL: <2 ng/dL
All my glucose/insulin stuff was in range/normal - with both reference and Bredesen numbers.
Morning Cortisol was good on both scales:
hs C-reactive Protein good on both scales: .2
A/G Ratio good per Bredesen but G was a tad high on reference range.
Vit. D in reference range but a little low per ReCODE numbers: 43.6 ng/ml
Thyroid was also all in reference range but off from the ReCODE numbers (Free T3/T4 slightly low and TSH slightly high)

I'm doing this all on my own right now due to a lack of insurance issue so stabbing in the dark a bit. Once I secure a new job I'll get deeper in with a doctor or health coach.

Thoughts????

[Plumster]

In The End of Alzheimer's, Bredesen specifies optimal levels to be 50-100.