Pregnenolone

[Plumster]

Recently, my pregnenolone dropped from 57 ng/dl to 41 ng/dl, so my doctor recommended 10 mg pregnenolone and I just started taking it. I have several questions for those with experience (my doctor doesn't have a lot of experience with it):

Do you take pregnenolone before bed or in the morning?
With or without food?
How much do you take?
Orally or transdermally?

Day 1: Took a 10 mg pregnenolone capsule with my 11:00 meal. Felt amazingly energetic and just great all day. At bed time, I took 200 mg progesterone, felt my heart beating a little unusually, blood pumping in me, took 2 hours to fall asleep and I woke up groggy. I assume 200 mg progesterone was too much. (I alternate between 100 and 200 half the month.)

Day 2: Took approx 4-5 mg pregnenolone and 100 mg progesterone at bedtime instead. Awake ALL night.

Why do doctors recommend taking it at bedtime? I think it has something to do with progesterone, but what about the stimulating effects of pregnenolone?

Tomorrow I will try 5 mg pregnenolone in the morning without food. My doctor simply recommended 10 mg pregnenolone but doesn't have a lot of experience with it, as mentioned. So I'd love to hear your experiences.

[Sara]

pregnenolone...

This is a great question! I have three clients that have had negative experiences that coincided with the addition of Pregnenolone so I would love to hear how others are doing with it. Two of the issues were sleep related. A third person had spasms and tremors. Two out of three discontinued it. The third has been taking it at bedtime and will try moving it to the morning. The following site indicated the following: "What Time of Day Should I Take Preg?
I recommend that you take it first thing in the morning with breakfast since taking Preg later in the day can lead to insomnia."
See.. http://www.healthy.net/Health/Article/P ... nes/1170/3. There are also sources that indicate that bedtime is the best time of day to take it. Please share your experience.

[Indywoman]

I take 50mg of pregnenolone in the morning in the form of a compounded mix that also includes 10 mg. of DHEA. This cream is made by Central Drugs Compounding Pharmacy in La Habra, CA. and ordered by my practitioner. Before this dose, my pregnenolone level was at 14 when first tested (I am almost 65) and only increased to 17 when I was put on an oral dose of 10 mg. The cream at 50 mg. has raised my level to 77. I apply it on my skin in the morning and since I don't eat until 1:00 pm, there is no food in my system. I have been a fitful sleeper for the last twenty years, the bane of a post-menopausal woman, but do not notice any new changes with either the 10mg or 50 mg dosage.

[TheBrain]

I take 10 mg pregnenolone with breakfast. Recent testing showed I was in the lab’s range at 139, but that’s above Dr. Bredesen’s upper end of the range (100). So I’m taking a 1-2 week break and then will take it just six days a week. I never heard of taking pregnenolone at bedtime but given my predilection toward insomnia, I won’t bother trying.

[Plumster]

Can one take pregnenolone on an empty stomach? It is recommended with a meal. I want to fast in the morning so maybe I need to switch to a cream.

[TheresaB]

I intermittent fast, I take pregnenolone in pill form in the morning, didn't know it was advised with a meal.

[slacker]

Pregnenalone is a precursor to many other steroid based hormones, including progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol. I've attached a chart that illustrates this. I think that non-conventional practitioners place people on pregnenalone if levels are low to support appropriate creation of all these other hormones. This is not a traditional western medicine approach.

I take 10 mg of pregnenalone with breakfast. My supplement bottle recommends taking with a meal. The second attachment is a product information sheet from Pure Encapsulation, the company I get my product from.

Steroidogenic-Pathways-Chart.pdf

[circular]

I take 10 mg Pure Encapsulations with late breakfast and am not aware of any issues. It raised my pregnenolone from near the floor to good levels.

[circular]

I take 10 mg pregnenolone with breakfast. Recent testing showed I was in the lab’s range at 139, but that’s above Dr. Bredesen’s upper end of the range (100). So I’m taking a 1-2 week break and then will take it just six days a week. I never heard of taking pregnenolone at bedtime but given my predilection toward insomnia, I won’t bother trying.

Hi TheBrain! Have you confirmed your lab isn’t for 17-hydroxypregnenolone? That form has a much broader normal range. I think Dr. Bredesen’s target is for pregnenolone MS (?) that has a lower upper end. If you tested that you’re over, but if 17-hydroxypregnenolone them you may be normal. Need to double check which form he is giving a target for.

[Metta4]

I take 5 mg. (tablet) in the morning while fasting and it doesn't cause any problems - except it probably does start the circadian clock, but then so does the coffee I drink soon after. I don't take it all the time, just when I need some help with focus or a project. And *maybe* it makes me feel more cheerful and awake.

My personal experience is that both pregnenolone and progesterone can end up raising your cortisol levels - creating a more dramatic early morning spike (e.g. 4 a.m. panic attacks). I've observed it more with progesterone, but I wouldn't take the hormone pathway chart above as gospel. I think a number of studies have suggested that it's not completely predictable how hormones are converted into each other.

I try to be conservative with dosing since I am on the small side. Have to go back and see how my "normal" pregnenolone maps to Bredesen ranges.