Anybody have experience with pregnenolone?
Lots!! Writing a tweet thread about it now lol.
Heres the very very rough draft for you 
TLDR: I’ve personally used low dose Preg/DHEA to help raise my T naturally over 1100
If I were a hormone I’d be Pregnenolone.
If your Pregnenolone is not optimized - everything else is negatively effected. Libido, mood, digestion, muscle strength/
Known amongst many as one of the Youth Hormones - Pregnenolone is responsible for the production of all other Steroids - impacting practically every organ/system in your body.
The Thread 
:
Pregnenolone is derived from cholesterol which is shuttled into the mitochondria for steroidogenesis.
Pregnenolone is transported to ER (endoplasmic reticulum) for further steroid production of progesterone, DHEA, cortisol, Testosterone, estradiol
The whole cascade thereby relies on mitochondrial function and specific enzymes like StAR, CYP11A, Cytochrome P450 etc
We will discuss how to optimize these and much more later.
But first, some history on Pregnenolone and its uses 
In the 1940s Pregnenolone was tested in patients with great success for a wide range of symptoms/ailments.
However scientist determined that “its very generality made it seem unlike a drug”
Ergo - it was not patentable because of being natural and thus people lost interest.
Although not acting like many drugs (which arguably makes it more beneficial imo) - it certainly does impact many receptors and enzymes that have a drastic influence on your health.
These studies in the 1940s helped us recognize how Pregnenolone really is vital for your memory and cognitive performance.
A great deal of these benefits has to do with the powerful Allopregnenolone now known for its incredible GABA-ergic properties and brain protective effects.
DHT - the hormone that dictates androgenicity
Pregenolone can go down the 5AR pathway leading to higher DHT levels.
Allopregnenolone also stimulates 5AR so it works through many pathways.
When DHT is high, estrogen is kept in control and you will be left with
Pregnenolone is a Catatoxic hormone
A very very interesting article I read from @haidut talks about how Pregnenolone is Catatoxic
Boost Progesterone
Progesterone is essential for both men and women. However, it can definitely become too elevated and cause undesirable symptoms in men (lowered libido, numbness, sedation, elevated temperatures, etc).
This typically is only an issue with very high dose supplementation.
Which is what we will get into next:
upplementing Pregnenolone is a tricky one.
It takes a quick search on any forum to see the wide range of effects people get from this neurosteroid:
-
“My mood and libido have never been better and my muscles got harder!”
- or - -
" I got really irritable and anxious, couldn’t sleep, and started retaining a ton of water"
What gives?
Well remember, pregnenolone starts the whole cascade off. It can go down the androgen pathway, or favor progesterone, aldosterone, Pregnenolone sulfate all of which when elevated can give some terrible side effects
What about the Pregnenolone Steal??
IMO it doesn’t exist…
For those that don’t know - the Pregnenolone steal is this concept that when stress is elevated - the body steals Pregnenolone to use in order to convert to cortisol.
This seems to be a product of simplifying the steroid pathways.
Many studies now back this up too. There is no secret Pregnenolone Pool in the body that is waiting to be converted into Cortisol.
It also takes one look at studies proving the pregnenolone supplementation lowers CRH/CRF more than any other steroid to appreciate that side effects are most likely not from boosting Cortisol.
“But Sam - I, and many people get jittery, anxious, and can’t sleep when taking pregnenolone”
Indeed, but this is likely from it converting to Pregnenolone Sulfate which antagonizies GABA. This happens typically from too high a dose.
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Personally it gave me energy at first but over the course of a few months it turned into extreme lethargy and accelerated hair loss.
I was taking a low dose sublingually along with a low dose DHEA sublingually. I might try it again but at the time I believe my levels were saturated, as I was getting negative effects from just 2.5mg of each taken twice per week. I got mine from ND and the DHEA from Douglas Labs. Alternatively ND now sells a tribulus and cistanche product that contains both. However, I’m too scared of the hair loss effects to try them.