[wee2er]

Hi All,

I have been researching pregnenolone and progesterone and think I have got myself a tad confused...

Checking out all the brill science from our Lotus, and backed by other's experiences progesterone helps breast maturity, but only after breast have been formed (a very simplistic overview of it I know!).

Whereas, pregnenolone seems to be a bit wishy-washy in that it can be converted to DHEA, Estrogen and or Testosterone! With no clear way of steering it towards one or the other.

The reason for the research was because my last two hormone checks found my T level to be very low, lower than the normal female range and the doc suggested it would be better if I had a bit more T. As my E has been well above female range I have reduced my Een a little so this I presume should help.

Now wondering what preg would do - increase DHEA, T or E, or be a complete waste of time?

Is anybody taking pregnenolone? If so what's your experience of it?

Or has anybody any thoughts on it?

[Heaven's Night]

Following because this is something I'm not familiar with.

[wee2er]

Just realised that when I searched on here about pregnenolone, I didn't think about trying different spelling, and may have spelt it wrong in my initial search, doh!

I've now found a small but tantalising bit of info on Tanya Squirrels thread here:

Thread Modes Pregnalone, good , bad,or ugly?

Our Lotus's response was to take it in the morning as it may be a pro-adaptogen.

Just for clarity, 'the back door pathway' is the sciency bit and not what I initially thought as boofing it LOL

I've ordered a bottle of Nutricost Pregenolone 100mg caps up for a trial, so will take 1xcap/day in the morning and see if this has any noticeable effects.

Not sure yet as to how to gauge any changes, other than the usual effects of increased T. As it happens, my bloods specialist will be doing my usual FBC etc bloods in April to which he has added the hormone checks to. He said he wanted to do them as he is really interested in what I was doing and the benefits I was telling him about being on E     

 Unfortunately it looks like Tanya hasn't visited us in some time, but hopefully our amazing Lotus may be able to add more.

[wee2er]

A quick not much to report update on pregnenolone.

Have been taking this for  a couple of weeks now and as yet can't say anything other than my eczema has flared up big time. Can't attribute that to the preg, but going to drop it for a week or two and see how my skins gets on.

I strongly suggest it isnt the preg as I get flare up once/twice a year, but will see.

Has anyone else had any experience with pregnenolone, would be interesting to know more.

[nephele]

Hi wee2er, did you end up continuing with pregnenolone?

I've been searching for info on it but so far only "trust me, bro" level stuff mainly. There was a redditor who apparently is a doctor of some kind and they explained that pregnenolone is the precursor of all sex hormones - the body makes it from cholesterole and then all the other sex hormones are made from pregnenolone. So I would guess if you're low on T or E, it could help (then again, maybe increasing foods that increase cholesterol would help as well?). Some people report feeling amazing on preg, having insomnia, clearing brain fog, not feeling anything at all, and some report no changes in anything whatsoever after months of use.

Swanson has DHEA that comes with pregnenolone added and that made me search for more info.

Also seems to be better known in the gym bro circles, I read many posts of people taking DHEA and preg to boost T. Makes sense, since again, the body makes all the sex hormones from the same stuff.

This kinda leads me into wondering how DHEA and pregnenolone help NBE in people with male genetics/mostly male biology. What's the mechanism? Is it mainly to make the body generate more T and then utilise aromatisation to convert that into E?

One thing I also wonder is that if the pituitary gland releases LH which in turn triggers the conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone (correct me if I'm wrong here), then maybe using pituitary glandular has the same effect of taking external DHEA/preg but has the added effect of the body using more of its cholesterol, right? So glandulars would seem the more natural path here, although the reality is probably more nuanced and complex. Also, does using pituitary glandular even cause more LH to be released, or is the mechanism something else altogether?

[wee2er]

Hi nephele,

More questions than answers LOL

I'm no further forward answering anything, but I've ended up using just pregnenlone cream (SM Nutrients) and can I say it has done something? Not really as  I can't attribute any to any significant change.
 
As it is a cream I use, it's part of my topical regime which of late has been breast - daily 2xpumps with ten drops of Red Clover extract and hips/bum/thighs - 3-days a week 2xpumps of oestrogel.

As for DHEA, I've done a mix of cream and capsules, but have dropped it completely as the only real benefit I could see with was breast growth, which I'm not chasing these days.

With my current topical and weekly Een (equ to 3.5mg/day) shots I'm seeing my areolas slowly increase in diameter but thankfully no significant breast growth, but I am achieving decent lower-half feminisation, which is what I am focusing on.

I still have plans to try more progesterone capsules and 'boof' them, but that'll be a 2026 project.

[nephele]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! It's invaluable IMO

From what I've read, DHEA affects on many levels but seems to be attributed to things like mood, sleep, mental clarity, awareness etc. Youthfulness. I suppose it's more effective for active breast growth, the lower body proportions are mainly about where the body stores fat, right?

One thing I've noticed (a bit off topic, but regarding lower body) is that I've developed quite a set of thighs and butt during the last couple years and I've had
1) lots of work-related stress
2) periods of regular HIIT/walking/cycling/skiing etc activity
3) periods of no activity at all + self-medicating my work stress with fast food
4) eating healthy, mainly vegan whole foods with sometimes fish and meat but not everyday or every week
5) probably more, but can't think of anything else right now. it's hard to think back and attribute some minor lifestyle change for shaping up your butt.

I think the long periods of no activity and fatty foods combined with healthy periods with physical activity has caused some bulking and cutting in my fat stores and my body has started to pile the new fat into new storages. It's already enough to not fit into pretty much any of my old trousers any more, and women's trousers are more fitting for my body at this point, now the struggle is finding pairs with long enough legs. And my partner has started to grab/slap my butt whenever she's nearby, so she definitely has noticed the changes as well. But I also think the cutting of old fat has been important for building the new fat storages in new places. Maybe it's shaking up the equilibrium, I have no idea.

[wee2er]

Hi nephele,

As said I dropped DHEA a while back, but now thinking about adding it again to my lower half topical regime, will see though as anything added equals extra cost! Got to weigh up the return of investment hehe.

With regards to your lower-half observations, I'm sure you are right in that you need to break the 'male' cycle of fat depositing in the bely area. How to achieve that, mmm? I'm hoping that just controlling my diet, cutting out the snacks, etc, alternate day fasting is enough.

However, saying that I'm struggling to  get back onto that regime but I too have seen some dramatic shape changes down below.

For me what's been noticeable is:
- although my hip bones don't seem to have changed it feels and looks like my femurs stick out more, creating a curve outwards from my hips
- additional fat depositing just below the top of my femurs down my outer thighs , that accentuates the outward curves
- additional fat depositing on my inner thighs, that added to the outer curves is really creating a curved thigh look
- with this additional inner thigh fat deposits, I've realised chubb-rub is real!
 
I'm also trying to be more consistent with exercise classes and adding legs, bums and tums exercises too, as I know they really do help shape that lower half.

I've always worn womens pants as they always seemed to fit me better but now they are really fitting better. Lucky you, your lady appreciating your changes LOL

[nephele]

Interested to hear your observations about DHEA! Hoping it'll have an effect (and positive effect at that).

Are you talking about the areas marked blue in this image? (sorry for the graphic image, but it's anatomy...)


My "Distal Posterior Thigh" area started suddenly existing in the last couple years and at first, they were just little nuggets that I could feel with my fingers. Now they're quite like in the picture, sticking out quite round, and I love them.

I'm happy your lower body is shaping up! I feel like that's one of my main areas of interest as well, I've always loved the pear shape.

[wee2er]

Yes, what I was trying to describe. its the lateral gluteal depression which is developing a lovely pronounced inward curve. Along with increasing gluteal creases.

My distal posterior thighs are have zero fat on them so are just muscle, which could be the swimming and cycling I do? However, my mid medial thighs are gaining fat along with my inner thighs.

Which is all to be expected with fat shifting from an Android to Gynoid (pear shape) body fat pattern.