Why do some take DHEA and Pregnanolone on TRT?

[WeaponPharma]

Mine has also always been undetectable, even if I take 100mg of pregnenolone. I still haven’t gotten any good answers for why so many of us on testosterone show depleted pregnenolone.

HOWEVER, taking pregnenolone has undoubtedly increased my progesterone, which tends to be as close to 0.0 as possible for most of us. When I take pregnenolone, progesterone does indeed increase a bit.

Therefore, I think the best thing to test to see if pregnenolone is doing it’s job on labs is to check progesterone instead.

The pregnenolone blood test is expensive and I don’t see how much we can do to change it.

If anyone has any alternate or similar experiences, I’d love to hear.

Personally, I take 50mg DHEA since my DHEA-S level was on the lower side (this is very easy to check and nobody should randomly add it without getting their level checked, however it declines as we get older so chances are most people could benefit if you want more optimal levels.
I also take 100mg pregnenolone (50mg breakfast and dinner)

i personally take 100mg of preg every 3 days and 50mg DHEA p/d - why??

memory formation

it has absolutely assisted

 

[120nmol]

Been taking dhea / preg on and off for years
Usually dhea 25mg a day should be enough to keep it at the higher side of the ref and 10mg preg triples progesterone from 0.0 to 3.+ in matter of few weeks
Few things I noticed dhea above 50mg a day raises e2 and dht by a lot and for me 50mg and above I start shedding hair like crazy..
Dhea and preg gave me libido boost but it fades away just like proviron..
I’m off them right now for a while but I always keep a stash of them both just in cases.

 

[xrayphoton13]

i personally take 100mg of preg every 3 days and 50mg DHEA p/d - why??

memory formation

it has absolutely assisted

This is the main reason I'm wanting to take them. Well that and memory recall. Sometimes I'll be talking the past few years and just forget the next word and it will be on the tip of my tongue. Frustrating bc it used to never happen. Not like basic words but like an actor's name I should know or something like that

 

[WeaponPharma]

This is the main reason I'm wanting to take them. Well that and memory recall. Sometimes I'll be talking the past few years and just forget the next word and it will be on the tip of my tongue. Frustrating bc it used to never happen. Not like basic words but like an actor's name I should know or something like that

dude - mental health is a difficult thing to assess "from the inside". It is your own brain making an assessment about itself - a closed, self-referential clusterfuck loop - and in my opinion the situation is especially acute with these peripheral neurosteroids. I had been using for about 1.5 years - mid level doses - and something was not right. It is a vague sense that your brain is not working "right". This is where the pregnenolone/DHEA step in.

GOOD LUCK LADS! LOVE YOU ALL

 

[cmK9s33]

i personally take 100mg of preg every 3 days and 50mg DHEA p/d - why??

memory formation

it has absolutely assisted

How did you come to determine that type of dosing? Any particular type of pregnenolone/dhea? Some instances I've read that topical dhea is believed to be superior or at least "feels" better than equivalent oral dose.
And yes the memory formation/recall is something that seems to just be off for me at times, which is extremely concerning.

 

[WeaponPharma]

How did you come to determine that type of dosing? Any particular type of pregnenolone/dhea? Some instances I've read that topical dhea is believed to be superior or at least "feels" better than equivalent oral dose.
And yes the memory formation/recall is something that seems to just be off for me at times, which is extremely concerning.

i forget where I read it, but i seem to recall that pregnenolone pulses - higher, intermittent doses - rather than daily lower doses, do a better job of saturating the natural reserve. I have tried both - 25mg p/d and 100mg e3d - i prefer the latter.

 

[SnowyMiami]

I tried taking both for a month and didn't notice a damn bit of difference. Shitcanned the pills, two less I gotta take every day.

Throwing in DHEA and preg is some retardation Vigorous Steve spread. It is probably completely unnecessary, if not detrimental, for most men.

 

[Avies48]

Throwing in DHEA and preg is some retardation Vigorous Steve spread. It is probably completely unnecessary, if not detrimental, for most men.

Nope it actually started from a doctor who had his own forum named dr crisler, had to do with the feedback loop in the hormone cascade and how once u introduce test into the body (no homo style) then the body wouldnt or couldnt keep up with the preg and dhea side of things… too much of one thing alters the cascade and thus is detrimental… so do ur trt but add in dhea and preg to balance out the bodies hormone cascade… feedback loop… dontchaknow? Well the more u know…

 

[Eddie.]

Throwing in DHEA and preg is some retardation Vigorous Steve spread. It is probably completely unnecessary, if not detrimental, for most men.

Wrong. He never said to supplement no matter what, always do bloodwork first to see your levels. With age and chronic gear use those two tend to deplete, if you're having legit low levels and start supplementing, it will be night and day to overall well being, cognitive function, sex life etc.

 

[RockyP]

Been taking dhea / preg on and off for years
Usually dhea 25mg a day should be enough to keep it at the higher side of the ref and 10mg preg triples progesterone from 0.0 to 3.+ in matter of few weeks
Few things I noticed dhea above 50mg a day raises e2 and dht by a lot and for me 50mg and above I start shedding hair like crazy..
Dhea and preg gave me libido boost but it fades away just like proviron..
I’m off them right now for a while but I always keep a stash of them both just in cases.

I had been taking DHEA 100 for a year with my TRT but ended up stopping recently because I thought it was unnecessary. DHEA sulfate levels on bloodwork were mid 400’s. However, while still on test 200, I’ve actually noticed my libido dip a bit. I’m going to resume just to see if it’s all in my head.

 

[Avies48]

I had been taking DHEA 100 for a year with my TRT but ended up stopping recently because I thought it was unnecessary. DHEA sulfate levels on bloodwork were mid 400’s. However, while still on test 200, I’ve actually noticed my libido dip a bit. I’m going to resume just to see if it’s all in my head.

Its not all in ur head dhea has plenty to do with sexual function and the hormonal cascade… go back on ur dhea… mine use to be above 400 and now they can barely be found… i also need to go back on dhea… badly…


Stress Hormones Before Sex


Hormones:


The adrenal glands help to regulate the body's ability to adapt to stress and they also produce hormones that regulate reproduction. The caveat is that adapting to stress overrides reproduction. Adapting to stress is critical for immediate survival and that is first priority. Once our physiology understands that we are not under an environmental threat, than it will focus its energy on reproductive hormones.


The major stress hormones are cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones help increase energy, increase blood sugar levels and speed up circulation and respiration to help the body survive through fight or flight.


The major sex hormones produced by the adrenals are estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. These are all critical for growth, metabolism, strength, endurance, mental drive, menstrual function and reproductive ability.


The master compound that is used by the body to produce cortisol and progesterone is called pregnenolone. Pregnenolone can either create cortisol, progesterone or DHEA. DHEA is used by the body to produce testosterone and estrogen.

 

[malomkarom]

Check out episode 002 of type IIx podcast. If I’m remembering correctly, he says in it that dhea is a quick way to bring up e2 when it’s crashed.
Hope that helps!

Used it to treat crashed estrogen

Recently, 10ish mg DHEA daily brought my E2 up considerably, to very liveable levels (for me that's 35+ from experience with bloodwork) from being off-off for over a month, 60-80mg/w before that so we're talking starting from single digit E2.

That's like 150mg oral.

DHEA aromatises like crazy for an OTC. I ran out of test and while it wasn't exactly a dream, DHEA had me somewhat functional, the E2 independent mood improvements also helped.

 

[RockyP]

Used it to treat crashed estrogen

Recently, 10ish mg DHEA daily brought my E2 up considerably, to very liveable levels (for me that's 35+ from experience with bloodwork) from being off-off for over a month, 60-80mg/w before that so we're talking starting from single digit E2.

That's like 150mg oral.

DHEA aromatises like crazy for an OTC. I ran out of test and while it wasn't exactly a dream, DHEA had me somewhat functional, the E2 independent mood improvements also helped.

This ^^^

I resumed my DHEA 100 mg for 2 days and immediately got puffy nips. Put it back in the drawer for if / when primo crashes my E2.

 

[bigbeancat]

Dhea gives me weird dreams. Also doesnt really do anything else

 

[thestruggle]

My experience on DHEA while on TRT was surprising for me:

Thread '"Holistic" TRT protocol: DHEA and Pregnenolone?'

Oct 17, 2025

I noticed that since I started TRT, my DHEA-S levels has significantly declined over time.

I find that adding 25mg of oral micronized DHEA to my TRT (50mg TE e4d + 40mg testogel daily + 0.125mg anastrazole e4d) has a clearly tangible effect on my mood, energy and social capacity.

Have you experienced this with DHEA as well? What are the other aspects one should consider to supplement for while on TRT? My stupid endoc doc had no odea about dhea and didn't even check for it.

• thestruggle
• Replies: 36
• Forum: Steroid Forum

 

[ganciodestro]

I always used hcg and my dhea is mid 200.. so it is in low range..
i have just bought dhea 25 mg and I will try it every day after breakfast and I will repeat bloodwork after 7/10 days.

Pregnolone is not tested in my country so i dont know if I need to take it

 

[NotHuman]

If you have a deficiency, treat it just to be safe.

If your levels are within range, don’t take it.

If you take it and get side effects, you are using too much and need to reduce the dose, not stop taking it.

 

[dbbporter]

I always used hcg and my dhea is mid 200.. so it is in low range..
i have just bought dhea 25 mg and I will try it every day after breakfast and I will repeat bloodwork after 7/10 days.

Pregnolone is not tested in my country so i dont know if I need to take it

Just as an anecdotal reference....I was taking 50mg DHEA daily and 750iu HCG weekly (500mg TE/150mg primo) and my DHEA-S levels came back at 456. I backed the DHEA down to 25mg EOD.

 

[Avies48]

Just as an anecdotal reference....I was taking 50mg DHEA daily and 750iu HCG weekly (500mg TE/150mg primo) and my DHEA-S levels came back at 456. I backed the DHEA down to 25mg EOD.

My total dhea was about 450 prior to going on trt… now im lucky if its 200… dhea has a feedback loop in the testosterone circle of hormones… if ur shbg is good dhea may have a role in that…