Can you become dependent or addicted to progesterone/allopregnanolone?
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Progesterone and its metabolite allopregnanolone, act as strong GABA agonists. For people who need to use it for pain relief is it better to use intermittently(especially allo) or is that something that can be used every day without creating addiction or withdrawal similar to painkillers?
For example could someone theoretically replace their use of opiates or barbiturates with progesterone/allopregnanolone daily to normalize or would it have to also be used sparingly to prevent the body from becoming resistant?
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@notmcas this is an interesting question, following!
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from experience, pregnenolone/allopregnenolone is somehow self-limiting. if you take it too long or too much, it may cause anxiety instead
i have taken 50mg-100mg of pregnenolone a day for months, and then 50mg a week for over a year, haven't experienced any withdrawal symptoms at all
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@deliciousowl I think allopregnanolone would be far more addictive though, thanks to it being a strong gaba agonist?
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It depends on the purpose of why are you taking it. If you are taking it to fix your metabolism you could feel withdrawal symptoms but it will still be better than before you started if you made sure to fix all others issues. Pregno and Allo should be tools used to help restoring normal metabolic rate until having enough good thyroid to create them without the need of such products. Kids in good health have high ability to create Allop due to strong alpha reductase enzyme activity.
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According to Dr. Peat supplementing progesterone enables the body to regain its ability to produce more progesterone. This means there is no need to take it continuously. He adds, “but if there is a progesterone deficiency, something has caused that deficiency, and it is important to find out what the basic problem is. A diet that is deficient in high quality protein, or that contains natural food toxicants, often is responsible for a progesterone deficiency. If your diet is killing you, supplementing progesterone is of limited value.”
Regarding Pregnenolone he said, “being less fat soluble than cholesterol, pregnenolone leavesthe mitochondrion, so it tends not to inhibit its own synthesis.”
“The fact that progesterone (and probably pregnenolone) stimulates its own synthesis means that taking it does not suppress the body's ability to synthesize it, as happens with cortisol. Sometimes, one dose or a few doses can restore the body's ability to produce enough of its own.”
Young people don’t tend to get much benefit from supplementing pregnenolone because they can produce ample amounts. But if you do, you won’t inhibit your own production but you may end up needing much more nutrients.
Quotes from: From PMS To Menopause: Female Hormones in Context By Raymond Peat
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@notmcas taking it for pain relief mainly. I’m curious if it will cause withdrawal pain if overused
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@notmcas pregnenolone converts to allopregnenalone
