Pregnenolone vs Progesterone for sleep
Short answer: For sleep, more users report improvement with Progesterone — 100% of 12 reports, versus 73% of 11 for Pregnenolone.
Pregnenolone has 12 meta-analyses and 36 randomized trials on PubMed; Progesterone has 1,020 and 2,324.
Based on 246 reports about Pregnenolone and 30 about Progesterone. Not medical advice.
| Pregnenolone Supplement | Progesterone Medication | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 53%helped79 reports · medium confidence | 91%helped10 reports · few reports |
| Verdict | Mixed | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 12 / 36 | 1,020 / 2,324 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Mood % reporting improvement | 94% (31) | — |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 77% (30) | — |
| Hormones % reporting improvement | 79% (24) | 100% (2) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 73% (11) | 100% (12) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 86% (21) | — |
| Common side effects | hair loss, demotivation, jitteriness, androgenic symptoms | intolerance, hormone changes, next day |
| Typical dose reported | 5 mg / 2x daily | Not listed |
Women with anorexia nervosa have higher cortisol levels and lower DHEA-S and testosterone levels compared to women without anorexia nervosa. This finding is important to consider when evaluating low-weight women for disorders involving the adrenal axis, especially Cushing's syndrome.
Eur J Endocrinol, 2023 ↗“I know pregnenalone helped me with that anxiety... 25mg a day is wonderful.”
MHT improves flow-mediated arterial dilation (FMD) but fails to lower the risk of all-cause death and cardiovascular events, and increases the risk of stroke and venous thrombosis in postmenopausal women. Early acceptance of MHT not only reduces the risk of all-cause death and cardiovascular events but also further improves FMD, although the risk of stroke and venous thrombosis is not reduced. There is no difference in the outcome of cardiovascular system endpoints between mono-estrogen therapy and combination therapy of estrogen and progesterone.
BMC Womens Health, 2024 ↗“I used to struggle with this as a perimenopause symptom. Progesterone has helped a lot.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate