Quote Originally Posted by TubZy View Post
Very good, don't really take much these days besides caffeine (increase neurosteroids), niacinamide (increase 5AR in CNS) and vitamin C (increase neurosteroids). Have some ups and downs but overall I seem to be improving despite not really changing my regimen.

I've pretty much concluded with another member who developed a pretty well thought out theory that PFS seems to be mainly a depletion of 5AR I in the CNS most likely from a pituitary issue since many of us had severely low LH/FSH (which are pituitary hormones). Pituitary hormones positively regulate 5AR I. Since one of the pituitary hormones is oxytocin, which is definitely low in PFS people, next experiment is trying a few things that increase oxytocin which would increase 5AR I, oxytocin is highly correlated with dopamine too, which is known to be low in PFS.

Issue why increasing LH/FSH through HCG or clomid doesn't work or can temporarily help is that the downstream effects of those drugs raise androgens (T/DHT) which would then decrease 5AR I making you feel worse again, that is why it is so tricky. 5ARI and II act on inverse relationships, meaning increasing DHT directly or T, will cause 5ARII to increase but will lower 5AR I and vice versa, basically proving that the condition is stemming originally in the CNS. The reason why androsterone (R andro) helps is because its acts both in the CNS (5AR I) and serum (5AR II) meaning it acts on both enzymes even though it is claimed to just "increase" DHT. Androsterone can also positively modulate GABA-A and can serve as a precursor to allopreg.

The most common symptom I got from taking proviron/DHT gel in the past was my libido would go up and my body composition would change positively but would shoot my anxiety and mental symptoms through the roof, which makes absolute sense now since 5AR I is dropping even lower. Let me also state that prior to ever taking finasteride either proviron or DHT based things never gave me those mental "side" effects before.

Differential regulation of steroid 5alpha-reductase isozymes expression by androgens in the adult rat brain. - PubMed - NCBI


"The gene expression of 5alpha-R type 2 is under the positive control of T and DHT. The gene that codes for 5alpha-R type 1 is not constitutive, because its expression is negatively regulated by T and DHT."


High dose vitamin C increases oxytocin along with neurosteroids, another option we just found out about the probiotic L. reuteri which can greatly increase oxytocin. So hope to have some updates soon.


"The activity of the PAM enzyme system is dependent upon vitamin C (ascorbate), which is a necessary vitamin cofactor. By chance, sodium ascorbate by itself was found to stimulate the production of oxytocin from ovarian tissue over a range of concentrations in a dose-dependent manner.[21] Many of the same tissues (e.g. ovaries, testes, eyes, adrenals, placenta, thymus, pancreas) where PAM (and oxytocin by default) is found are also known to store higher concentrations of vitamin C".[22]


He presented enough evidence to make a pretty good point along with personal experiences. Most of the stuff I researched (caffeine, nicotine, niacinamide etc.) goes hand in hand with his research too.

https://raypeatforum.com/community/t...e-brain.17354/
So just to flesh this out. Putting aside the method of getting recovered (we all know what to do), but focusing on what the method addresses, do we need to stop inflammation of the pituitary to allow it to return to normal function which will restore 5ar1 in the CNS?

Or do we need to do both that and then restore 5ar in the CNS through the use of androsterone?