Why Does HCG Improve My Sleep?

Pharma / TRT Testosterone Replacement
1

I have taken HCG in and out of my TRT.

When HCG is in my TRT my sleep is much better and without HCG insomnia is very present.

I do believe I have low adrenals (previous blood work (3 yrs ago) showed bottomed out DHEA, really low progesterone, but cortisol was within range.

Also did 24 hr saliva test around that time which showed an inverse cortisol curve with low cortisol in am and high cortisol in pm.

Anyways looking at HCG I saw that it raised progesterone levels.

I also saw that low progesterone can cause insomnia.

My question is it the raise in progesterone (from the HCG) cause the improved sleep?

Thanks

Btris

2

If you have ovaries, that might be true.

hCG could be improving pregnenolone levels. Pregnenolone–>progesterone occurs in the adrenals.

You can get 2% OTC progesterone cream in the USA, Google “KAL progesterone cream amazon”.

Some women find that progesterone improves sleep. Just got a gal started two weeks ago and that was not the intended benefit, but certainly is well received.

Now some women find that they cannot sleep when applying progesterone at night. This is because they convert progesterone–>cortisol and that wakes them up.

3

[quote]KSman wrote:
If you have ovaries, that might be true.

hCG could be improving pregnenolone levels. Pregnenolone–>progesterone occurs in the adrenals.

You can get 2% OTC progesterone cream in the USA, Google “KAL progesterone cream amazon”.

Some women find that progesterone improves sleep. Just got a gal started two weeks ago and that was not the intended benefit, but certainly is well received.

Now some women find that they cannot sleep when applying progesterone at night. This is because they convert progesterone–>cortisol and that wakes them up.[/quote]

I was under the impression that HCG boost LH which can then boost testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone?

I actually tried another brand of progesterone cream but didnt notice much benefit from it.

4

In males, LH–[testes]–>pregnenolone–[adrenals]–>progesterone
The pregnenolone–>progesterone process in the adrenals is not influenced by LH.

See Steroid hormone - Wikipedia

and Progesterone - Wikipedia

“”“Progesterone is produced in the ovaries (by the corpus luteum), the adrenal glands (near the kidney), and, during pregnancy, in the placenta. Progesterone is also stored in adipose (fat) tissue.”“”

This is interesting:
“”"
Effects
Micrograph showing changes to the endometrium due to progesterone (decidualization) H&E stain.

Progesterone exerts its primary action through the intracellular progesterone receptor although a distinct, membrane bound progesterone receptor has also been postulated.[23][24] In addition, progesterone is a highly potent antagonist of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR, the receptor for aldosterone and other mineralocorticosteroids). It prevents MR activation by binding to this receptor with an affinity exceeding even those of aldosterone and other corticosteroids such as cortisol and corticosterone.[25]

Progesterone has a number of physiological effects that are amplified in the presence of estrogen. Estrogen through estrogen receptors upregulates the expression of progesterone receptors.[26
“”"

States:

  • above that progesterone can block cortisol receptors. - easier to sleep
  • and an implication that low E2 could tend to reverse the above effects