Why would progest-e/pregnenolone/vitamin e give me acne?

I have a strange side-effect from Progest-E: when taking more than 3 drops per day I get acne on my face like in my teens. I now started with a somewhat higher vitamin-E dosage since I received my lotioncrafter batch (2 tsp/day) and It gives me the same side-effect. Previously I thought it might be gut bacteria converting progesterone into acne-causing steroids (like Ray mentioned) but I don't think the same would happen with vit-e, so it must be another reason. Years ago, when I used pregnenolone the same happened. Any ideas? Btw, male 38 years old.

Re: Why would progest-e and vitamin e give me acne?

RP has mentioned that vitamin A is the main factor in acne and dandruff.
Porgest-E should increase your metabolism by lowering estrogen and
increasing thyroid function. You may try increasing vitamin A from beef liver to see if it makes any difference. He mostly recommends pregnenolone to men than progesterone.

You either were used to suppressed testosterone etc. levels, or the vitamin E is lowering prostaglandin production in the skin. Just a thought. (Is skin also drier? Did the pregnenolone also have vitamin E carrier).

Such_Saturation said:

You either were used to suppressed testosterone etc. levels, or the vitamin E is lowering prostaglandin production in the skin. Just a thought. (Is skin also drier? Did the pregnenolone also have vitamin E carrier).

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If anything, skin gets oilier but not much. I do think that I have either high aromatization of testosterone to estrogen, or low testosterone levels to begin with since I have a typical gynoid fat distribution. Why do you think lowered prostaglandins would have a bad effect on skin? Pregnenolone was in powder form btw.

nograde said:

Why do you think lowered prostaglandins would have a bad effect on skin?

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That's what happens in "EFA deficiency", you rub some Mead's acid on your skin and it will get real dry. It works like aspirin.

Update:

My hair is falling out like I've never seen before. If I rub my head in the morning there are easily 100-200 hairs falling. For the first time in my life I can clearly see my scalp shining through my hair on the top of my head :-(

For my face-acne I now wash my face with ketoconazole shampoo every second day and pimples are mostly gone (keto inhibits steroidgenesis).

My joints hurt, arthritis symptoms in my feet reappear for the first time after years. Carpal tunnel syndrome gets worse. These are common side effects of aromatase inhibition (e.g. with anastrozole).

what'sgoing on? Should I stop vitamin-e supplementation? Any ideas?

Hey nograde,

I was just wondering if you ever found out what was causing the severe acne. This sounds similar to my situation right now, although I don't have a lot of acne, the dandruff and the constant excessive shedding of my hair and skin (pretty much all over my body). It does get better sometimes but I'm having a hard time pinpointing exactly what causes it.

My theory is that my thyroid function has actually improved but due to a lot of fatty acids (I used to be on a VLC diet not so long ago and I think my body hasn't switched complete yet to sugar burning) and lower than required nutritional intake (B vitamins, vitamin A and sodium mainly) the T4 doesn't get converted to T3 properly and creates what feels like hypothyroidism instead (i.e. skin, hair shed, low temps and pulse). Now overall my symptoms seem to have improved but occasionally I go into what I describe as a relapse and have to claw my way out.

Anyway, It would be nice to hear your ideas and experiences. Thanks.

I heard Ray say once on a radio show tbat progesterone is governed bya positive-feedback system I dont know if pregglnenelone is the same.. If I still feel good off jt, I might take a break myself due to acne, but I have a powdered form of vitamin a so I.probably dont dose enough.

nograde said:

Update:

My hair is falling out like I've never seen before. If I rub my head in the morning there are easily 100-200 hairs falling. For the first time in my life I can clearly see my scalp shining through my hair on the top of my head :-(

For my face-acne I now wash my face with ketoconazole shampoo every second day and pimples are mostly gone (keto inhibits steroidgenesis).

My joints hurt, arthritis symptoms in my feet reappear for the first time after years. Carpal tunnel syndrome gets worse. These are common side effects of aromatase inhibition (e.g. with anastrozole).

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Another possible example of estrogen's protective roles that are ignored by the Doc himself. I'm not saying he's wrong, but there are consequences to misinterpretation. Ray says estrogen causes osteoporosis but we know that low estrogen causes arthritis.

I think people overstate or overanalyse Ray's views. Peat says high estrogen is a problem, not normal or low estrogen.

I would stop vit e.

It is all about balance and not 'estrogen is bad'. Too high metabolism, promoted by low estrogen, will leach minerals from bones etc.

Carpal tunnel is a sign of a metabolism being pushed too hard too fast, without mineral absorption. Slow things down and work on other areas beside vitamin e and a. Support your kidneys and liver first.

I know this is an older post, but I've had a similar experience with Vit E lately. Started using a bit more topically this past week and cystic acne has increased a lot. I also started getting carpal tunnel or arthritic-like symptoms. I didn't think there was any reason those symptoms would be associated with Vit E, but after reading this post, if aromatase inhibitors can cause carpal tunnel, then perhaps that is the reason. Also, my hair might be shedding a tad more than usual, but that's always a hard one for me to gauge.
I use Vit A- maybe it's not enough? But interesting that I've had a similar experience. I'm a girl too (just mentioning since original poster is a male )

Was the consensus on this to just back off with the E... or keep the E the same and add in something else? Not sure about the prostaglandin issue discussed above.

Original poster here. Maybe I can add some new experiences.

Regarding acne: Vitamin E, Pregnenolone and Progesterone all have the same acne promoting effect for me. What's new is that Vitamin A (40000IU+/day) does the same. I wrote Ray and he said that all three (Vit-E/Pregnenolone/Progesterone) have a Vitamin-A sparing effect, which I think is the key that links these substances. Now, I have the following theory: As Ray often wrote, Vit-A causes skin cells to live longer and if something is off with your skin balance this reduced slaugh off could actually clog your pores leading to acne. Increased oil-production (maybe through increased testosterone) does the rest. Also note that prescription Retinoids (Retin-A) initially make acne often worse before everything magically clears up.

Regarding estrogen: After several experiments, I am definitely sure that driving estrogen too low is not good for me. Maybe it's something you get used to but literature on aromatase inhibitors and experiences in the bodybuilding scene tell another story. All of the following cause the "too low estrogen symptoms" for me if overused for a few days, most potent first: high-dose zinc (90mg) + p5p (50mg), selenium (400ug+), progesterone (5 drops progest-e), 1800IU Vitamin E.

Hope that helps ...

nograde said:

zinc (90mg) + p5p (50mg), 1800IU Vitamin E.

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Jesus