A recent Astral Codex Ten post explored the link between progesterone, its metabolite allopregnanolone, and depression. One of the questions it raised was “why can’t we just give people progesterone and let them metabolize it into allopregnanolone?”
1. Progesterone has been given to men, in the form of Norethisterone - suicidal ideation / depression is the reason we don’t have a male hormonal contraceptive.
2. The progesterone only pill has a higher risk of depression than the combined pill in women. This is particularly the case for older more ‘androgenic’ forms of synthetic progesterone
A few thoughts:
1. Progesterone has been given to men, in the form of Norethisterone - suicidal ideation / depression is the reason we don’t have a male hormonal contraceptive.
2. The progesterone only pill has a higher risk of depression than the combined pill in women. This is particularly the case for older more ‘androgenic’ forms of synthetic progesterone
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2552796
3. 5α-reductase inhibitors are actually an effective treatment for PMDD by blocking allopregnanolone production https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4748434/
"Interesting thought: do 5α-reductase inhibitors cause depression?"
Good guess: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2610105