I keep learning more about the positive effects of the herbal supplement, Murcuna Pruriens, on testosterone levels without having to take HGH. Those on this thread keep saying it doesn’t have an affect, however, anything that would raise testosterone and help stimulate FSH should have a positive effect on the biochemical component of this process.
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Hi Arcogon, It would seem that there may be some confusion in how the body works, but I think that I understand where you are wanting to go. The way that the body works is as follows. Testosterone is an adrenal hormone, and is part of the adrenal chain of hormones. It is converted from Androstiendione, which is made from DHEA, which is made from Pregnenolone, which is made from cholesterol. There is also an alternate pathway from estradiol (and estrogen) into testosterone. DHT (dihydrotestosterone) is made from testosterone, and is much more bilogically active for both PE purposes and for libido purposes. To raise testosterone, supplementing with DHEA (Andro is better, but no longer sold over the counter) will normally do the trick. An additional method would be to supplement with “TESTOFEN” which you can buy at Swansonsvitamins.com” rather inexpensively.
The hypothalamus (part of the brain) is our master regulator for the endocrine system. One of the things that it does is to constantly measure the amount of a number of hormones in the blood, and then when our levels get low, it releases a “releasing hormone” that goes to the pituitary gland, causing the gland to release the respective hormone. For testosterone, the hypothalamus measures both testosterone and estradiol (an estrogen). When those levels drop, it releases sex hormone releasing hormone. When the pituitary receives this, it release both Leutenizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH). In women, FSH ripens an egg in the ovary and prepares it for release. In Men it affects sperm motility. In both sexes, LH controls the production of testosterone, ASSUMING, that there is sufficent amounts of adrenal hormones to convert into testosterone (this is where DHEA comes in). In women, who get a large pulse of LH to cause the ejection of the ripened egg from the ovary, it also raises their libido, which helps in procreation.
Mucuna contains 15% DOPA, which I went into in an earlier thread. If your intent is to raise total testosterone, the options are 1 DHEA (perhaps 50 mg a day), 2. Real testosterone from a physician. 3. DHT from an international source. 4. Testofen (longer story on its method of action, but it works fairly well). 5. Any number of “steroids”, which are technically not testosterone, but close enough to pass in a number of cases. Information on them can be found on the various body building boards. 6. You can take estrogen reducers, which while they do not add testosterone, they reduce estrogen, which opposes testosterone on a cellular basis, and thereby increased the signal strength of testosterone. For that, I suggest DIM pills (Diindolymethane), which is made from broccoli, and a few other vegetables.
Out of all of them, transdermal DHT is the most powerful. If you use it for long, your libido will go up significantly. It may also affect your hair, as in hair loss, but it does not affect all, just some.
There are a number of over the counter testosterone products, and some of them do work reasonably well. They are not as good as the real stuff, but that may be harder to get. If you do decide to use steroids, be sure to read up on them, as all of them have to be cycled. Failure to cycle them, (and to reduce the increase in estrogen that their use causes) will cause your testicles to shrink. It can get worse than that with long term use of steroids.
As to Mucuna, if you need it (and about 15% of the population does) it works great. If you don’t need it and don’t get carried away, (by that, let’s say 3 pills per day), you should be fine. If you really get carried away, you can develop a tic, and if you do, it will be permanent. NOT GOOD.
Best of luck
