Does DHEA have a negative feedback loop?

[Gman86]

Just wondering if taking DHEA shuts off your endogenous production of DHEA, or if it just adds to your current DHEA level.

 

[Vince]

It doesn't shut down your production of testosterone but it will convert testosterone into estrogen in men. If you're not on trt I wouldn't supplement with DHEA.

 

[captain]

DHEA supplementation lowers Cortisol. Balance is what your looking for so you need labs to know. If your low DHEA your Cortisol and DHEA are probably not balanced. The ones that say they can't take DHEA could be Cortisol related and have nothing to do with Estrogen.

 

[Gman86]

Thanks for the replies guys. And very interesting, I didn’t know increasing DHEA could lower cortisol.

But you both misunderstood. My question is, does taking DHEA stop your body’s endogenous production of DHEA?

For instance, taking testosterone will stop your body’s production of testosterone, and the only testosterone you will have in your system is from the testosterone you are injecting. So does taking DHEA stop your body from producing DHEA like taking testosterone does, or does it just add on to whatever endogenous production you have?

 

[JayLay777]

Thanks for the replies guys. And very interesting, I didn’t know increasing DHEA could lower cortisol.

But you both misunderstood. My question is, does taking DHEA stop your body’s endogenous production of DHEA?

For instance, taking testosterone will stop your body’s production of testosterone, and the only testosterone you will have in your system is from the testosterone you are injecting. So does taking DHEA stop your body from producing DHEA like taking testosterone does, or does it just add on to whatever endogenous production you have?

from what I heard taking DHEA does not shut down you’re own production of DHEA and it just adds to it.

 

[Gman86]

from what I heard taking DHEA does not shut down you’re own production of DHEA and it just adds to it.

Oh awesome. I think you’re probably right. I’ve heard of guys taking doses as small as 5mg of DHEA. If there was a negative feedback loop, 5mg would most likely not be enough of a replacement dose if the endogenous production was being shut down. So makes more sense that it would just add to whatever endogenous production you currently have.

 

[JayLay777]

Oh awesome. I think you’re probably right. I’ve heard of guys taking doses as small as 5mg of DHEA. If there was a negative feedback loop, 5mg would most likely not be enough of a replacement dose if the endogenous production was being shut down. So makes more sense that it would just add to whatever endogenous production you currently have.

Ya one of the doctors from defy told me that DHEA does not have a feedback loop. You could take 50 mg everyday and it would not shut down your own bodies production . Just going by what I heard.

 

[Vince]

Ya one of the doctors from defy told me that DHEA does not have a feedback loop. You could take 50 mg everyday and it would not shut down your own bodies production . Just going by what I heard.

I agree it would not shut down your body's production, the main issue people have with DHEA is increased estrogen. It will convert testosterone into estrogen and that's why many members cannot use it. I'm one that is naturally low in estrogen, so I use DHEA to increase my estrogen levels. For me it's a great benefit to supplement with DHEA.

 

[Gman86]

I agree it would not shut down your body's production, the main issue people have with DHEA is increased estrogen. It will convert testosterone into estrogen and that's why many members cannot use it. I'm one that is naturally low in estrogen, so I use DHEA to increase my estrogen levels. For me it's a great benefit to supplement with DHEA.

Ya, it’s definitely a win win supplement in your case. I do see some guys complain about not feeling right when supplementing DHEA, and I agree, it’s most likely due to the estrogen conversion. I’ve also heard some say that it can’t be estrogen due to them not feeling well so quickly after supplementing with it. They say that it would take longer than that to convert to estrogen, so estrogen is probably not the reason why they don’t feel well on it. But DHEA has a half life of 15-30 minutes, so theoretically I would think it could convert to estrogen very quickly actually, considering it’s half life is so short and it is metabolized so quickly.

 

[Vince]

I supplement with 25 mg of DHEA and 10mg of pregnenolonea and no AI. The last Labs I had
DHEA - Sulfate 347.3 range 48.9 - 344.2
Estradiol, Sensitive 29.5 range 8.0 - 35.0

I wouldn't blame anyone for trying supplementing with DHEA but I would go with the low dose, something like 10 mg a day. Before I started trt I supplemented with 10 mg of DHEA and it did lower my testosterone and increase my estrogen. Then I tried 25 mg of DHEA and it did lower my testosterone even more and increased estrogen. I felt terrible, before I started trt I still had a strong sex drive and was able to have good wood, but when I started with the DHEA (pre-trt), it took all that away from me.

 

[Gman86]

I supplement with 25 mg of DHEA and 10mg of pregnenolonea and no AI. The last Labs I had
DHEA - Sulfate 347.3 range 48.9 - 344.2
Estradiol, Sensitive 29.5 range 8.0 - 35.0

I wouldn't blame anyone for trying supplementing with DHEA but I would go with the low dose, something like 10 mg a day. Before I started trt I supplemented with 10 mg of DHEA and it did lower my testosterone and increase my estrogen. Then I tried 25 mg of DHEA and it did lower my testosterone even more and increased estrogen. I felt terrible, before I started trt I still had a strong sex drive and was able to have good wood, but when I started with the DHEA (pre-trt), it took all that away from me.

Wow that's crazy that DHEA decreased your testosterone and increased E2 when you were natural. I would of never expected it to do that. Just goes to show how complicated things can be, and how a person that is natural has to be treated differently than a guy on TRT.

Did you ever try pregnenolone by itself? It looks like I'm going to eventually need a boost to my DHEA, I'm curious if I could get a little boost just from pregnenolone, since it can convert into DHEA.

 

[Vince]

Wow that's crazy that DHEA decreased your testosterone and increased E2 when you were natural. I would of never expected it to do that. Just goes to show how complicated things can be, and how a person that is natural has to be treated differently than a guy on TRT.

Did you ever try pregnenolone by itself? It looks like I'm going to eventually need a boost to my DHEA, I'm curious if I could get a little boost just from pregnenolone, since it can convert into DHEA.

No I never tried pregnenolone pre-trt

 

[fifty]

No I never tried pregnenolone pre-trt

Why does dhea help you on trt but not pre trt???

 

[Evilwhitey]

Why does dhea help you on trt but not pre trt???

You have way more testosterone to play with on TRT. If you're already low on testosterone you don't want it being converted to estrogen.

 

[captain]

When you go on TRT DHEA levels drop. This is why we supplement with DHEA.

 

[Vince]

You have way more testosterone to play with on TRT. If you're already low on testosterone you don't want it being converted to estrogen.

Yep I agree, I can use DHEA to convert more testosterone in the estrogen because I do have plenty to play with.

 

[JimGainz]

I was just going to post about the same question - does DHEA have a feedback loop, when I saw this thread. I was told by the Defy docs that it does not have a negative feedback loop as well. My own labs supported this after taking the supplement for over year I stopped for a bit and my level on the blood test was almost exactly what it was before - albeit the blood test was 2 months after I stopped.

However, here is an article from the endocrine society which specifically mentions the negative feedback loop.

Dehydroepiandrosterone | You and Your Hormones from the Society for Endocrinology

I stopped Dhea a week ago and am having difficulty sleeping (waking up at 3 am and can’t get back to sleep). When I was supplementing at 25 mg /day I slept like a baby. I’m going back on but was concerned I am permanently shutting down my HPTA for producing this hormone. (I’m already on TRT so it probably doesn’t matter. My natty dhea level is 155 on a scale from 60-500)

Any further thoughts.

 

[Cataceous]

Speaking of feedback loops, the available scientific evidence says that DHEA supplementation does not raise estradiol in men with functioning HPTAs. This was at doses up to 400 mg/d. If DHEA could raise estradiol independently then it would be highly suppressive and testosterone would drop.

 

[JimGainz]

I was just going to post about the same question - does DHEA have a feedback loop, when I saw this thread. I was told by the Defy docs that it does not have a negative feedback loop as well. My own labs supported this after taking the supplement for over year I stopped for a bit and my level on the blood test was almost exactly what it was before - albeit the blood test was 2 months after I stopped.

However, here is an article from the endocrine society which specifically mentions the negative feedback loop.

Dehydroepiandrosterone | You and Your Hormones from the Society for Endocrinology

I stopped Dhea a week ago and am having difficulty sleeping (waking up at 3 am and can’t get back to sleep). When I was supplementing at 25 mg /day I slept like a baby. I’m going back on but was concerned I am permanently shutting down my HPTA for producing this hormone. (I’m already on TRT so it probably doesn’t matter. My natty dhea level is 155 on a scale from 60-500)

Any further thoughts.

I should clarify that I was speaking about the level of DHEA feedback loop not Testisterone or Estrodiol (although it’s good to know it does not affect those pathways. But if you supplement DHEA and then stop are you now not producing any DHEA?

 

[DragonBits]

I was just going to post about the same question - does DHEA have a feedback loop, when I saw this thread. I was told by the Defy docs that it does not have a negative feedback loop as well. My own labs supported this after taking the supplement for over year I stopped for a bit and my level on the blood test was almost exactly what it was before - albeit the blood test was 2 months after I stopped.

However, here is an article from the endocrine society which specifically mentions the negative feedback loop.

Dehydroepiandrosterone | You and Your Hormones from the Society for Endocrinology

I stopped Dhea a week ago and am having difficulty sleeping (waking up at 3 am and can’t get back to sleep). When I was supplementing at 25 mg /day I slept like a baby. I’m going back on but was concerned I am permanently shutting down my HPTA for producing this hormone. (I’m already on TRT so it probably doesn’t matter. My natty dhea level is 155 on a scale from 60-500)

Any further thoughts.

I also thought there was no feedback loop for DHEA.

But the more I read, the less I know. Maybe I will go back to reading syfy, it makes more sense.

Here is an odd article.

Irreversible Side Effects of DHEA

Irreversible Side Effects of DHEA | Livestrong.com