Just how vital is DHEA anyway?

[cleverusername]

Gonna give a little background here. In Jan 2017 I signed on with Defy, they tested my DHEA and said I was low. I was put on 25mg once per day of DHEA compounded from pharmacy. I took the DHEA every morning, and couldnt figure out why I was tired all day, switched the taking it in the evening and that helped. After a week or so, I began to feel off again so I stopped taking it. My next blood test my DHEA was slightly lower, so began the taking of DHEA again, a month later I stopped for the same reasons, I felt off. So I went back and forth over the whole DHEA thing for a while when I came across a post by Nelson. He wrote that HCG three times a week can support natural DHEA production. I instantly switch my HCG to 350ui three times per week. This helped me feel a lot better overall. However my latest bloods show DHEA has dropped by half of what it was prior!


Jan 2017 DHEA 130
April 2017 DHEA 120
Aug 2017 DHEA 65

The downward trend has started to worry me. Jan was my initial Defy test, April I was not taking DHEA then, and Aug test I had stopped DHEA for over a month and been on the HCG schedule as mentioned by Nelson. Last night I split one of my 25mg DHEA pills in half, and will begin taking 12.5mg every evening. I hope this will raise my level up, but leave me feeling good.

Any thoughts?


The rest of my labs look good. T and Free T are at upper range, E2 is slightly high at 43 (40 is my ultimate number, I do better with higher E2 when T is high as well), prolactin also in range. I also did a Cortisol swab X4 but these results were not on my labs yet.

 

[Vince Carter]

DHEA is one of those things that is being treated because it's a number on a test which is opposite of do you need it? Can you tolerate it? If it's got negative sides for you, stop using it. I've never had a good experience with DHEA, in fact some pretty bad experience pre-TRT but I finally stopped and said "Why are you taking this?". More and more guys are appearing to not tolerate it even low doses down to 5 or 10mg/D. Coupled with this backfill the hormonal pathways with Preg and/or DHEA, more and more guys presenting with negative sides or just benign use of HCG (at all doses)....some of this stuff is just blanket use or has no positives and you just have to stop and ask yourself if you're going to keep using it.

So I stopped.

...miraculously, I'm somehow still alive. (sarcasm)

 

[Vince]

I do use both HCG (500 iu every 3 1/2 days) and 25 mg of DHEA. But everyone is different.
I agree with everything Vince Carter wrote.

 

[cleverusername]

I do use both HCG (500 iu every 3 1/2 days) and 25 mg of DHEA. But everyone is different.
I agree with everything Vince Carter wrote.

Can I ask what your DHEA level is with taking the 25mg? I imagine like Test, when supplementing DHEA our natural production stops? Probably why mine has went down to 65, due to my on again off again relationship with it.

 

[Will Brink]

Any thoughts?


The rest of my labs look good. T and Free T are at upper range, E2 is slightly high at 43 (40 is my ultimate number, I do better with higher E2 when T is high as well), prolactin also in range. I also did a Cortisol swab X4 but these results were not on my labs yet.

If you don't feel well using DHEA I suppose don't use it. There is a lot of data that low DHEA levels are associated with things best avoided and plenty of studies suggesting good things associated to DHEA levels seen in healthy young people, so I use it. As TRT also lowers DHEA levels, more so why I use it and generally recommend it to people with low DHEA levels. Various DHEA info to look at:

http://www.brinkzone.com/?s=DHEA

 

[Vince]

Can I ask what your DHEA level is with taking the 25mg? I imagine like Test, when supplementing DHEA our natural production stops? Probably why mine has went down to 65, due to my on again off again relationship with it.

My last labs I was taking 35mg of DHEA daily, my level was 409.4 ug/dL range 48.9 - 344.2

 

[cleverusername]

My latest Labs are located http://imgur.com/2lCG21o

I think everything looks OK, my E2 could be a few points lower at around 38-40 but I am not having any real high E2 symptoms.

I am fasted for these, not even a black coffee, I wanted to be fairly accurate. I also did a Cortisol Swab X4 but do not see the results, I guess they will come separate being I had to turn the swabs in at a later date?

I am attempting to cut my DHEA capsule in half and take 12.5mg in the AM and the other in the PM. I dont feel horrible, especially when comparing to the Pre-TRT me. I feel like the million dollar man compared to that! However I am getting poor sleep, as in waking up and not enough sleep. I tend to wake any time from 3:00 AM to 3:30 AM, sometimes as early as 2 AM. I am able to go back to sleep after a few hours, but days when I work that isnt a option.

 

[Vince]

I'm one who can't take DHEA at night, for some reason it keeps me awake. I take my DHEA after breakfast and it does keep my levels in range. I don't believe I need more than 25mg.