DHEA?

[piababy]

Hi All,
What is the story with DHEA?? I've done a search on it and am confused.  It seems to be the answer to every ailment! This ususally puts alarm bells ringing in my head! But I have seen it referred to a lot in this forum so I am wondering am I missing out on something I should know about. Any information and opinions?
Pia

[Risa615]

IM43- You should use Tribulus to help with ovulation.  I posted a link a few weeks ago in my journal.  It is a great natural way to help with ovulation.  I found a website that sells it at a great price, www.vitacost.com  My acupuncture told me to start taking it since it is another way to help get pregnant.

Risa

[Futuremama2010]

Hi

I am new to the board but have been on DHEA for the last 4 months.  One side effect that you should be aware of: hair loss.  I have lost around 30 per cent of my hair, thank goodness I have very very very thick hair! LOL!  But it apparently does improve egg quality!  Good luck hon!

[Sherri90049]

Good question. Basically your FSH coming down is supposed to be a good indicator of that. And potentially maybe seeing more antral follicles on the u/s? And then the most important way, I suppose, would be to see if your success improves with TTC. But for me I watched the day 3 FSH every month. But because I did that whole thing with taking too much and having such side effects, I had to go off it for a few months afterwards. Hoping I get the same success this time even though I'm on a lower dose.

One thing I recommend is getting your hormones tested before beginning DHEA supplementation. I did and knew my DHEA and testosterone were both low before starting. If you're not low (at least in the bottom half of the normal range), then it might not help as much. But getting a starting point is important so you can check it periodically and see if it's working or if you're on too much, that kind of thing. Good luck!

[jakl726]

hi-
that's great that it lowered your fsh, but when do you see if you get more and better quality eggs b/c of dhea?
thanks.

[Sherri90049]

The study came from CHR in New York. (Center for Human Reproduction) They have had success with DHEA treating poor egg quality/high FSH. It worked for me when I did I last time. My FSH was around 40 and after a couple of months on DHEA, it was 10.3! I did end up going to too high of a dose. I had started at 75mg but got impatient and went to 200mg a day. It was way too high and I got symptoms of too much testosterone. Not fun!

But if you can get supervised on it by a doctor and be patient. It can take up to 4 months to have the full effect, it seems to be very helpful for women in our shoes. I am back on it now, but only for about a week so far. So we'll see! :)

[IM43]

I can't remember where I read it, but a fertility clinic did a study on IVF patients who were taking dhea vs. ones who were not.  The ones who were taking 75mg of dhea had a hugely higher success rate with IVF than patients who did not take dhea.

I've been taking it for about 2 1/2 months now (only 25mg) and haven't noticed anything different.  I'm still not ovulating, so I just recently upped the dose to 50mg.  I don't know that it does anything to help you ovulate, but I think is supposed to make the quality of your eggs better.

[jakl726]

hi pia,
i have heard and read that studies have found that low levels of dhea is associated with infertility, cancer, bad memory/cognition and other health problems.  i don't see why it is bad to take it.  the only thing i would say is check with your re if it is okay for you to take it along with your other ivf meds.  sometimes there are drug-drug interaction that we may not know of and you wouldn't want to take something that you think may help but b/c you are taking another drug resulting it to interfere. your re sounds like a great doc... ask him and let me know too what his take on this.   i too will take it someday for extra strength and to fight off cancer. :)
ps.  ask your re about estrogen priming too.  i hear that helps women with dor.  my re doesn't believe in it.  let me know what he thinks.