DHEA

Stress due to lifestyle, mental or physical exhaustion, body inflammation, or disease contributes to an excessive production of cortisol which can not only deplete your reserves of cortisol, but also deplete your levels of DHEA. Low DHEA contributes to decreases in energy, fatigue, memory loss, libido loss, aching joints, bone density loss, muscle mass loss, lower immunity, and subsequent heart disease. Low cortisol and DHEA contributes to adrenal fatigue which affects thyroid function and thyroid function affects adrenal function.

I've done the Adrenal Stress Index test and the lab results confirm on a scale of 1 to 7, with one being the highest, my DHEA-cortisol correlation spectrum is at a 5, or "low reserves". Eliminating stress from your life allows the body to heal and DHEA reserves are able to increase back to normal. Unfortunately, I've done as much as I can figure out to eliminate inflammation and I have no idea how to reduce the adrenaline rushes I get with menopausal hot flashes other than hormone replacement drugs. I'm sure these oddities contribute to my low DHEA levels.

Dr. Kharazzian suggests taking DHEA to jump-start the adrenals prior to thyroid supplementation and since I'm constantly tired, I figured it couldn't hurt. He says don't take it for more than a month and other physicians have instructed no more than a 5 mg dosage. When requesting it from my new naturopath, I saw a micro-expression of surprise in her eyes and her body jumped a little. Considering she doesn't have much of a personality, I took this to be a show of horror. She very quietly said without much explanation she doesn't prescribe DHEA and it was not advisable. I have read overdosing on DHEA is common due to its accumulation in fat cells, but that's all I knew. Well, I also knew how sensitive I am to everything so the lowest dosage possible was my personal recommendation. I knew enough about the warnings to convince her I wasn't planning on abusing it so she changed her mind and prescribed exactly what I wanted: sublingual one mg. for one month.

The benefits of DHEA make it sound like some kind of miracle drug: energy, stamina and strength, increase in libido, weight loss, reduction in menopausal symptoms, increase in confidence and assertion, reverses bone loss, reverses asthma, reverses depression, and beneficial to those suffering from Crohn's Disease and lupus. According to all the propaganda, if you are going to take a drug, this sounds like the one to choose!

But what are the side effects of DHEA? Since I've now thrown all caution to the wind and have become a drug addict, I was curious what overdosing looks like.  There are plenty of websites, articles, and comments online that list the side effects. Many warn others not to even start taking DHEA and some even claim it'll ruin your life. Side effects include:

hormonal imbalance
hair loss
blood pressure increase
liver damage
heart arrhythmia or palpitations
glaucoma
perspiration odor
acne
breast swelling
facial hair (women)
erectile dysfunction (men)
insomnia
restlessness
irritability
aggression
severe personality changes

It's also addictive. Don't stop taking DHEA cold turkey or you may experience withdrawal symptoms like back pain, moodiness, sleeplessness, fatigue, body pain, weakness, and hot flashes. Since all these symptoms sound like me without DHEA, I had high hopes taking it might alleviate some of my constant discomfort.

I found this website very interesting:  http://www.raysahelian.com/dhea.html

It looks as if Mr. Sahelian is promoting DHEA supplementation, but he also includes information from those who have taken DHEA and experienced the side effects. Many warn others never to start taking DHEA because the side effects don't always subside immediately after cessation and it may take months before feeling normal again. I think most of the issue is with high doses over 10 mg and taking it for long periods of time or more than a month. Some admit to taking it for up to a year which is a common prescription for those suffering from depression.

I received the sublingual form which goes under the tongue with directions to take it on an empty stomach. It is also important to wait to eat or drink anything for 30 minutes to an hour. Do not swallow at all until it's dissolved. However, if one must swallow due to a large accumulation of saliva, limit swallowing to once or twice. I always have lots of saliva so I knew this would be a problem. The tablets are large so the dissolving also creates liquid and because of this it's hard to keep them in place.

The first and second day I avoided swallowing and spit once the tablet was dissolved. The third day I thought about how much drug I might be wasting and wouldn't it be more effective if I swallowed the one time and whatever didn't dissolve under my tongue would then be digested? That's me overthinking ways to make this work, of course. That was a mistake. Five hours later I became sick to my stomach and it lasted all day. The tablets are sweet so I wasn't quite sure if it was a synthetic sweetener the pharmacist may have added to improve taste or the DHEA. Probably the DHEA. I also read for people who are digesting the pill form, to take them with high-fat food to alleviate any digestive problems. Granted, no matter what kind of drug, herb or supplement I try, the third or fourth day is when I start feeling the side effects. I've been told it's because my body doesn't detox and that's the overload or accumulation point.

So day four I felt very hopeful and I went back to dissolving under the tongue and no swallowing at all. I was convinced that this was the answer and if I could just keep taking the drugs, I would again, be on the road toward better health.

Nope. About five hours later the queasy sick feeling started again. It didn't seem to be as bad as the day before, but bad enough to make me want to curl up in bed and stay there for the rest of the day. On top of the constant fatigue, nausea is a real waste of time. I'm not sure what to do about being so susceptible to side effects as I've been liver cleansing all week which is where much anything would accumulate and I'm not sure if I'm not swallowing the DHEA, why does it affect my digestive system?

However, the purpose behind taking the DHEA was to jump-start the adrenals so the thyroid medication would be most effective. It's really all about the thyroid medication.

On to the thyroid drugs! Crossing my fingers.