Guest guest Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Maybe Tish or someone else can answer this question. Neither my endo nor pcp believe in adrenal fatigue. However. I was taking 25mg of DHEA on my own before asking for it to be tested along with the thyroid labs. The result was 23 on a range of 39 to 183. So I increased the DHEA to 50mg. The next lab came back 38. Still low. So I am now on 75mg. I thought I was starting to have more energy, but I had to take Mom to the doctor on Wednesday and get medication afterwards and yesterday I took a 2 hour nap and was still tired. Today I am feeling weak again and have to take Mom to another doctor today. I digress. My question is, will I need to keep taking DHEA or drop it at some point? I have read of some doctors recommending it highly for anyone over the age of 50. So maybe it's a good thing to keep doing? Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 DHEA is not something people should take just because they are over 50. Too much DHEA is converted to estrogen in most women. The result is that you can get all the problems associated with excess estrogen - increased cancer risk, adverse affect on thyroid, galbladder trouble and all kinds of problems. Today we awash with estrogens and risking raising it further with too much DHEA is not a good thing. So, I really dissagree with that doctor very much. So, I think you did good to have yours tested. I was on 15 mg for about a year and then I had hormone tests and, wow! My DHEA was off the top of the normal range and my estrogen level which were already high had doubled. So, my opinion is you must test if you use DHEA and use care with it like any other hormone. About your fatigue. Raising DHEA will not neccessarily raise other hormones put out by the adrenals. DHEA is the base material that the adrenals use to make many hormones. The biggest problem with adrenal fatigue or low adrenal function is lowered output of cortisol. Taking DHEA will not always help get cortisol up if it is low. Cortisol is the hormone that makes it possible to have stress in your life and survive it. When cortisol is inadequate for the amount of activity you have or the amount of stress, you crash or you get real fatigue that can last days after the stress. Classic signs of low cortisol are, inability to handle stresses past a certain point, poor sleep quality, hypoglycemia, headaches, low thyroid function, weakness in the muscles after stress, craving sugar or salt, weight loss if svere enough, poor resistance to infections, more than normal upper respiratory infections, poor recovery from infections, tight painful muscles, especially in the neck and back. There are a lot more symptoms. Anyway, I think your problem relates to insufficient adrenal capacity for the amount of activity and stress you had. I have adrenal problems and this is what happens to me. Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 DHEA is not something people should take just because they are over 50. Too much DHEA is converted to estrogen in most women. The result is that you can get all the problems associated with excess estrogen - increased cancer risk, adverse affect on thyroid, galbladder trouble and all kinds of problems. Today we awash with estrogens and risking raising it further with too much DHEA is not a good thing. So, I really dissagree with that doctor very much. So, I think you did good to have yours tested. I was on 15 mg for about a year and then I had hormone tests and, wow! My DHEA was off the top of the normal range and my estrogen level which were already high had doubled. So, my opinion is you must test if you use DHEA and use care with it like any other hormone. About your fatigue. Raising DHEA will not neccessarily raise other hormones put out by the adrenals. DHEA is the base material that the adrenals use to make many hormones. The biggest problem with adrenal fatigue or low adrenal function is lowered output of cortisol. Taking DHEA will not always help get cortisol up if it is low. Cortisol is the hormone that makes it possible to have stress in your life and survive it. When cortisol is inadequate for the amount of activity you have or the amount of stress, you crash or you get real fatigue that can last days after the stress. Classic signs of low cortisol are, inability to handle stresses past a certain point, poor sleep quality, hypoglycemia, headaches, low thyroid function, weakness in the muscles after stress, craving sugar or salt, weight loss if svere enough, poor resistance to infections, more than normal upper respiratory infections, poor recovery from infections, tight painful muscles, especially in the neck and back. There are a lot more symptoms. Anyway, I think your problem relates to insufficient adrenal capacity for the amount of activity and stress you had. I have adrenal problems and this is what happens to me. Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Low cortisol??? Crap! Tish...I think I have this, too! LOL See what I mean? I appear to " have it all " ! It's going to take a friggin' genious to figure me out. Kathy > > DHEA is not something people should take just because they are over > 50. Too much DHEA is converted to estrogen in most women. The result > is that you can get all the problems associated with excess > estrogen - increased cancer risk, adverse affect on thyroid, > galbladder trouble and all kinds of problems. > > Today we awash with estrogens and risking raising it further with > too much DHEA is not a good thing. So, I really dissagree with that > doctor very much. > > So, I think you did good to have yours tested. I was on 15 mg for > about a year and then I had hormone tests and, wow! My DHEA was off > the top of the normal range and my estrogen level which were already > high had doubled. So, my opinion is you must test if you use DHEA > and use care with it like any other hormone. > > About your fatigue. Raising DHEA will not neccessarily raise other > hormones put out by the adrenals. DHEA is the base material that the > adrenals use to make many hormones. The biggest problem with adrenal > fatigue or low adrenal function is lowered output of cortisol. > Taking DHEA will not always help get cortisol up if it is low. > Cortisol is the hormone that makes it possible to have stress in > your life and survive it. When cortisol is inadequate for the amount > of activity you have or the amount of stress, you crash or you get > real fatigue that can last days after the stress. Classic signs of > low cortisol are, inability to handle stresses past a certain point, > poor sleep quality, hypoglycemia, headaches, low thyroid function, > weakness in the muscles after stress, craving sugar or salt, weight > loss if svere enough, poor resistance to infections, more than > normal upper respiratory infections, poor recovery from infections, > tight painful muscles, especially in the neck and back. There are a > lot more symptoms. > > Anyway, I think your problem relates to insufficient adrenal > capacity for the amount of activity and stress you had. I have > adrenal problems and this is what happens to me. > > Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Low cortisol??? Crap! Tish...I think I have this, too! LOL See what I mean? I appear to " have it all " ! It's going to take a friggin' genious to figure me out. Kathy > > DHEA is not something people should take just because they are over > 50. Too much DHEA is converted to estrogen in most women. The result > is that you can get all the problems associated with excess > estrogen - increased cancer risk, adverse affect on thyroid, > galbladder trouble and all kinds of problems. > > Today we awash with estrogens and risking raising it further with > too much DHEA is not a good thing. So, I really dissagree with that > doctor very much. > > So, I think you did good to have yours tested. I was on 15 mg for > about a year and then I had hormone tests and, wow! My DHEA was off > the top of the normal range and my estrogen level which were already > high had doubled. So, my opinion is you must test if you use DHEA > and use care with it like any other hormone. > > About your fatigue. Raising DHEA will not neccessarily raise other > hormones put out by the adrenals. DHEA is the base material that the > adrenals use to make many hormones. The biggest problem with adrenal > fatigue or low adrenal function is lowered output of cortisol. > Taking DHEA will not always help get cortisol up if it is low. > Cortisol is the hormone that makes it possible to have stress in > your life and survive it. When cortisol is inadequate for the amount > of activity you have or the amount of stress, you crash or you get > real fatigue that can last days after the stress. Classic signs of > low cortisol are, inability to handle stresses past a certain point, > poor sleep quality, hypoglycemia, headaches, low thyroid function, > weakness in the muscles after stress, craving sugar or salt, weight > loss if svere enough, poor resistance to infections, more than > normal upper respiratory infections, poor recovery from infections, > tight painful muscles, especially in the neck and back. There are a > lot more symptoms. > > Anyway, I think your problem relates to insufficient adrenal > capacity for the amount of activity and stress you had. I have > adrenal problems and this is what happens to me. > > Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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