Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)

I've found interest recently in this steroid hormone called DHEA. I've been on it for 3 days now so it's too early to get excited. Has anyone else here experimented with this?

"DHEA has been found to directly act on several neurotransmitter receptors, including acting as a positive allosteric modulator of the NMDA receptor, as a negative allosteric modulator of the GABAA receptor, and as an agonist of the σ1 receptor."

"In 2011, the surprising discovery was made that DHEA, as well as DHEA-S, directly bind to and activate the TrkA and p75NTR, receptors of neurotrophins like nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), with high affinity.[25][29] DHEA was subsequently also found to bind to the TrkB and TrkC with high affinity, though it notably activated the TrkC but not the TrkB."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydroepiandrosterone

 

Regarding DHEA:

This was widely touted in the late 90's as being a catalyst for testosterone production.

I tried it, and all it did was produce five rock hard marble sized cysts in my throat / beard area that required extraction from a plastic surgeon.

Around my area it is now somewhat difficult to find; upscale foodstores such as Whole Foods will not stock it.

GNC used to offer it, but in limited quantities (and it was kept locked in a glass case).

 

I look forward to @JohnAdams getting marble sized cysts

Are you sure the cysts came from the DHEA? Was the procedure to remove them painful?

 

Damn that's a bad thing to look forward to. Thanks, prick.

 

Unfortunately, the DHEA - generated testosterone caused an inflammation of the sebaceous glands in the beard area that caused these cysts.

When I stopped the DHEA, these symptoms disappeared.

The plastic surgeon was very adroit, and he removed them painlessly with no scarring (thank God).

My only intention has been to objectively report my personal experience with this (and this outcome was certainly not what I anticipated).

Just a suggestion - various readers may want to consider googling DHEA, and read through the alarming, lengthy list of possible negative side effects (including my symptoms).

 

@DaveFromChicago -- Good suggestion. If I may ask, how many mg were you taking? I know they sell in in various sizes, with I think 25 mg being the most popular. But I've also seen 50 mg. sizes, and even larger. I buy the 50 mg tablets, and cut them into quarters, so I take ~12.5 mg/day. I also supplement with 50 mg pregnenolone/day. It's a precursor to DHEA and other hormones, so my body can produce extra DHEA if it needs to. -- It's purported to be helpful for calming, deeper sleep, depression alleviation, anxiety reduction, and more... Here's a link to a pregnenolone article I thought was pretty good:

Pregnenolone—The Basics

 

Good point, @DaveFromChicago do you remember the dosage you took? Perhaps some risks can be avoided by tapering up slowly? On a side note, @JohnAdams you are very brave and resolved in finding treatments for this horrible condition, you give me hope, I only wish the best for you.
Edit: perhaps as @Lane suggests one could switch to pregnenolone? As it is a precursor, one would probably avoid risks

 

Meh.

 

you know for sure it was from DHEA?

 

To JohnAdams:

As I stated yesterday, when I discontinued it there were no more symptoms.
If you google DHEA under "Side Effects", acne (and related cystic developments) is listed.
Please also see the many other possible negative side effects.

 

Yeah I am doing that now. Looks like this is not 100% safe. Nonetheless, I will finish the bottle.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/527478-irreversible-side-effects-of-dhea/

 

There are two podcast episodes I’d like to recommend on this topic. One was shared on a tinnitus Facebook group by a woman whose mom had good results after trying the recommended progesterone cream and MCT oil, and the other talks about using hormones (like DHEA) to treat PTSD and TBI.


Listen to The New Revolution in Hacking Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD - #431 from Bulletproof Radio in Podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bulletproof-radio/id451295014?i=1000392181729

Listen to Curb Your Adrenaline, Improve Your Health – Dr. Michael Platt from Bulletproof Radio in Podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bulletproof-radio/id451295014?i=1000444788238

 

What did you learn?

 

They are a bit long to summarize. In the second one tinnitus is mentioned specifically and the recommendation is to use progesterone cream on the back of the neck. In the first one pregnenolone and DHEA are mentioned in combination with other hormones for treatment of TBI.

 

Ok. I'm quitting this stuff. @Allan1967 I no longer recommend this, sorry about that. I don't know if it is from the DHEA, or the fact I'm taking it with curcumin or what, but I am developing splinter hemorrhages on my fingernails and that just started recently and I think it is the DHEA. It could be benign or something far worse. I'm going to the doctor.

 

I think this is a good reminder for all... Messing with your hormonal balances can be serious business.

 

Went to the doctor. He said I'm fine.

 

@DaveFromChicago -- I'm really curious how many mg of DHEA you were taking, and whether you were taking a relatively high dosage. From what I know about DHEA, you have to be careful with it, but the 10 mg @JohnAdams was taking doesn't seem like it would normally be a problem. A lot of people have been helped (some significantly) by supplementing with DHEA. It appears that it's been reported to even sometimes help with tinnitus.

 

I tried DHEA 21 years ago, so I unfortunately cannot remember the dosage.
I would be very interested, however, about whether it has been refined since then and what actual data we have regarding its effect on tinnitus.

 

How do you get access to these steroids? Doctor?

 

I would like to try some steroids... will they have any effect on my tinnitus?

 

Vitamin store.

 

Hey there, Lane.

I’m on 50 mg DHEA daily, also on Sandoz Anastrozole 0.25 mg twice weekly along with my Delatestryl testosterone shot twice weekly. I had a vasectomy about two years ago, my testosterone levels went to basically zero within weeks of the vasectomy, lost all the hair on my body, lost all the muscle I had built over the years, developed high blood pressure etc. I end up on all this hormone replacement crap so I can get up off the couch, and it’s working but...

I feel like I’m going deaf, losing hearing, not sure whether from hormone meds or what. I’m at a loss, it’s not like I can stop these hormones, without them I’m basically done, my body falls apart quickly. I could maybe scale the DHEA back.

There are other side effects to this stuff as well, won’t go into, overall I feel very strange, not myself at all. My athletic performance Is back big time so at least I can get my body healthy. Within 1 week I was back lifting, doing long sessions of cardio etc. I’ve lost a ton of fat, put on muscle etc., and all the while my head screams louder and louder. I can hardly sleep, run loud crickets background to distract, I keep turning the volume louder by the month as my hearing fades away further.

 

How do you put on a ton of muscle, or even have the energy to lift, if you hardly sleep?

 

Welcome back Telis! Do you have hearing loss that fluctuate? I remember I saw one post of yours saying you couldn't hear a 7 kHz sine wave while your girlfriend hears up to 15 kHz or something, and then after that you posted a photo of your audiogram results and had perfect hearing up to 8 kHz.

 

I have no idea, you tell me genius. Performance enhancing growth hormones and getting back to lifting maybe...

 

I can hear 7 kHz in the left ear, nothing if I turn my right ear towards the iPhone. I don’t know...

I go by the sound generator I use at night. My old volume I can’t hear at all, not even if I concentrate.

 

How is your head pressure and ear problems?

I have the same symptoms from deadlifting too heavy.

Did you ever figure out what it was?

 

How did you get your tinnitus?