DHEA Timing

[Axel131]

Hi there, for those of you who took DHEA for your cycle, when did you stop taking it, trigger or before stims?

Thanks

[Tarasunny]

I stopped taking mine just before starting Stims. Not sure if this is correct or not, I've not had any success yet but nothing to do with timing of DHEA! Good luck.

[Rol81]

I was told my consultant to stop just before I started stimming

[Axel131]

Thanks ladies, that's helpful for me to know.

[DreamingOfTwo79]

I kept taking it during stims as well. My consultant advised to try reducing the dosage if I feel I was getting side effects indicating my testosterone levels getting too high (greasy hair, skin breaking out). When asked if it was possible to monitor my levels she said the body has a way of disguising accurate testosterone levels especially going into colder months hence she advised against regular blood tests and instead suggested I observe and monitor any changes indicative of rising testosterone levels. I don't think there is ever a way of knowing whether DHEA made a difference as I also injected growth hormone during stims and took Melatonin in my last round. Based on what my consultant had prepared me for in terms of chances of success at my age with low AMH I can only assume that all the supplements and stimulation medication did make a difference as I responded a lot better than expected.

[Angie_uk in reply to DreamingOfTwo79]

Hi, I’m 42yrs and turning 43 in 2 months. I just completed my first round of IVF which was unsuccessful as the 1 embryo I got was Aneuploid so not viable for FET. I’ve emailed my consultant to discuss measuring my testosterone and DHEA as I has stopped taking DHEA supplements for the past 4 months (including during my ivf cycle) as my testosterone and DHEA were seen as too high in June. My consultant was quite blunt in her reply saying most clinics don’t recommend DHEA as although it might increase AFC she said it does not help with egg quality or reducing chances of chromosomal abnormalities. I found this really upsetting as I had read in books that DHEA does help as does melatonin and my reflexologist and acupuncturist said the same. How do u think taking these supplements helped you? As u mentioned it did make a difference as u responded alot better than expected? If u wouldn’t mind sharing your experience or u can DM me I’d be grateful. I’m feeling extremely low atm about it all and have 2 more cycles to try again.

[Axel131 in reply to Angie_uk]

Hi Angie, I have had cycles both with and without DHEA and I really think the DHEA did improve the quality. On my successful IVF, I was 43 and had been taking it but did stop it about a month beforehand, hence my question above. With that cycle I did conceive but sadly due to a genetic condition I discovered I had, he passed away. This wasn't due to my age at all and he was chromosomally normal, just purely my crappy genes, so try not to feel too low going into another cycle, it's entirely possible. Also if you haven't already heard of him, have a google of Dr Norbert Gleicher from the Centre for Human Reproduction on YouTube. He specializes in treating older women and highly recommends DHEA, he also goes into explanation as to why he recommends it so I find it very useful. He has quite a few videos on different IVF topics but look for the DHEA ones, there's a few!

[Axel131 in reply to DreamingOfTwo79]

Thanks so much DreamingOfTwo, that's really interesting. I was monitoring the levels with blood tests as I seem to have naturally low levels of testosterone but they did rise along with my DHEA-S levels once I started so I did reduce the dosage based on the results. I don't really have any side effects though which is good. I was wondering if I should be getting more bloods now but as I'm hoping to start stims next week, there's not a lot I can do about it now! I asked about growth hormone but my consultant didn't want me to take it sadly but was happy to let me take the melatonin so hopefully it might all make some difference.