I started a small dose (about 10mg) a couple of days ago, slept well the first night and terribly last night, took hours to go off. I tend to struggle with sleep anyway as my adrenals are very flat but this was particularly bad, so wondered if it was to do with the dhea. Has anyone found this?
Thanks,
L x
Hi lola
sorry to ask you but I have never got my head around DHEA and could you tell me what it is used for. I had a cortisol saliva test a couple of weeks ago which showed adrenal fatigue and low DHEA. I take 8 nutri adrenal a day but have not started supplementing DHEA. As I said I dont seem to grasp it, probably brain fog.
Roslinxx
Hi, to be honest, I'm not really sure. I have low dhea too, and supplementing it is meant to make you feel better, reduce fatigue etc, but actual effect it has on the adrenals I don't know. Dhea supplementation seems to be controversial and I've been reticent abut taking it, but my dr likes to use it in conjunction with the glandulars. I'll be starting on them in a couple of weeks. Have the nutri adrenal been helpful to you?
I cant say there is a lot of difference in energy taking nutri adrenal but I am reluctant to take hydro cortisone as it seem to be difficult coming off it. I may try it in the future . it seems like a lot of the treatment that help a lot of people here is controversial but after being ill for over 10 years I have decided that I have to try less conventional solutions.
Roslinxx
what time do you take it?
most doctors recommend you take it first thing in the morning, that's when I take my 12.5mg (sublingual)
I take it in the morning. Do you happen to know how it's meant to help my adrenals? And is your experience with it good? Sorry to ask do many questions but the info online is very mixed and contradictory.
Thanks,
L x
HI, I don't know if it's helping me as I have done a hundred things to get better and I don't know what has helped and what has not as I feel good, however my doctor told me I have to take it for the rest of my life (infefinitely) so I just take it 
DHEA is a 'pro-hormone', I know it can in turn affect cortisol (ie help lower it or balance it), but I think it does more than that.
the dose you are taking is a 'safe/physiological' dose and even if you take it long term it should not do any bad (especially if you are over 40 years of age like me).
I read that dhea lowers cortisol, but mines already very low, which is a bit of a concern. But from what you say it shouldn't be affecting my sleep. Do you take glandulars too? I'm going to start on them in a week or so. Glad you're feeling good though, shows its possible!
I had low DHEA and took it as a supplement until my levels came back to normal. It didn't affect my sleep adversely and it didn't interfere with my cortisol levels. It did improve my energy levels and sense of well-being. As one of the others has said, it is a pro-hormone ie it is the raw material from which the adrenal glands make other hormones, so it will give fatigued glands rest and support. I'm not aware of it reducing cortisol levels. I think most of the controversy centres on its over-the-counter use in the USA where it has been promoted as a supplement to "maintain youth", and where people take it in large doses - more than the body would itself produce.
Thanks for this. It all sounds very reassuring. I'm sure you're right about the American info on dhea. I've been splitting my capsules so far to take half the 25mg dose, and things seem to have been fine, I think the bad nights sleep was a coincidence as I was fine last night. At the end of the day my adrenals are very flat, so I've got to do something to get them going. I've tried just the vitamins and minerals route but it hasn't really worked, so time to up my game! I'm also starting on some glandulars soon too.
Do you feel better as yet? It sounds as if you've had some success.
Hi Lolalois,
Yes, I feel much better - I'd say I'm 85% recovered from ME, which was my diagnosis. However, in my case "ME" turned out to be fatigued adrenals which often leads to hypothyroidism (as in my case). Then, the low thyroid slows down the body's metabolism which leads to inefficient digestion, immune system issues etc. With me, the DHEA benefit was quite clear. When I stopped it before I'd got my levels back to normal I could feel the fatigue sneaking back on me. If you keep to physiological doses (ie less than the body produces naturally, then you can't go wrong - so doses in the region of 10-25 mg should be OK( advice to me from Dr Myhill and also Dr Peatfield. I read somewhere that DHEA is better absorbed if taken sublingually (under the tongue), so I bought dissoluble lozenges from iherb.They were also easy to cut up into smaller doses, if necessary.
I still take NAX whilst I deal with my thyroid, but I aim to reduce that eventually.
Try to be patient with the DHEA - it took me 3 months, alongside the NAX to get my levels normal. For a year prior to that I also did ( and still try to do) all the things recommended by Dr James Wilson in his adrenal fatigue book: I think that this is very important - so early nights, rest and relaxation whenever you can, low GI diet, high vit C etc etc.
Have you had your thyroid checked? As I said, low thyroid often accompanies adrenal problems. You can check it yourself by doing the Broda Barnes temperature test - info online. If your temperature is low (less than 36.5C, I think) and steady - that's a good indication of low thyroid. If it wavers about from one day to another, that's a good indication of struggling adrenals.
Good luck - it can be done!!
Hi, yours is a vey interesting story, and I wouldn't have thought a GP would ever have picked up the adrenal problem, you could have suffered for lots more years with the ME.
For me it's my thyroid at the bottom of it all. I was sub clinically hypo for a few years but avoided thyroxine, I just didn't fancy being on medication for the rest of my life. Then my thyroid worsened I started, which was fine initially, but following a dose increase last Sept my adrenals completely crashed. I only recognise this in retrospect, my GP didn't do anything at all. Eventually I went to one of the doctors on the thyroid uk list and had my adrenals tested, they were flat as a pancake, and also had a short synacthen test, which luckily was ok, I don't have addisons.
So I started on just vitamins and herbs and was feeling loads better, but strangely, on holiday about a month ago my adrenals completely crashed again. I don't really have any idea why, other than there was a fair amount going on in the run up, but nothing out of the ordinary. So I've decided to take the next step by starting on dhea and subsequently, in a couple of weeks will start on some glandulars.
It's so good to hear someone is getting better, I feel frustrated with the whole thing as it seems to be taking forever, with lots of setbacks along the way. It's much less frustrating when you can see progress, so fingers crossed I'll be in that position fairly soon.
Hi Lolalois,
I'm sure that the combination of DHEA and glandulars will help, but try to be patient, your adrenals may have been deteriorating for a while, so it makes sense to recuperate them gradually. Like you, I prefer not to be on medication, but if your thyroid is hypo then it's pretty much essential. Although, if you have an autoimmune variety (hashimotos) I understand that you can help slow down the rate of deterioration by going completely gluten-free.
I tried the vitamins/nutrition-only approach with my adrenals, and I'm sure that it helped, but I needed the glandulars (NAX) and DHEA to get me over the final hurdle. Once I've got my thyroid hormone dose sorted out I aim to reduce my NAX and hopefully come off it altogether.
Xanthe
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