Hi Everyone,
Has anyone been prescribed DHEA by their GP on the nhs or privately?
My endo has written to my GP asking him to prescribe dhea at 50mg a day as my blood test result was 0.5> (0.7-11.5) and I am 32. I saw my GP today and he said it's not in the bnf so can't prescribe it. He's written to the people that were the primary care trust, ccq?
Also, if anyone has taken it, did they find it helped? If so, how long did it take to notice a difference?
Any info will be greatly appreciated.
I think you can buy it from health food stores?
Hi Bluedaffodil,
I think you use to be able to, but apparently now you need a prescription. In America you can stil get them over the counter, but again apparently if I were to order from there, they could get taken at customs. I have no idea what to think. My endo made a big deal out of them, so if you can stil get them over the counter, then he's crazy!!
There have been repeated discussions about DHEA.
As far as I can see it is a Controlled Drug with potentially severe penalties for possession, importation, etc., other than when prescribed for you. See prasterone on this list:
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
I would be extremely wary.
Some of the companies that appear to sell DHEA here are simply web fronts for companies operating abroad. Sometimes that is not easy to see.
I would also be extremely wary of carry any on me when travelling between countries.
Thanks helvella, that's what I thought. I think my GP would have prescribed it today but he thought it was a supplement not a prescribed medication as it wasn't in the bnf.
I will be at a loss if doctors can't seem to prescribe it and you can't buy it online either!!
You can buy it on-line from abroad but I suspect that even the process of ordering it breaks the law.
In the USA it does seem to be treated as a fairly insignificant "supplement" - whereas we seem to tremble in our boots at the mere mention of it! Maybe the truth should lie somewhere between?
Lots of people seem to buy it and care not at all what the legal niceties are. I guess that t is always difficult to make the right choice but the possible consequences are significant. If prosecuted, even if the judge thinks you are only there on a technicality, you could easily end up with a record which can have a lot of ramifications.
Rod
Rod, I find it extraordinary that there's such a fuss about DHEA in the UK. Here in France it is available on prescription - you might find that not may pharmacists know what it is, and one refused to get it for me because she didn't agree with people taking it!!! But that's another story.
It's just a hormone like any other. You can even buy it on the supplement site I use for my vitamins. I think it's a French site, but not sure...
Anyway, I took it for a while because mine was low, and all it did for me was give me spots! I looked like a teenager! (I wish!) lol So my doc said try 7keytoneDHEA (is that right?), he said that doesn't give you spots. But it did! So I haven't taken it since. I can't say that it helped me in any way, or that it raised my levels. It certainly didn't give me any sort of high! So, I really don't understand what the fuss is. Shrugs.
I agree - but I really don't wish to see anyone accidentally get caught up in something they had no idea about.
If someone does something with their eyes open that is their lookout.
Rod
Oh, of course, I wasn't criticising you. It's good of you to point this out. But I just don't understand it. It's like NDT and HGH being illegal in France. There, I do know the stories and they are utterly rediculous, born out of ignorant people's fear of 'HORMONES'. Quick, cross yourself, I've said the awful word!
No, it's true. People are afraid of hormones because they don't understand them. Doctors don't understand them. And people suffer as a result. It's all so medieval!
I get it as part of my biohrt. Private. No NHS involvement.
Thanks for replying angel of the North, I'm totally ignorant when it comes to private prescriptions, can your GP stil prescribe a private prescription? How much extra do they cost compared to the £8 ish we pay for a normal one? Do you know the brand/manufacturer of your Dhea? Do you put your prescription in a 'normal' chemist?
Also I know you're taking it as part of your hrt but did you notice improvements from taking it? If so with what symptoms in particular?
Sorry for the all the questions.
Thanks MelanieLondon, have you bought it from there before?
No, I haven't and as it appears you shouldn't be encouraged to buy without a prescription according to the rules of this site. So, it is catch 22 for you, I am afraid. Sorry, I was trying to help!
MelanieLondon,
There is a huge volume of discussion about buying medicines without prescription on this site. That the details are not allowed does not prevent this discussion.
I think many people here recognise that having a supportive and well-informed medic involved is desirable but all too often unachievable. So there is encouragement to get professional help if possible. Self-medicating is a rocky road and some people find it difficult or impossible to travel it on their own.
DHEA starts in the same place but ends up as another matter altogether - there are potentially serious legal issues. These could affect individual posters, Thyroid UK, and HU. Simply saying "I bought DHEA" could be interpreted in ways that might not be fully understood. People have had visits from police and others for saying such things on social media.
If you feel that you wish to communicate information to others the private message system is available.
Rod
Got you, Thank you, Helvella.
I hasten to add the logic for self medicating applies to T3 and T4. Many members proudly state that they are self-medicated, share doses and even sources of T3 suppliers over the globe.
What also surprises me are the detailed levels of how much T3 and T4 should be taken and how to increase and reduce the doses of each while introducing either armour or T3 and so forth. Yet, this has been permitted and published and people are following these advices. Veterans in here are certainly far more knowledgeable than most GPs, unfortunately.
As for the legal issue, I am also puzzled as to why the UK is restricting DHEA and pregnenolone whereas it is found over the counters in the US and Canada.
Certain UK suppliers do have DHEA but not pregnenolone. Both, as you know, very well are found on [admin deleted] even 
pharmaceuticals dominance to push for their own drugs in the absence of direct cure to certain issues??
All the very best and thanks again for your note.
22. Do not post advertisements, links or information of any sort whatsoever, on where or how to obtain UK prescription only medications without prescription. - Clutter
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
At least most sites that offer DHEA in the UK are actually in every way "foreign". If you check what they say, their IP addresses, etc., the nearest to a UK supplier I can remember still only acted as a shopfront to a company supplying from overseas.
I absolutely agree that the difference in view between the USA and the UK is dramatic. We saw something similar with regard to melatonin though the UK attitude appears to have softened over the years.
It is also odd that the view is so restricted - it doesn't cover DHEAS which (apparently) can to some extent convert back to DHEA in the body!
Rod
Good Morning, Rod,
Ella, as you have read, has been prescribed DHEA by a consultant and the GP is not authorising it.
Separately, I just realised that Ms Clutter has made an addition; so, a reply is due, too.
Good morning Ms Clutter, and thanks for your policing instruction that begins with DON'T.
It is becoming a little bit too much, don't you think?? I have been in contact with your colleague and he has been very kind in his explanation and courteous in his replies, too.
You give yourself the right to elaborate freely, as Clutter, and as a non-trained-medic, on how and what people should take in terms of T3 and T4 and you feel irritated that I have inadvertently mentioned a famous supplier that sells everything from books to shoes to vitamins. *hint to readers...name begins with Am....this seems to be a crime...???
You are here to help, in your capacity as admin, and there are indeed nice ways of to point people to the terms and conditions.
Isn't this same supplier been mentioned and encouraged to be used as a source for funding to this entity i.e. thyroid UK, with every purchase as well. So, your input appears to be redundant, I am afraid.
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