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Bad Reaction to DHEA

darroo

Senior Member
Messages
463
I had a bad reaction to DHEA 25 mg... Had heart palpitations they went away over time... didnt do it again...

My dhea Levels are low and my cortisol levels were low too...

so becareful some of you who want to try it can't do any steroids in general.. anabolics or asthma puffers or creams make me have bad reaction in general anyone else xp this?
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
DHEA is antagonistic to cortisol, so it's likely DHEA lowered your already low cortisol.
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
Have you ever tried pregnenelone? They have transdermal pregnenelone as well.
 

darroo

Senior Member
Messages
463
was going to get a prescription of cortef... but haven't done that yet just doing adrenal cortex still
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
was going to get a prescription of cortef... but haven't done that yet just doing adrenal cortex still

What do your cortisol numbers look like? What method did you use to measure them? Blood or saliva, urine?
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
I had well below normal range dhea, when i first started supplementing dhea i was overhyped with headaches, insomnia etc, this was on a 50mg transdermal. I new i needed normal levels of dhea so persisted but changed over to 5mg dhea capsule and slowly over weeks would increase the dose by another 5 mg until i got to 25mg. then i added a night time dose of 5mg and slowly increased that until i was taking 25mg morning and night. This has my dhea levels in the upper third of normal.

I think its common to have bad reactions if one has a very low level for a long time. Theres a need to start very low and slow.
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
Messages
1,287
Location
k8518704 USA
Hi, everybody might know this but I'll mention that Ray Peat (who has sort of an online cult following) has some unusual takes on DHEA and pregnenolone. I once had a birthmark/mole that had become a little rough and raised. After reading something from Peat, I started taking ~100mg/day of DHEA and wouldn't you know it, after ~6 weeks it was flat and smooth. Remarkable.
 

Rand56

Senior Member
Messages
675
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Hi, everybody might know this but I'll mention that Ray Peat (who has sort of an online cult following) has some unusual takes on DHEA and pregnenolone. I once had a birthmark/mole that had become a little rough and raised. After reading something from Peat, I started taking ~100mg/day of DHEA and wouldn't you know it, after ~6 weeks it was flat and smooth. Remarkable.

Hi Sherlock

I "somewhat" follow Peat. I was unaware though, that he recommends that high of a dose of DHEA. I thought it was only pregnenolone in higher doses. Glad the DHEA is working out for you. I could never handle DHEA, but I am giving pregnenolone another go.
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
Messages
1,287
Location
k8518704 USA
Hi Sherlock

I "somewhat" follow Peat. I was unaware though, that he recommends that high of a dose of DHEA. I thought it was only pregnenolone in higher doses. Glad the DHEA is working out for you. I could never handle DHEA, but I am giving pregnenolone another go.
Thanks, Rand. I think you're very right in that he recommends much smaller dosing. But I had originally bought the DHEA in hopes that it might help in exercise recovery (it didn't), and so had previously worked my way up to that high dose.

Btw, 30mcg of melatonin doesn't affect me one bit. Maybe I can handle high doses of OTC hormones all around somehow.
 

Rand56

Senior Member
Messages
675
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Thanks, Rand. I think you're very right in that he recommends much smaller dosing. But I had originally bought the DHEA in hopes that it might help in exercise recovery (it didn't), and so had previously worked my way up to that high dose.

Btw, 30mcg of melatonin doesn't affect me one bit. Maybe I can handle high doses of OTC hormones all around somehow.

Last time I tried melatonin, which was awhile ago, I had the opposite reaction, it kept me awake LOL.

Recently I came across a thread on the raypeatforum, and there were a number of people doing "very" high doses of Preg. Some in the 300 - 500 mg's per day with some decent anecdotal reports. It actualy inspired me to try Preg again. When I tried it in the past, I was too chicken to go higher than 50mg's per day. So I'll see what kind of effects I get by trying to bump it up some.
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
Messages
1,287
Location
k8518704 USA
Last time I tried melatonin, which was awhile ago, I had the opposite reaction, it kept me awake LOL.

Recently I came across a thread on the raypeatforum, and there were a number of people doing "very" high doses of Preg. Some in the 300 - 500 mg's per day with some decent anecdotal reports. It actualy inspired me to try Preg again. When I tried it in the past, I was too chicken to go higher than 50mg's per day. So I'll see what kind of effects I get by trying to bump it up some.
Peat's account of how he put copper on his chin and overnight grew a cherry mole was wild. :) I wouldn't have believed it except for my experience with the DHEA. I like his no-nonsense approach of citing animal husbandy examples, where if it doesn't work, it doesn't get used. No speculation.

His vocal delivery reminds me of Bruce Ames, the antioxidant guy.

Speaking of paradoxical reactions, I knew somebody who tried thalidomide (the sleep aid of the thalidomide baby infamy from many years ago) which is now an anti-angiogenesis anti-cancer drug called Thalmid -- and got insomnia from that. You never know until you try.

Btw, I'd heard from a dermatologist years ago that birthmarks arise from nerve cells.
 

Rand56

Senior Member
Messages
675
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
Peat's account of how he put copper on his chin and overnight grew a cherry mole was wild. :) I wouldn't have believed it except for my experience with the DHEA. I like his no-nonsense approach of citing animal husbandy examples, where if it doesn't work, it doesn't get used. No speculation.

His vocal delivery reminds me of Bruce Ames, the antioxidant guy.

Speaking of paradoxical reactions, I knew somebody who tried thalidomide (the sleep aid of the thalidomide baby infamy from many years ago) which is now an anti-angiogenesis anti-cancer drug called Thalmid -- and got insomnia from that. You never know until you try.

Btw, I'd heard from a dermatologist years ago that birthmarks arise from nerve cells.

Did you ever read this when Peat first tried prenenolone?

"Dr. Peat accidentally discovered the effects of pregnenolone when he took some vitamin E containing a residue of pregnenolone that was left over from an experiment in solubility. Peat had been suffering from a variety of complaints, including “inflammation of the arteries, dental abscesses, asthma, migraines, and colitis.” When he took the vitamin E containing some pregnenolone, he immediately felt better, but got sick again when he stopped. Suddenly remembering the presence of pregnenolone in the vitamin E, he crawled out of his sick bed, took a pinch of pure pregnenolone and felt immediately better. All of his symptoms gradually disappeared and in ten weeks, his appearance changed. Many aging characteristics, such as sagging skin, “chicken neck,” bags under the eyes, etc. receded. These changes were dramatically evidenced in a passport photo, taken one year before pregnenolone and 10 weeks after pregnenolone therapy was initiated. When I saw these startling photos, I fell off my chair, dashed to the phone and called Dr. Peat."

http://www.litalee.com/shopexd.asp?ccode=Pregnenolone+-+A+Fruit+Of+Cholesterol
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
Messages
1,287
Location
k8518704 USA
Did you ever read this when Peat first tried prenenolone?
I did not know that. Is that how he got started on self-experimenting? Are the before-and-after photos available to see somewhere?

@Woolie might like to read this part from your cite (I hadn't heard this either) as re prednisone:
Here are some of the beneficial effects of pregnenolone support:
...
Protection from cortisone or cortisol toxicity:
The classic effects of toxic levels of cortisol include daytime euphoria, insomnia plus hot flashes at night, osteoporosis, brain aging, atrophy of the skin plus other signs of premature aging and adrenal atrophy (shrinking). Two injections of cortisone can destroy the beta cells of the pancreas in dogs, causing diabetes. Peat believes that stress-induced elevation in cortisol/cortisone can cause diabetes in people as well.
 

Rand56

Senior Member
Messages
675
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
I did not know that. Is that how he got started on self-experimenting? Are the before-and-after photos?

I don't know if that was the start of him self experimenting. I have not seen those before and after photo's myself, but maybe they are on the net somewhere. I do recall seeing one photo of him. It's a side shot of him doing a body building pose. He looked pretty damn buff in that pic. I don't know how old he was in that pic, but he did not look that young, guessing maybe 40's. I think he is somewhere in his 70's now.
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
Messages
1,287
Location
k8518704 USA
I don't know if that was the start of him self experimenting. I have not seen those before and after photo's myself, but maybe they are on the net somewhere. I do recall seeing one photo of him. It's a side shot of him doing a body building pose. He looked pretty damn buff in that pic. I don't know how old he was in that pic, but he did not look that young, guessing maybe 40's. I think he is somewhere in his 70's now.
This seemingly rare photo might be fairly recent, otherwise he seems publicity shy - which is good, I guess.

photo.jpg


For ~70-something BBs, you're probably aware of Clarence Bass (low fat) and Art DeVaney (low carb),
 

Rand56

Senior Member
Messages
675
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
This seemingly rare photo might be fairly recent, otherwise he seems publicity shy - which is good, I guess.
photo.jpg


For ~70-something BBs, you're probably aware of Clarence Bass (low fat) and Art DeVaney (low carb),

Yeah I have heard of Bass and DeVaney. There are a few guys at my gym that I go to who are older than me <I'm 58>, one is 70, and the other 2, mid-60's who look damn good with really good muscle bulk. You can tell they work at keeping their bodies in great shape.

Incidently if you just google "ray peat photos" you will find that BB pose of Peat. Actually looking at it again, he could be older than 40's in that pic.
 
Messages
3,263
@Sherlock, thanks for keeping me posted. I'm keeping a list of risk factors to keep an eye on. Its all about dose and duration, though, so need to find out more about both of those in regards to diabetes!
 

Sherlock

Boswellia for lungs and MC stabllizing
Messages
1,287
Location
k8518704 USA
Incidently if you just google "ray peat photos" you will find that BB pose of Peat. Actually looking at it again, he could be older than 40's in that pic.
Aha, at first glance I thought he was on gear but I think that's a Photoshop :)