Date:   9/20/2013 10:39:10 AM ( 11 y ago)
Hits:   8,397
URL:   https://www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=2106278

It makes sense that DHEA would cause chest hair and hair loss - because DHEA converts FIRST to testosterone and then onto estrogen.
So DHEA for you would have increased your T levels to produce symptoms of high T of extra hair growth and losing of scalp hair.

The effect on the thyroid is interesting. Maybe the DHEA (normally produced in the adrenals) signalled to the thyroid that the adrenals are working better and therefore TSH could rise increasing Thyroid hormone actions of T3 and T4 - having 'sensed' from DHEA supplementation that the adrenals are producing more hormones. So when you stopped the DHEA and your TSH level shot up, it could indicate that you went more hypo.
Hormones signal each other. A sudden drop of any hormone can create a big swing in another hormone level. Perhaps because you didn't taper down the dose you've 'shocked' your thyroid?

My labs show borderline hypothyroid. The adrenals show obvious deficit in hormone production.

I have a hard time figuring out what to do because i can't take DHEA as my testosterone (which is at the level of most males in their 20's! I'm female, 35yrs) is very high and extra DHEA will convert to MORE testosterone. I'm irritated enough as it is - more testosterone and i'll be purely explosive and dangerous!

Also the Estrogen level is not even 1...it's very low, and that's weird because testosterone converts to estrogen - so this result indicates i'm not converting T to Estrogen...which is why i have really high T levels. Estrogen closes the bones of growth spurt of puberty and helps mature bones. At 25 i was 5'5", now 10 years later i'm 5'7" and a bit.
I've looked into the enzyme which converts T to Estrogen, Aromatase - and was able to see from my gene results from 23andme that the mutation is there which studies show aromatase deficiency. It looks like for that imbalance i need to supplement with estrogen. There's not much i can do about an enzyme which won't do it's job properly, which is disappointing.

Though it does make sense why my hormonal journey through life has been utter hell!

So although DHEA is noted for maintaining youth...and higher levels are important - i don't think i should risk taking it and the effect it'll have on my T levels - i don't want to grow a full beard! lol

If your energy crashed when you stopped DHEA then it probably did increase your thyroid function, giving more energy. A closer look at your thyroid levels of freeT3 and freeT4, TPO and AB to test for thyroid antibodies, would be useful for you it sounds. Just going by TSH is hard to *really* gauge what's going on with thyroid...especially if it's the type of Hashimoto's which swings hyper and hypo.

See here:
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lab-values/


It's worth also getting your DHEA/s levels checked alongside the cortisol.







 

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