Does anyone here have any insight the can offer on DHEA

O2girl · July 2014

At my appt with my RE today he mentioned to me that next month he is going to start me on DHEA. Since that was the first time I have heard about it I didn't have questions prepared for him. I did some reading online and I get that it helps women with DOR and egg quality.....But I haven't had an issue with DOR or poor egg quality, plus I'm doing an FET with embryos we already have. I am AMA at 37 nearly 38 years of age...... Is DHEA also used to help with implantation? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

Frenchteachermama · July 2014

Hmmm I'm with you, I thought it was to help egg quality. My RE recommended it because my AMH is so low. I have this awesome book called "it starts with the egg", it's a whole book on infertility and egg quality. There is a whole chapter on DHEA let me RE-read it and I'll let you know!

O2girl · July 2014

HoldingOutHope said:
I'm sorry, I have no insight regarding whether it helps with implantation. Did your RE actually draw your DHEAS to see where you stand? My understanding has been that DHEA supplementation has gained popularity to help with DOR, as you stated.

I'm confused about DHEA myself, as mine has gone from way too low (several years ago), to too high (now). I'm waiting to meet with my RE next week to get some more insight there.

GL & I hope you get some answers!

I'm sure he drew the DHEAs..... He did draw a ton of labs

buggirl72 · July 2014

DHEA is fairly controversial among REs. There really are no clear-cut studies on whether it helps or not. My RE was in the school of "take it because it might help" but said he saw improvement in about 50% of the people taking it - and it was purely for egg quality/production.

DHEA is a natural precursor to androgens. It will raise your testosterone levels. I finally took it because my testerone levels were barely normal (low end). Since we did not do IVF, I can't say if I produced more follicles or not while on it. There are some women who graduated from this board (after an IF dx) who credit DHEA with their spontaneous pgs. I was not one of those women. I also had my testosterone levels checked after 6 months, they were on the upper end of normal. I was also starting to have breakouts and other issues that I believe was caused by the DHEA.

In your case, I really do not understand why your doctor has you taking it. Between the MFI and the fact that you are doing a FET, I don't see a point of it unless he believes it will help with eventual implantation. I would call and ask because it does have side effects and, since egg quality is not something you need to be working on, I really have no idea why he would want you on it - especially while you are doing Lupron suppression.

O2girl · July 2014

buggirl72 said:
DHEA is fairly controversial among REs. There really are no clear-cut studies on whether it helps or not. My RE was in the school of "take it because it might help" but said he saw improvement in about 50% of the people taking it - and it was purely for egg quality/production.

DHEA is a natural precursor to androgens. It will raise your testosterone levels. I finally took it because my testerone levels were barely normal (low end). Since we did not do IVF, I can't say if I produced more follicles or not while on it. There are some women who graduated from this board (after an IF dx) who credit DHEA with their spontaneous pgs. I was not one of those women. I also had my testosterone levels checked after 6 months, they were on the upper end of normal. I was also starting to have breakouts and other issues that I believe was caused by the DHEA.

In your case, I really do not understand why your doctor has you taking it. Between the MFI and the fact that you are doing a FET, I don't see a point of it unless he believes it will help with eventual implantation. I would call and ask because it does have side effects and, since egg quality is not something you need to be working on, I really have no idea why he would want you on it - especially while you are doing Lupron suppression.

Thank you. As I was reading what you wrote (you explained so much I didn't understand initially) and I started to realize that most likely the RE will want me on it because I am an estrogen making machine......and perhaps because my adenomyosis feeds off of the estrogen (and we want my E2 at as close to zero as possible which doesn't happen with just the Lupron alone unfortunately) that maybe the DHEA will help decrease my E2 further? He hasn't had me start it....yet. He just told me that in a month I need another SHG and to start the DHEA. I'll ask his NP when she calls me about my beta later today. Thanks again

O2girl · July 2014

@buggirl72‌
Just got off the phone with the NP at my REs office..... It's to counteract the effects of the menopausal state that the Lupron puts me in..... Specifically the migraines and severe joint pain I have while on Lupron.

buggirl72 · July 2014

O2girl said:

@buggirl72‌ Just got off the phone with the NP at my REs office..... It's to counteract the effects of the menopausal state that the Lupron puts me in..... Specifically the migraines and severe joint pain I have while on Lupron.

Very interesting! I'm glad that it will work to help counteract the Lupron side-effects.

Want a personalized experience?

Does anyone here have any insight the can offer on DHEA

Re: Does anyone here have any insight the can offer on DHEA

Choose Another Board

Search Boards