Experimenting with DHEA

 If you've been at my site you know the whole story about hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue, but even after all this time my treatment is a work-in-progress.  This means treating everything in life as an experiment (in fact you can browse my ongoing experiments on edison – the experimenter's journal).

Of course, using oneself as the test subject can be frustrating, and even a bit scary. Here is the latest update about my life as an experiment... 

At my last doctor's visit in April, I had lab work done. Turns out in the past few years my DHEA had dropped a ridiculous amount, into an abnormal range. We aren't sure why, but since DHEA is produce by the adrenals we suspect the drop is related to my thyroid and adrenal systems and treatment. Anyway, I was feeling in good health overall but figured it was worth trying a DHEA supplement to see what would happen. My doctor said that was fine. Fortunately, or not, the only way to figure stuff out is by trying it.  So there I was again, my own test dummy.

When trying something new I always hope I will have great and immediate results like I did with Hydrocortisone, Naturethroid and the Vitamin B Complex. However, with DHEA it seems that the results have been immediate, but not so good.  Namely, I noticed a lot of hair loss.  Imagine my horror this past month, after virtually no hair loss since getting thyroid treatment, to suddenly be shedding like crazy. And to make things worse I noticed the return of other hypothyroid symptoms like brain fog, inability to cope or get motivated.  

I have to say I've been freaked out, as I am sure you might feel at times when your body just isn't doing the right thing.  Luckily my mom talked me off a theoretic ledge this morning and helped me pinpoint that the DHEA may be the issue.  I started reading on the Yahoo Adrenal group about it, and sure enough some people have had similar problems with DHEA, specifically with hair loss.

The lessons learned is that experiments can be frustrating, especially when they affect your physical health. But we have to keep at it, keep learning and evolving because this stuff just isn't going to fix itself.  But I have to remember to forgive myself when things don't go great.  The learning is what matters, as long as I can get myself back on track.

I am pretty sure DHEA didn't work for me, so I am stopping it and will report back about my findings. Of course, DHEA might work great for some people and I would love to hear if you've had a good experience.

xxoo

Lizzy