DHEA Levels and Effects of Supplementation

[of574]

When I take DHEA it gives me symptoms of low cortisol, dose dependent fatigue, burning eyes. Fatigue can be really debilitating above 10mg. Don't get any heart related sides though.
So I think it directly opposes cortisol in target tissues or it suppresses natural adrenal production or a combination thereof.
I tried quite a number of different things with it. My DHEA comes as a very fine powder in a capsule. I tried taking it at different times of day, emulsify it with butter in my mouth before ingestion or let the powder sit under my tongue. Each of these made slight differences in how I felt. However, as GreenMachineX did, I came to the conclusion that it makes me feel worse not better.

I think low DHEA is usually just a sign of generally weak adrenals. As the adrenals are getting more constrained the body prioritizes cortisol production over dhea.

 

[Shawn]

yes i believe the body prioritizes cortisol over DHEA regardless. they do seem to oppose each other, especially since DHEA itself is straight DHEA, not an herb that may assist the adrenal glands as a whole. after doing research, i concluded i wouldn't ever use DHEA without using licorice root tea or extract since that will raise cortisol (or inhibit metabolization of it prolonging what one would produce). i believe a lot of people get bad sides from adaptogens since they end up driving their cortisol levels too low. if you are low in both cortisol and DHEA, its best to use both DHEA and licorice root together.