# DHEA side effects



## lumpy123 (Feb 22, 2013)

Hi there,

I'm not in my 40s yet  Yay!! But my wife will be turning 40 this year... booo!

Anyway, Now that I've unintentionally offended all the readers of this section of the forum  I wanted to ask about the Dhea side effects.  My wife is about to start taking them, we will hopefully be trying DE-IVF this summer.

Anyway, spots, nausea, are fair enough, but hair loss!! That's freaking my wife and me out a bit.
Of course, we really, really, really want kids, but not at the expense of my wife going bald!

Has anyone had any positive or negative experiences with DHEA?

Thanks.
K


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## Kitty71 (Apr 14, 2010)

Hi lumpy,

If you are doing donor egg I don't see why your wife needs to take DHEA. Do you mean donor sperm?

I have only positive experiences with it but side effects do vary. All I had was slightly greasier skin.

It can mess with cycle lengths a bit but for a medicated IVF cycle that wouldn't matter as the other drugs control everything.

I believe it was a contributing factor in my recent conception and twice previously, so I believe it is definately beneficial, especially to us "older ladies"   

I'm sure lots more ladies will be along soon with their experiences.

Good luck x


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## barbster (Jan 26, 2012)

Hi

As you are having donor egg IVF, your wife would not need to take DHEA. It is generally used for women with low ovarian reserve and high FSH to promote healthier eggs and bring down FSH levels.

The only side effects I had on them were initially spots and increased facial hair. The spots settled down and the facial hair got removed   so no real problems.


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## foreverhopefull2013 (Jan 31, 2013)

Hi

I was on them for 5 months and was petrified of hair loss as I have very fine hair, though I had no issues, and like the other girls said, greasy skin and hair. I changed my moisturiser to oil free and changed my shampoo, above all no issues. I got 4 eggs when they thought I would only get 1, so think it worked for me as far as the eggs went. Still not pregnant though unfortunately..


Though agree is it donor eggs when you say DE?  As you wouldn't need dhea for that, dhea is a weak male hormone which used over at least a 3 to 4 month period and can help with the quality of eggs, so if you have a donor egg you wouldn't need eggs and hence dhea would be pointless

Ay questions let us know and good luck..


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## lumpy123 (Feb 22, 2013)

Hi there,

Thanks for the replies/input.

Yeah, it's strange given that the consultant said we should forget about OE-IVF and go straight to DE-IVF, but also advised we try DHEA.

But I think, what he was saying(quite rightly) was that we have a 15% chance of success with OE-IVF, so we'd be pretty much wasting our money if we tried that, however, as there is a 9 month waiting list at his clinic and a 3-4 month waiting list at many Spanish clinics, we might as continue trying naturally until we do the DE-IVF(50% chance).  And taking DHEA, in the mean time will improve both the chances of natural um stuff. Also, as far as I understand DHEA is basically an anti-aging health supplement, my wife and I are now taking various supplements (and she is trying the dhea)  

So, in any case, it should have us in tip top shape for DE-IVF. 

Good luck guys   I hope everything works out for you.


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## foreverhopefull2013 (Jan 31, 2013)

Hi 

DHEA is used in help purposes in very small doses IE: 5, 10, 20MG per day. It only works in fertility purposes when its taken incorrectly in a very high dose, which is 75MG per day, when you take it in such a high dose it turns into testosterone, which is why you read that in some cases hair loss can happen over a pro longed period. As males with very high progesterone levels go bald ect. So DHEA will ONLY work for fertility if taken in the high daily dose of 75MG, if you take any less then it will have 0% on fertility as it is then just a health drug which can help with fatigue ect. DHEA is found in the adrenal glands and depletes as we get older so topping it up can help with your lifestyle. Though as I say it must be taken in a high dosage to work for fertility.. As when this is done the testosterone can help improve the quality of the eggs..

Hope this helps x


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## Duck007 (Feb 7, 2012)

My personal experience of DHEA is negative.  I took 3 x 25mg per day for at least three months prior and during two of my IVF cycles.  Both cycles were nearly cancelled due to poor response and I had to stim for longer.  Additionally, my oestrogen levels were low compared with cycles prior to DHEA.  On the last of my 'DHEA' cycles my one and only embryo was of such poor quality that I knew during embryo transfer that I would get a BFN.  

I have subsequently had natural IVF and produced a grade 1 embryo.  So either the down reg drugs, stimms or DHEA may have been the culprit.  

I must point out that I self medicated and the DHEA was not supplied by my clinic.  Additionally, my DHEA levels were NOT monitored.  If your clinic are recommending DHEA I would ask for your partner's levels to be monitored.  

x


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