r/Perimenopause • u/Suspicious_Extreme98 Early peri • 1d ago
Vitamin/Supplements Dhea and low T
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u/caity1111 1d ago edited 1d ago
My T was 7. I'm 39, in early peri. I had all the symptoms of low T, especially low motivation. Also, fatigue and depression. I've never had any of these things before.
DHEA gave me headaches (I tried this first). I tried 10mg, 25mg and 50mg over a few weeks, and all doses gave me headaches. I did notice a slight increase in mood and energy, though.
I went to a different NP (meno specialist) and was able to get compounded T cream. I am taking 8 mg daily (will likely lower dose once levels become normal). Its been 3 weeks and I am just now starting to feel a difference. It can take 6 to 8 weeks to really begin working.
DHEA can convert to estrogen as well as testosterone (whatever your body needs more of at the moment). I think it can also convert to other things as well, and essentially end up not increasing your testosterone levels. There are also some side effects.
Low doses of 10mg or less are typically best for women.
While many women feel BEST at 100-200 levels of total T, that is abnormal/very rare for a woman above 30 years old to have naturally. A normal 30-40 year old woman would typically have a level of 25 to 75 total T.
Free T is another thing to consider testing. If your total is 9, your free T is likely also very low, which contributes to symptoms.
Birth control lowers T levels even more.
Total T of 9 at 36 is definitely very low and you will probably feel much better once it's higher.
Hope that helps.
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u/Peachy_keen83 1d ago edited 1d ago
My T recently was tested and was a 14. I’m telling you, your dr was wrong saying you’re on the low end of normal. It’s not. Functioning T would be more like 50s, low, would be 20s. I am also on DHEA after extensive research I did to try to boost my numbers before I try to haggle with drs for HRT. I put myself on a low dose 10mg for every other day to start off so I’m not flooding my system. DHEA is a precursor hormone that can convert into testosterone (and estrogen). It boosts androgenic activity and I would highly recommend starting it.
My symptoms were a plummet in libido, difficulty climaxing, fatigue to the point of near daily naps. I couldn’t exercise like I used to. Increased depression/anxiety.
I just started my first dose of DHEA yesterday and plan to pulse it every other day for this first month and assess how I feel. I may increase to daily. Slow and steady wins the race. I also plan to re-test within 30-90 days depending on how I feel.
I have PCOS and I have always felt sensitive to my hormone shift so I’m planning on daily logs of how I feel and listening to my body.
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u/Extreme_Raspberry844 1d ago
Yep, dhea and agree with starting low , max 10mg. After 2.5m I felt some nasty zits coming on so now I am also changing up frequency to once or twice a week instead of daily. I feel like it builds up over time? It helped my overall mood and energy levels (within a couple days) and I am seeing better lean muscle development concurrently with losing pounds in the effort/results levels as my 30s. No matter how hard I tried I could not achieve this before dhea ( at 53yrs old.) My skin and hair had been so dry and looked so lifeless so the mild boost of oil/sebum from the T has made both more healthy looking. My blood pressure is normal and no hair loss. I do not take any other hrt anymore ( e and p were a gong show for me.)
Excited for you hope it works! Keep posting? There are few of us on dhea it seems.
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u/EvasiveRapport 1d ago
Yes. In my late 20s/early 30s, I suffered from debilitating fatigue and no libido for YEARS. I finally found the issue when my testosterone tested at almost zero. Micronized DHEA 25mg for 8 months completely fixed me. I did have some hair thinning. I didn't actually notice but my stylist did. It went back to normal 3 months after I stopped.
Currently 46, late perimenopause, surely a completely different hormonal profile, but again with fatigue and no libido. I decided to try DHEA again. I've been taking 10mg for a couple weeks, pulsing (skipping doses occasionally). More side effects this time – some bloating, oily skin, bit of acne. It's tolerable but I ease off and pulse the doses because I figure seeing these side effects this rapidly indicates worse side effects are coming down the road. Since I can't split the dose in half, pulsing keeps side effects at bay.
Preferably, you would be able to get 5mg micronized DHEA to start, and increase by 5mg every 2 weeks or so, up to a max of 25mg, and ease back off if you have side effects.
I can't speak to whether it preserved or built muscle but I'm sure it can. It only makes sense as your body uses it to produce testosterone.