Dhea symptoms and conditions

i was diagnosed with what the Drs said as a sluggish thyroid---i have had panic attacks for over 20yrs and just thought I was pooped from them---Dr gave me 25 levothyroxine and told me to give it aprox 3months---i did and well I felt terrible nervous, depressed and more panicky---i believe the depression was from feeling more panicky and not being able to socialize---so, my Dr took me off the 25 T4 and put me on DHEA and progesterone, after doing the saliva test to check certain levels. Her hopes are that I will get energy levels back without nervousness since she has noticed my hormone levels are off and as she said I have adrenal exhaustion. So, Im only on the 3rd day off of the T4 and on the current regiment of 25mg DHEA/B supplements/
EFAs/and Lyrica(25mg)/ and I have no energy at all-----i just want to sleep but i push myself but cant wait to hit the bed almost always right now--I never had these symptoms b4 I went on the T4 aprox 3months ago but now that Im going off I feel terrible, I am definitely calmer and less anxious now that I am off them but I cant make a decision to save my life and Im pooped!!! Does anyone know if going off 25 T4 could have such a drastic affect----thx so much-----

MY FRIEND RECEIVED A SHOT OF KENALOG ABOUT A WEEK AGO AND HE NEVER TOLD HERE ABOUT THESE HORRIBLE SIDE EFFECTS! SINCE GETTING THIS SHOT SHE HAS HAD TROUBLE BREATHING, HEART RACING, INSOMINIA AND MANY MORE LISTED BUT SHE HAS NOT HAD SEVERE SIDE AFFECTS AS SOME OF YA'LL BUT SHE SAYS WHAT SHE DOES HAVE SYMPTOM WISE IS VERY ANNOYING AND SCARRY FOR HER! THE HEART RACING ALMOST SENT HER TO THE HOSPITAL BUT SHE WAITED AND SAW HER DOCTOR AND HE GAVE HER XANAX AND THAT HELPED BUT SHE DECIDED TO LOOK FOR OTHER WAYS OF RELIEVING THESE AWFUL SIDE AFFECTS AND SHE WENT TO A HEALTH STORE-she was told to take dhea 5mg every other day and now she is free of all the side effects she had and i wanted to share this with you to help anyone with these horrible side effects i myself have panic attacks and know how awful they feel so please try the -dhea 5mg every other day- and hopefully you will get relief as she has also, wal-mart has cheap dhea and it works as well as the expensive ones! good luck!

Silke-
So glad to hear from you. I am just interested to know because I had lab tests done (blood) as well and mine came back "normal" low normal so I ordered a saliva test online for a hormone profile because I read that saliva tests are more accurate than blood tests for hormones and my labs came back that my testosterone is way low as well as some of my other hormones which were too low for a woman my age. ( By the way I have been off the yasmin since the end of Nov. 2005) So now I am looking into bio Identical hormone replacement, which is a natural hormone much like the hormones our bodies make already NOT the synthetic junk in BCP's. I think in my case that the yasmin supressed my androgens and testosterone which are the male hormones, guess what these hormones are responsible for? skin elasticity, mood, sleep balance, cholesterol levels, muscle integrity... among other things...hmm sound familiar? a lot of things we and other people on this site are complaining about. I am still looking into finding a good doctor for the BIH replacement but you can read up on this on www.salivatest.com click on 24 HOUR HORMONE HOTLINE on the bottom paragraph of the second box on the left hand side of your screen, then on the next screen scroll down to 630 ANDROGENS: Testosterone and DHEA listen to what the hormones are responsible for. 627 All about Hormones is very informative as well, actually if you click on a lot of the numbers there you can learn a lot, as well as about saliva testing and BIHR. You can order a saliva test by clicking on the home page you started out on, at the very top it says order test kit. I ordered HORMONE PROFILE I. That measures your estridiol, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and cortisol levels in the am. This will give you a basic idea of where your hormones are at. I would be curious to see where your levels really are as well. Let me know what you think. Bitter RN-

Against my wishes and not telling me the truth while I was in the hospital, a doctor was giving me steroids/prednisone. I began to lose weight and find it very frightening as I have never heard of anyone losing weight on prednisone. Everyone complains of weight gain. Even though I am now off the Prednisone I am having a difficultl time maintaining my weight. I just am unable to gain and too frightened to tell the doctor, afraid of what they may find. This weight loss started while on the Prednisone (shots, then pills). I cannot find anywhere where weight loss is a side effect. Has anyone else ever heard of this? I found a few references and they pertained to cancer, which is why I am frightened. I know I did not have this problem until I was given Prednisone.

Can someone explain these results to me

Can someone help me read my test results
Serum DHEA level 2.1 umol/L (1.9 - 9.4)
Serum Testosterone 0.7 nmol/L (0.5 - 2.6)
Serum progesterone = 21.3 nmol/L
re ranges
Follicular 0-3.6
mid-cycle 1.5-5.5
Luteal 3-68
Mid-luteal 19-46
Serum oestradiol level = 219 pmol/L
ref ranges
Early follicular<73 - 308
pre-ovulatory oeak 125-1468
luteal 101-905
post menopause: less than 110

Can someone please explain these results to me, are they low normal high????
Thankyou

Hormone tests

Hi ladies I had my testosterone, estradiol, DHEA and estrogene levels checked, my results have come back and the doctor said they are fine, how can I find out if this is true? I am picking the results up tomorrow.
I am also having a CT scan tomorrow so hopefully put an end to my paranoia of brain tumours and the anxiety will ease.

Joanne.

To guest 13780:
Yes, I did have my hormones checked. I got them checked about 3 months being off of the pill. I did the saliva test. My results were that I have very very low progesterone and a high dhea level. You got your results back the same day? It took about 2 weeks before I got my results. I have been off of yasmin for about 5 months and have only had 3 periods. Hope this helps you some....I am still having anxiety and irrational thoughts but I am hoping this will go away very soon. If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask...Hugs to everyone still recovering from this horrible pill =)

PS to Guest, #12572;

For sadness (depression etc) ; B vitamins and exercise are a great all-natural way to "help" combat the side effects you are experiencing. Vitamin C will also help.

B1; Plays a key role in the body's metabolic cycle for generating energy
B2; promotes general health
B3; increases energy through proper utilization of food, maintains the nervous system
B5 thru 11; improve the body's resistance to stress, helps the adrenal glands (the temporary loss of normal function in the adrenals is one of the most common effects of prednisone)
B12; low levels cause depression

Exercise stimulates the good endorphins and over all feelings of well being.

Because Prednisone can cause havoc on the adrenal glands, it is suggested that people do everything they can to support the adrenals during and after prednisone therapy;
(The adrenal glands secrete several important hormones that help maintain the balance of many body functions. Stress, fasting, temperature changes, infections, drugs such as prednisone, and exercise all stimulate the adrenals to release their hormones. When the adrenals release too few or too many hormones, the body responds differently to the everyday stresses of life.
The adrenal cortex is involved in the production of glucocorticoids (such as cortisol i.e. hydrocortisone), mineralocorticoids (aldosterone) and androgens such as androstenedione and DHEA. A mild to moderate adrenocortical deficiency can substantially reduce your quality of life, yet this condition is not recognized by most doctors, who only think of the adrenal gland's condition as being at either extreme - normal or in overt failure.
Symptoms of adrenal deficiency include depression, irratibility, fatigue, and exaggerated stress responses.

We need to remember that while taking prednisone, we were actually supplementing our own cortisol production and levels and it might take some time for our own cortisol productions to return to normal.

Best Wishes

UPDATE OF GYN APPT AFTER STOPPING YASMIN!! (REVISED)
Note: Disregard previous message from me, b/c it got all messed up!

Well, I had my GYN visit today. I told her about the symptoms I have been having since I stopped Yasmin 7 weeks ago- hair loss, dry skin, hair growth (on chin and chest), increased acne, no period, etc. She says that I just have anxiety which is causing my hair to fall out. She says that stopping the pill doesn't cause hair loss and being on the pill should not have caused the amount of anxiety I have. When I told her that while on yasmin my blood pressure, cholesterol and heart rate had increased she said nothing. When I told her that my potassium was low while on Yasmin (the most common side effect due to the diuretuc), she said nothing. She just kept going back to anxiety. How can anxiety cause hair to fall out from my head and grow everywhere else? After a lot of persuasion, she agreed to run hormone tests to check my testosterone and DHEA. But she siad that if they were normal, then nothing was wrong and I should see a therapist. She refused to believe that any of my problems could have been caused from being on Yasmin. I cried for an hour after my appt and couldn't return to work. Am I really just crazy???

UPDATE OF GYN APPT AFTER STOPPING YASMIN!!

Well, I had my GYN visit today. I told her about the symptoms I have been having since I stopped Yasmin 7 weeks ago- hair loss, dry skin, hair growth (on chin and chest), increased acne, no period, etc. She says that I just have anxiety which is causing my hair to fall out. She says that stopping the pill doesn't cause hair loss and being on the pill should not have caused the amount of anxiety I have. When I told her that while on yasmin my blood pressure, cholesterol and heart rate had increased she said nothing. When I told her that I had muscle aches which another doctor attributed to my potassium being low while on Yasmin (the most common side effect due to the diuretuc), she said nothing. When I told her I stomach problems, urinary problems, chest pains and numbness, she just kept going back to anxiety. How can anxiety cause hair to fall out from my head and grow everywhere else? I cried for almost an hour after my appt. For once my mom, sensed my frustration. After a lot of persuasion, she agreed to run hormone tests to check my testosterone and DHEA. Well, I had my GYN visit today. I told her about the symptoms I have been having since I stopped Yasmin 7 weeks ago- hair loss, dry skin, hair growth (on chin and chest), increased acne, no period, etc. She says that I just have anxiety which is causing my hair to fall out. She says that stopping the pill doesn't cause hair loss and being on the pill should not have caused the amount of anxiety I have. When I told her that while on yasmin my blood pressure, cholesterol and heart rate had increased she said nothing. When I told her that my potassium was low while on Yasmin (the most common side effect due to the diuretuc), she said nothing. She just kept going back to anxiety. How can anxiety cause hair to fall out from my head and grow everywhere else? I cried for almost an hour after my appt. For once my mom, sensed my frustration. After a lot of persuasion, she agreed to run hormone tests to check my testosterone and DHEA. But she siad that if they were normal, then nothing was wrong and I should see a therapist. Well, I had my GYN visit today. I told her about the symptoms I have been having since I stopped Yasmin 7 weeks ago- hair loss, dry skin, hair growth (on chin and chest), increased acne, no period, etc. She says that I just have anxiety which is causing my hair to fall out. She says that stopping the pill doesn't cause hair loss and being on the pill should not have caused the amount of anxiety I have. When I told her that while on yasmin my blood pressure, cholesterol and heart rate had increased she said nothing. When I told her that my potassium was low while on Yasmin (the most common side effect due to the diuretuc), she said nothing. She just kept going back to anxiety. How can anxiety cause hair to fall out from my head and grow everywhere else? After a lot of persuasion, she agreed to run hormone tests to check my testosterone and DHEA. But she siad that if they were normal, then nothing was wrong and I should see a therapist. She refused to believe that any of my problems could have been caused from being on Yasmin. I cried for an hour after my appt and couldn't return to work. Am I really just crazy???

I was switched to Aciphex to see if my side effects were from the pharmacy switching me from Prilosec to the generic Omeprazole but I have a dry mouth, seems like I'm in a cloud and my memory isn't as sharp and the least of my problems I noticed is dry chapped lips. I'm swithching back to prilosec. I was also taking DHEA and will discontinue that to see if it makes a difference. Any other thoughts please contact me.