this was part of the response to DrMommyN who posted her test results on MDA (credit goes to Jansz for this)

Quote:

Women should have DHEA~400 μg/dL at any time 1-116/400=0.71 In healthy person when you add up all major steroid hormones together, DHEAs is 95% cortisol 4% all other together 1% You are missing 70% of steroid hormones.

I converted my own dhea test results to US measurements and I am very close to DrMommyN`s results....dayum!
going to have to get me some 7-keto dhea!

I have taken as much as 200 mg of DHEA. I'm down to 100 now. And it's regular not 7Keto. But that's what Dr. Dzugan put me on and he's gotten me well.

I find that if I take the regular dhea after about 1 week or so I start getting signs of extra estrogen, not so bad now that I have the progesterone cream though

I started all the bioidentical hormones at the same time as the supplements so maybe that's why I had no problems.

So we are really supposed to have a level of 400 ug/dL ?

My last test came back at 366, which was high, according to the range. I was supplementing with 20mg per day of regular DHEA. My skin and pores were starting to look rougher, like acne was wanting to reappear, as in my youth. I cut that down to 10mg per day.

Then I found out about 7-keto, and have been taking 25mgs of that.
My skin is now back to normal, but I don't know what my level is now.

I dont' feel my best when mine is that high. My last result was 252 and after that, Dr. Dzugan cut my dhea in half.

keep in mind that lab ranges vary and those ranges are determined by how many folks are testing. the more folks testing with low levels the narrower the ranges are. I would aim for the higher end of the range but listen to your body`s signals.

interesting interaction between Jansz and Dr K this morning on MDA regarding dhea and pregnenelone:

Quote:

Jansz all levels need to be at desirable level, but, that does not mean you have to eat pills of each hormone all the time. Pregnenolone readily converts to progesterone, you just have to make sure that you have plenty of pregnenolone. DHEAs is very big bucket to fill. It should contain 95% of all major steroid hormones (in healthy person). 99% of the time people are very low on DHEAs. Untill DHEAs is at the right level, all/most of supplementation disappears in DHEAs bucket. As a doctor, dr Dzugan (and all other doctors) are at disadvantage. They have to worry about patient's compliance. Just read dr Dzugan's book. He already is using express method, always rushing, most of his cases described in the book dropped out before he really told them that he is done with his experimentation and now is maintenance and yearly checkups time. Taking few pills on as schedule every day, sometimes few times a day, is an effort beyond capability to comply for most people. Men have a simpler hormonal profile. Somewhat similar to menapausal women. Look at my spreadsheet. starting with zero progesterone, I have now too much of it (and I am not supplementing with progesterone). When I started thinking about what to do, progesterone stands out as important hormone, I took progesterone for a while, nothing good happened, impossible to control dose Prometrium pills are too big for me, creams do not work when I try. ... I have to say i kind of agree with this......now this nugget is for yall here......but as a paleo ages the two hormones i pay most attn to is pregnenolone and dhea. Then i go to sex steroid hormone. You need the sex steroid hormone for the last leg which is turning on pathways for body comp. (Dr K)

My DHEA is 72.7 (range 110-370) and my pregnenolone is 7 (range 7-188).

My doc has started me on 5 mg of DHEA (and I think it's making me break out on my scalp). I'm wondering why they recommend a DHEA supplement but not pregnenolone?

that I don't know but what about going with the 7 keto and jumping up a bit if the regular is making you break out.

7 keto apparently doesn't convert to testosterone (which is what would cause breakouts)

I may give the DHEA one more week, since I'm just coming off of TOM, then try the 7 keto and see if I notice a difference. I have the 7 keto in 25 mg capsules.

I actually had more trouble with breakouts when on the 7keto kind at the beginning. Just FYI.

My wife had a lot of acne issues with DHEA. I started it a couple of weeks ago and have not had any issues yet. It is Rx grade and strength too.

I have been on HRT for a couple of years now. Did not realize my DHEA was nearly missing as no one ever tested for it until I started see a new Dr. for HCG. She is a great find! She also discovered my vit. D was at a critical level...who knew? So, now I am on D3-5000 iu twice a day, bioequalavent thyroid and DHEA. We will reset in a month to dial in the dosages. No difference in how I feel so far...but maybe being in P2 has something to do with it and close to my target weight. I am hungry and grumpy most of the time. Irritable and cold now that the weather has cooled off.

if your D was below 50 it will take months to up it at your current dose.

I've been using 7-Keto for about 3 years now. And also Progesterine Cream. But only recently did I add the Pregnenolone. I first bought a cream that said to use each day but then skip 5 days (which I assumed was during TOM). But now I am using the Jarrow Pregnenolone Capsules (25 mg) and wondering if the capsules/pills have the same recommendations for women? It doesn't say to skip days on my current bottle.

My D was at 24.4 I took Rx D for 3 months, doc said that was all I needed but since I don't trust doctors anymore, I went and bought some D3-2000 and take one daily. I probably should up that?

My HDL was at 24 too. Guess I better rethink the nightshades, which I've barely been using, but that's really really bad.

Those were taken over a year ago, before hcg, before my weight loss. I'm waiting until my insurance kicks in to get some new labs, got another 90 days to go.

Holey moley.

Last time i check RX D is the wrong sterioisomer. IE is the backwards and doesnt work in the body like natural. I was on it once and not only did my liver function go down but my skin didnt tan like it has using supplements.

I think the Rx is D2 not D3

The acne seems to be settling down a little now. I've been on 10mg of DHEA for 4 weeks now.

Here is an interesting article about DHEA from Life Extension:

DHEA: What is it? Why do we need it? How much do we need? How do we restore it?

Now, Life Extension sells supplements, so take that into consideration when reading. But still, they provide some good information to put in our library for optimal health, imo.

Ever since Dr. K. dropped the nugget about the connection of low DHEA with inflamation, I'm reading all I can find on it.