Posted by BarbaraCat on July 21, 2002, at 21:10:39
In reply to Re: DHEA » BarbaraCat, posted by Shawn. T. on July 21, 2002, at 19:29:07
Thanks for all the info, Shawn. I'll be spending some enjoyable perusal time with it. I wish I could reciprocate by sending you a great link I found on multiple DHEA studies, but I can't locate it. There were a number of papers that dealt primarily on the difficulty of DHEA's bioavailability when injested. Apparently it doesn't survive the second pass through the liver very well. Alternate delivery methods were discussed including transdermal and injection, with injection coming out on top. This fuels my initial suspicions that DHEA is a great substance but only if assimilated properly. With fibromyalgia I also have digestion problems (I'm taking every known nutrional aid I know of to deal with it), so bioavailability is further compromised.
I am taking Remeron, funny you should mention it. It's been the best AD I've taken but very imperfect. The weight gain issue is a real bummer and I have to exercise this poor hurting body like crazy just to stay on an even keel. I'm trying to get off it and attempt to manage my bipolar-II mixed states brain with lithium and eventually adding lamictal, but this was before your post. If Remeron helps fibro then I don't want to court getting any worse by removing it.
No, I didn't know about the low blood sugar relation to fibro. I don't believe I am, however, but don't trust any standard blood test to tell me so. I'll do some research on it and see if I fit the profile.
Do you know about the hypothyroid connection? Dr. John Lowe, DC, is convinced that either undertreated hypothyroidism or celluar resistance to thyroid hormone is rampant and is THE cause of fibro. I've read his massive tome on the subject "The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia" and it is very convincing - especially since I'm hypothyroid. He talks in depth about the need for T3 along with T4, and sometimes T3 alone. I take Armour thyroid and just recently doubled the amount, now up to 3 grains. Alot of my pains have dimished and I'm feeling no hyper symptoms at all. The fascinating thing about how all this ties in is DHEA's role in thyroid function!! DHEA seems to be implicated in every metabolic and reproductive process. So the first thing I will be doing is getting an overal DHEA and hormone panel done by my naturopath and then monitoring my levels as I increase the dose. The next big question now is, what about pregnenalone? Preg is the precursor to DHEA, so why is it so unfamiliar? Other than the nootropic literature, I haven't seen any major studies on it such as with DHEA. I'm sure there are yet more precursors to pregnenalone, but the path seems to stop there for right now. It seems to me that precursors are the key to regulating our neuro and biochemistry.
What do you do, BTW? Do you have a practice in nutrition or alternative medicine? Good chatting with you. - Barbara
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:1924
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020718/msgs/113207.html