Today I have a warning for you. I did not really want to write this one — I may be treading on somebody’s interests — but it has to be written. Patients keep asking about it, and I keep meeting patients who are taking DHEA in the hope that it will raise the number of their eggs.

There is still not much data from good-quality research. Please use your own judgement.

First, what is DHEA?

DHEA is a weak male hormone made by the adrenal glands.

Diagram of the chemical structure of DHEA — The chemical structure of DHEA

So how is a male hormone supposed to give you more eggs?

The idea comes from this: when the level of male hormone is a little higher than normal — as it is in patients with PCOS — there are more follicles than usual. So people tried giving DHEA as a supplement to patients who have few eggs, hoping it would raise the number.

But —

If there is too much male hormone, then instead of giving you more eggs it drives all the egg cells to die off.

So who should be using DHEA?

Women aged 40 and over who are going to have ovarian stimulation
People who have been stimulated before and had fewer than 5–7 starting follicles

Starting it today will do nothing

It has to be taken for at least 2–3 months before ovarian stimulation before it has any effect.

The dose matters enormously

On the market (abroad) there are three strengths: 25, 50 and 100 mg.

Gather yourself and read this three times over

The recommended dose is 25 mg a day. That is all.

Starting at 25 mg a day is quite enough. Too much, and all the eggs die.

What set this off

I have seen people trying to sell fertility patients the 100 mg strength, which is far too much. That one is meant for men to take, for things like losing weight or feeling more sprightly.

Men with fertility problems must not take it either

The sperm vanish completely.

It makes me sad to see patients buying it by mistake and taking it. There is no benefit in it. There is harm.

Before you start

Talk to your doctor before you start taking it. Don’t let anyone trick you into spending money for nothing. You lose the money, you lose heart, you don’t get the eggs either — and you lose the time.

With love — Dr. Patsama

P.S.

To you who mis-sell these things to patients who have placed their hope in you: you ought to look the information up thoroughly and carefully first. Doing it this way, you get your sales; by the time the people who bought from you find out, you have already taken a good deal of their money. It is simply not right.

References

Keane KN, Hinchliffe PM, Rowlands PK, et al. DHEA Supplementation Confers No Additional Benefit to that of Growth Hormone on Pregnancy and Live Birth Rates in IVF Patients Categorized as Poor Prognosis. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2018;9:14. Published 2018 Jan 31. doi:10.3389/fendo.2018.00014

DHEA
Male hormone
Low egg numbers
Ovarian stimulation
25 mg dose
PCOS
Supplements
Male infertility

Say “NO” to DHEA