DHEA?

Has anyone here taken DHEA after gastric bypass? Can you tell me if it helped or hurt? What were the side effects and why did you take it?

I have not taken it, but a woman at work (who is not overweight) came in absolutely raving about this alleged "super hormone" that would turn back the aging clock, increase the sex drive, restore youthful skin, reverse hardening of the arteries, etc.  I was curious so I did some research on it.  First of all, keep in mind that our bodies are a finely tuned system and taking ANY hormones can upset that balance and cause all sorts of wackiness.

With that said, number one, doctors don't even know what the function of DHEA is... Only that it is a STEROIDAL hormone and that it gets converted into testosterone.  While that might be advantageous for men (but might also contribute to prostate problems), excess testosterone in women can result in growth of excess facial hair, hair loss on the head, lack of periods, emotional swings, and insomnia (all the things associated with having more testosterone than estrogen during menopause).

Number two, the studies that were done on this were done with rats and what happens in rats frequently does NOT happen in humans.  The most frequently cited study on humans (by a Dr. Yen) was done with a whopping EIGHT people.  Not exactly an adequate sample size for a solid study!

Number three, according to the Mayo Clinic, hormone imbalances such as those caused by taking DHEA can result in changes in blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, and thyroid (and therefore metabolic) levels.

It sounds like A LOT of potential issues with no real evidence of positive effects to me....

Lora