Dr Pickart:
I have a book by the late Dr Atkins called Vita Nutrient solution. In it he says that DHEA should be balanced with pregnenolone (which produces progesterone), and I have read elsewhere that DHEA should be balanced with melatonin.

Do you balance your DHEA with either melatonin or pregnenolone and if so, how much?

I really think I would benefit from DHEA since I am under a lot of stress right now but I am afraid that the DHEA will be converted to testosterone and I will grow a beard and get a deep voice. I would not be able to handle that at all. My doctor says my adrenal glands are burning out because of stress but he believes the solution is valium or ativan.

Dr Atkins' book says that the average 20 year old makes between 20mg and 30mg of DHEA per day and maybe a tenth of that at age 70.

What percentage of a DHEA supplement does the body absorb?

I am thinking of taking 50mg daily for 2 months then taper to 25 mg.

Do you think that 50mg of DHEA would cause the development of masculine features in a female?

I take 50 mgs DHEA daily and 3 mgs melatonin.

I don't know how much DHEA gets into the body.

Just watch the effects of the DHEA on your body. I have read many studies on this molecule and still see very few problems with it.

I too, as of late have been taking 3mgs Melatonin at night. But have found that I have been having some wild, vivid "Alice in Wonderland-like Dreams"?

So I did a test to see if my imagination was taking off more than normal from the melatonin or possibly something else. I actually have similar wild dreams from aged romano cheese?... ... The only conclusion I have come up with is that it is probably from the melatonin.

So now, I break the little tablet in half and my dreams are back to normal. Also, I found I could not wake up easily taking a whole 3 mg...dynamite needed! I have settled on the "childs size 1/2 tablet" which is 1.5 mgs and I am faring much better. Still not that fond of getting up in the morning though!

quote:

Originally posted by stoney:
I too, as of late have been taking 3mgs Melatonin at night. But have found that I have been having some wild, vivid "Alice in Wonderland-like Dreams"?

So I did a test to see if my imagination was taking off more than normal from the melatonin or possibly something else. I actually have similar wild dreams from aged romano cheese?... ... The only conclusion I have come up with is that it is probably from the melatonin.

So now, I break the little tablet in half and my dreams are back to normal. Also, I found I could not wake up easily taking a whole 3 mg...dynamite needed! I have settled on the "childs size 1/2 tablet" which is 1.5 mgs and I am faring much better. Still not that fond of getting up in the morning though!

Stoney:
I have read that 3mg of melatonin is too much for many people and that some people will get benefits from amounts even less than 1mg. We all age differently and even 2 people the same age can have different levels of hormones because of factors like stress, diet, exercise, genetics etc. Dr Pickart is older than we so maybe 3mg of melatonin is fine for someone his age. I just wish conventional doctors were more interested in helping us to figure out these things. I know it would be better to have a blood test to determine my hormonal levels for DHEA and melatonin but there is no doctor in my area that practices that kind of medicine.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Pickart:
I take 50 mgs DHEA daily and 3 mgs melatonin.

I don't know how much DHEA gets into the body.

Just watch the effects of the DHEA on your body. I have read many studies on this molecule and still see very few problems with it.

Dr Pickart:
Thanks for the reply. So I guess you do not take pregnenolone at all?

No.

A German friend of mine, she takes methylcobalamine injections daily she feels very energetic.

Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylcobalamin

Amirpana,

I used to take 5mg methyl b-12 lozenges a few times per week. I have not done so in several months; now that I think about it, I did have more energy when I used them. I am sure that the lozenges are not as effective as the injections, but here in the US it would be extremely difficult for a person to get those injections from a doctor or to purchase them. One would have to find a physician who practices complementary medicine and that is very difficult in most parts of the country.

I have an unopened bottle of methyl b-12 and I am going to start taking it again because I am so busy that I could use the extra energy.