DHEA gets broken down in the body into estrogen and testosterone, and it's a safe and gentle way of increasing testosterone levels. Because DHEA can increase estrogen levels too, it's important to take this into consideration when creating an HRT plan that also includes estrogen.

There have been problems for women taking estrogen replacement who then start DHEA and end up getting too much estrogen. Your Winona physician takes the DHEA estrogen contribution into consideration when choosing the correct estrogen dose. This allows DHEA and estrogen replacement to be used together safely.

DHEA is very safe at 50 mg per day or less. There have been problems with DHEA at the massive dosages that people use in the bodybuilding community. We have found that 25 mg is an effective dose for most women, but 50 mg is also safe if needed. We never prescribe above 50 mg.

There are some studies that show DHEA can decrease BMI while maintaining and even improving lean muscle mass. DHEA has also been shown to reduce visceral fat in perimenopausal and menopausal women. This is not a cure all - diet and exercise are also important - but the studies show it helps more than diet and exercise alone.