I need some help concerning test results and my brain just isn't working enough right now. I need some help from our researchers out there please.
I just had a slew of bloodwork because I'm having "surges" that don't sound lyme like but still might be. Surge = My Blood pressure spikes, I get intense head,chest,and ear pressure and it gets hard to breathe. This is not a panic attack.
One of the few test results that came back out of line was for DHEA. My level was 21.9 (reference range was 1.3 to 9.8).
Is high DHEA associated with Lyme? If not what the heck is going on?
ANY help appreciated. Thanks and God Bless.
Posted by Virginia of Yore (Member # 3269) on :
Mine is low with lyme, but it can be an aging issue as well.
Posted by Lymeindunkirk (Member # 7118) on :
"DHEA is a hormone secreted in the adrenal cascade serving as a precurosor to sex hormones in the adrenal cortex and in several other tissues of the body." pg 350 from the book, Adrenal Fatigue by James L. Wilson.
Page 13, "One of the commonly overlooked sources of stress and resistant adrenal fatigue is chronic or severe infection." Severe infection = Lyme
"auto immune disorders are greatly enhanced in people with adrenal fatigue" pg 347
DHEA has a lot to do with the adrenals although after reading some it seems that its usually low when a person has adrenal fatigue. Not sure about high levels such as you have.
The book also states on pg 219, " There are also some minor concerns in some alternative medical circles about the possiblity that DHEA may represent a threat to health because it can be converted into dihydro-testosterone, which has been linked to prostate cancer. However there are other studies that show men with higher DHEA levels are actually protected against prostate cancer, so teh jury is out"
Not sure what to think. I would talk to my doctor if I were you about hormone testing. I wonder if there is an issue with your adrenals?
Posted by klutzo (Member # 5701) on :
My understanding is that DHEA is usually low in those who are very stressed over a long term, like with Lyme.
However, if you are under 30 years of age, your levels will be much higher. It starts to drop dramatically after that.
When I had all my hormones tested, DHEA was the only abnormal one, and it was low, but I am over 50.
I would ask my doctor for more clarification about your results, and whether you should be doing anything to correct this.
Also keep in mind that lab results can be wrong, and far more often than we can imagine. I saw a segment on 60 Minutes about this a few years ago which said that 30% of lab results are wrong! It might be worth repeating the test at another lab.
For example, I am hypothyroid like many Lymies, but my routine TSH test recently came back as severaly hyperthyroid, the exact opposite. Repeat testing showed the original test was wrong.
Klutzo
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
If you boost your bio-progesterone (there are some good creams out there), all the other levels will fall into place. The progesterone is the first to be used under stress.
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
I am supposed to be getting an adrenal test done through Diagnostechs labs. It's a saliva test. You give four samples of saliva over one day, and they test your hormone levels at each time.
Adrenal problems can be that hormones are elevated or low at specific times.
Posted by bejoy (Member # 11129) on :
My adrenals became very overactive and some hormones spiked before my adrenals crashed and I
ended up with low levels. I believe this was due to the stress of lyme on the adrenals, as well as
other significant stressors in my life. Heres a link to some info on hormones and adrenals: