Can I add DHEA and Pregnenolone to improve my hormone levels?

Question: Hello, I suffered a stroke 30 years ago both my adrenal glands were removed and I now rely on 20 mg Hydrocortisone and 0.1 mg fludrocortisone a day Can I add DHEA and Pregnenolone 25/100 mg to improve my hormone levels i.e. Reduce my psa levels

Answer: Hi. I have received and read your question. Based on the information you have provided and considering the medications you are taking, I would not recommend taking DHEA or Pregnenolene. Both have questionable results with insufficient evidence of effectiveness. In addition, they are banned in some countries for certain activities. I hope this answers your question.  Below is some background additional info for you.

Serum levels of the adrenal androgen, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfated conjugation product DHEAS, peak in men and women in the 3rd decade and decrease progressively with age. Increasing numbers of middle-aged and older individuals consume over-the-counter preparations of DHEA in the hope that it will retard aging by increasing muscle and bone mass and strength, decreasing fat, and improving immunologic and neurobehavioral functions. To date, however, the benefits and risks of DHEA administration for “anti-aging” purposes have not been defined. Because DHEA can serve as a precursor to testosterone (T) and estrogen, supplemental DHEA use may pose a cancer risk in patients with nascent or occult cancer of the prostate and/or breast.

Regards,

Dr. Deepak Patel

I am a 76 year old male who had a by-pass in 2012, has hypertension and heart disease?

I am a 76 year old male who had a by-pass in 2012, has hypertension and heart disease. My cardiologist has cleared me to have sex, but I am experiencing ED. I want to add L Arginine and Pycnogenol to my list of vitamins because I read that they may be helpful in combating ED. Is there a problem with also using Cialis or Viagra?

Age: 76
Male
Medications: Amlodipine 5mg, Losartan Potassium, 100mg, clopidogrel 75mg daily, Rasuvastatin Calcium, 20mg, Clonidine hcl 0.3 3 times daily, .81 aspirin.

Girlfriend has crippling period pains that are certainly Endometriosis?

Girlfriend has crippling period pains that are certainly Endometriosis. Recent scan showed Endometrium was 16mm thick. Crippling pains and completely immobile during her period, and sometimes in between. Getting worse month by month. Painful going to the toilet when on her period. Unqualified Cambodian doctor has prescribed Clotrimazole& Tinidazole. I think a progesterone cream is the way to go forward, however it is not advisable to take progesterone and Clomitrazole together and the latter interacts with the former.

I will attach the ultrasound results.

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I have chills and shakes in the morning, please advise?

what can trigger chills and shakes in the morning for a 70 year old woman in decent health?
I have lower back pain and am scheduled for a Rhizotomy. Does not have a fever. Have never had the shakes like this in my life. Am stumped

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I am a recovering alcoholic and am 8 days alcohol free, upper abdomen bloated?

Hi, i am a recovering alcoholic and am 8 days alcohol free. Over the last 3 days i have been constantly bloated in the upper abdomen which is visible and also occasionally a slight sharp pain in the centre lower chest, just where the chest finishes. I am still eating normally and bowel movements are fine. My question is are these symptoms a part of alcohol withdrawal? My pulse is 68bpm. My medications are : campral 333mg 2 Tablets 3 times a day, Naltrexone 50mg Daily and Thiamine 100mg Daily. I’m a 40 year old male and weigh 90kgs and am 178cm tall. Thank You

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How to enhance taste buds in geriatrics and enjoy food again?

I am a 74 year old woman and I have lost the taste for food. As a result I am not eating as much and losing weight. How to enhance taste buds in geriatrics?

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My mom has, kidney failure diabetes sarcoidosis heart failure she now has these big knots why?

My mom has a lot of problems kidney failure diabetes sarcoidosis heart failure etc she has these big knots as I should say every where in her body ? The doctors are not doing everything about it and don’t know what it is . It’s everywhere and I could also send pics it’s that big any thoughts of what it could be ?



My mother is 91 requires anti-coagulants, need second medical opinion?

My mother is 91 and lives in Aged Care. She is wheelchair bound and cannot walk by herself at all. Two days ago a locum advised that she has Cellulitis in her leg and started her on a course of antibiotics. Today her regular doctor advised that he thinks it might be DVT instead as the swelling goes from her groin to her ankle. He advised that we could do a test to check if it is DVT but there is no point if we are not prepared to put her on anti-coagulants. I have done some googling and there seems to be differing opinions about giving anti-coagulants to the elderly. I am looking for a second opinion as this is a very difficult decision for me to make.



My mother has “suddenly” become almost totally non talkative?

This relates to my mother, an 89 year old lady in the UK. Confined to a wheelchair for many years (ostensibly multiple sclerosis but questionable), and having a urostomy stoma, 5 years ago she went into septic shock following UTI which, though she survived and recovered brought out/forward vascular dementia.

The progression of her dementia has been slow enough to be imperceptible except in retrospect. 2 weeks ago I became aware that she had “suddenly” become almost totally non talkative, and what few words of intelligible English she had till now retained had almost disappeared. I feared and suspect this was a step change progression in her dementia. A hesitant and shaky use of her arms/hands when eating also became apparent. The possibility she may have another UTI as an alternative explanation did occur to me and her talkative interaction did appear to gradually improve over the following week. However last Thursday the urine in her night drainage bag was full of material and blood red..this quickly cleared but the following day mucous or pus was in her urine. Both consistent with a UTI.

District nurses took her readings and found her blood pressure was normal but her temperature was undetectably low so called out the doctor. He found the same readings and noting her cloudy urostomy bag had her admitted to hospital on suspicion of Urosepsis on the Friday evening.

She was given intravenous antibiotics and fluids for a few days, and seemed generally “normal” during most of her stay (though I noted each day her forehead still felt cool to the touch). By Wednesday we were told all her readings were fine and they were sending her home..though she appeared to me to be more ill than she had been to that point. She came home on Thursday (48 hours ago) with a course of oral amoxycillin. Her use of her arms remains painfully poor and is basically being spoon fed. Friday morning I noticed a large swelling and bruising on the shin of her left leg – not having seen her leg for over a week there was no way to determine if it was like this in hospital or had been banged in teh ambulance…or was a symptom of infection or disease. The doctor was called out and confirmed it was a bruise, not a thrombosis or clot. (It doesn’t appear to cause her any pain and is not warm to the touch) Later that day nurses again took her temperature during a routine visit and found it was still unnaturally low.
By this point I had read online that slow, uncoordinated arm movements and weakness can be a symptom of hypothermia itself (I left the heating on over night and she felt normal this morning though seems to be cooling again) I’ve also now read that unexplained bruising can be a symptom of sepsis. So I’m naturally very confused that all these things may or may not be connected, or has she simply deteriorated?

For the last 24 hours she’s mostly slept. When woken last evening she spent over an hour repeating meaningless words (“oh come on” ) over and over. Progressing dementia …or delirium? This morning and again this afternoon she’s only taken a few bites of food before refusing any more then going back to sleep. Her outward breath is very audible. When she does wake or eat she chokes or coughs a lot…again all this is new, but I understand consistent with advanced dementia…yet as I say I can’t help wondering especially given the temperature issue and possibly the bruising, if she does in fact have sepsis after all despite the hospital tests which deemed her fit for discharge.

The medical details on her hospital discharge notes read as follows
For “MSU Microscopy” it reads WBCs : <20 x10^6/L RBCs : Not raised x10^6/L Epithelial cells: Scanty Comment: Culture - No Significant Bacterial Growth For Blood Culture it reads"Culture negative after 72 hours incubation. A further report will only be issued on culture of a significant organism" Under Clinical course at the bottom of the page it says "Treated as urosepsis. Normal wcc . No urine investigations suggesting UTI. CXR - poor inspiration no real evidence of pneumonia. So is all of this the consequence of a progression in her mental decline? Or are the changes in her more likely to be the cause of still present sepsis, pneumonia , or some other condition? Without any new symptoms and her blood pressure, heart etc consistently reading fine, there's not an awful lot to take back to the GP. But something is clearly not right.



Can I take Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) tablets while having a contraception implant?

I am 50 years old and have a contraception implant. I am going through the menopause can I take HRT tablets if I have this implant. Can you please advise me I would appreciate you assistance. My blood pressure is fine and my weight is as well and just been seen by a Nurse..



My mother in law has been ill for a month today. Feeling very tired.Loss of appetite?

My mother in law has been ill for a month today. Feeling very tired.Loss of appetite ,when she does manage to eat a little she heaves and brings up frothy spittle. As a consequence of this she is becoming confused. She has had two trips to the hospital. she has had 2 ecg,s , 2 x.rays and 2 full blood counts and all came back normal. A doctor from her local surgery came this week and gave her some anti sickness tablets but nothing seems to be helping. She is 91 years old

My mother in law is bedridden, shaking, incontinent and virtually sleeps all day, no one seems to care?

My 76 year old mother in law was put on Abilify last December due to bi polar disorder, paranoria, psychotic episodes. Afterward she seemed to develop shaking in her hands, that progressed to her head, literally severe tremors, along with muscle weakness. It then developed into a complete inability to walk or function. She is now bedridden, incontinent and virtually sleeps all day. At the beginning of her diagnosis she had white matter degradation, diabetes, high cholesterol, thyroid disorder, high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat but other than the psychotic episodes which became more frequent, she was functional, mobile and able to hold a conversation. She has had 2 ER visits to the local hospital in PA, where they ran a battery of tests, could find nothing wrong and discharged her. Her physician does not care, and told us she is of sound mind and body (completely laughable.) The hospital psychiatrist who placed her on the Abilify only treats those patients in the hospital mental health ward. He will not see or consult on outside patients even if he saw them while they were previously in the hospital. We have attempted to transfer her to another physician but zero anywhere nearby are taking new patients. Its a catch 22. Her physician recently took her off the Abilify cold turkey which seems to be counter indicated, but there is zero improvement. She was placed in assisted living by her psychiatrist last December, one of the conditions of discharge, as she was attempting to injure my father in law. The nursing staff is baffled and frustrated. We, as her family, are equally so. Any ideas or advice? She is also on Glipizine 10mg 2x per day, Metropolol Tartrate 25mg daily, Lisinopril 10mg daily, Levothyroxine sodium 100mcg daily, Coumadin 5mg daily, Divalproex 500mg 2x daily, Atorvastin Calcium 10mg daily. It as if no one cares, and she is not up for travel. I am wondering if we should try to check her into a larger hospital 60+ miles away?


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My grandma slipped on the floor yesterday her bone in her arm and hip dislocated?

hi doc. my grandma is 74 years old and she slip on the floor yesterday.. her bone in her arm and hip dislocate.. the doctor here put cement on her arm and said that she needed an operation on her hip but my grandma has a heart problem and they were afraid that my grandma wont survive the operation. attach with it is the xray of her arm and hip

hip-injury


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