Dhea level

Hi BabyDoctor!

Hope you are feeling better! So happy you are on here and can't wait to follow your journey.

I was wondering if you know a good Dhea level to be at for ivf success? I am starting my meds next week and have taken dhea for about 4 months. Unfortunately I didn't have my dhea level checked before beginning it but I had it checked recently and it is at 72.6. I think that's in the normal range for a 38 year old but I was hoping it would have been higher. Just curious to see your take on dhea levels. Any information would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Tiny Dancer

The jury is so out on DHEA and you must not use it if you have PCOS ! I personally have seen some excellent results with DHEA with some people and others no change. I continually monitor its usage pre- cycle and throughout the cycle.

Your level appears okay as they are in the range. What dosage are you on? If you do not mind me asking what was your first IVF cycle results? (Sorry about the BFN, it is soul destroying I know both personally and professionally). I always say to my patients that the first cycle can be trial and error.

What were your other results such as E2? The reason I ask is the baseline results could assist me to provide a more holistic view as I specialise in more mature ladies both in natural fertility and PRE-IVF. (I am 43 years and had my last baby 2 years ago....at 41 years old).

Another trick with DHEA, we have seen better results with dosages taken in the morning!

I look forward to helping you where I can.

Big hugs Dr H

Hi BD,

Thanks for your response. So glad you are feeling better. I had pneumonia back in 2002 and it was rough! Thank goodness you are okay.

I just had a transfer today of 2 xx's so hopefully they are sticky beans. I am still interested in learning about the dhea though. I took a dose of 100 from mid May until late July. Then from July til September I scaled back to 75. My results from my 1st ivf round were- 20 eggs retrieved, 17 mature, 15 fertilized, 11 made it to biopsy, gsn testing on those 11 resulted in 2 normals, 1 xy and 1 xx. I was on the long Lupron protocol. This time arou d I had 18 retrieved, 15 mature, 13 fertilized, 11 again to gsn for testing. Four normals although one was a very slow growers at only 9 cells. 3 normal xx and 1 normal xy.

Pretesting results- My e2 was 80, fsh 5, starting afc 15.

I split my dosage of dhea 50 in the morning and 25 at night.

Thanks for any info you can provide.