Center for Human Reproduction in NYC (Barad and Gleicher, docs) just sent me an email announcing it--here is an excerpt:

"We discharged a 46-year-old patient into obstetrical care who spontaneously conceived after 6 weeks of our DHEA treatment. This is an exciting validation of our POA treatment.
We just received approval to patent our proprietary DHEA medication. CHR was one of the first centers to recognize the potential of DHEA treatments for aging ovaries. "

I think we should all be heartened about this for a variety of reasons, not least, that the whole DHEA treatment which yielded this result, was discovered and done independently by one of their patients long before she told them about it! That is, they did not come up with it themselves--one of their patients did, instead. And she didn't tell them until it started to work so obviously that there was no way they could miss it. Then they wrote it up as a case study and started some long term double blind studies around it. But the original idea and treatment was hers, not theirs. And because of that woman, they started giving the DHEA to other women, and this 46-year-old has conceived because of it.

We are experimenting with a lot of things--suppliments, lipiodol HSG's, autoimmune treatments, etc--that our RE's may also think are useless or disapprove of. But the fact is, we don't have decades to futz around waiting for the clinical studies the way they do; and sometimes, like the case of DHEA for some women, it works.

I am very glad for that 46-year-old, but also glad because here is an example of what women like us can do for others and for ourselves. on our TTC journey.

I love that we are all learning so much from others. Sometimes this knowledge pays off, that is for sure!! Heartening news to read before heading to bed.

xoxoxo, Tracy

just what I needed as I grapple with doctors being negative and know all.

Are you currently going to this center? Do they take older women without automatically pushing DE on them? I would like to call them if they are open to treating older women and they have some new protocols that they are working on.

I don't live in NYC so I don't go to them. But, the woman they refer to above, obviously wasn't doing DE, so they must have some comfort with women using their own eggs. And, they gave her DHEA expressly so that she could use her own eggs. You can go to their web site--center for human reproduction--to learn more about their attitude, but basically they pride themselves on working well with older women who want to use their own eggs. Apparently they have had a lot more success with that since they started giving women DHEA. Their usual dose is between 50-75 mg per day, the original patient was taking 75 mg per day. Their site tells you about their research too.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00650754

Another book I'm reading re: menopause/fertility (The Natural Superwoman) says that DHEA is beneficial but that many women can tolerate much less DHEA. He recommends starting w/5-10 mg. I think he caps out at 25 mg.

I did a quick research on this and see the Toronto group that JeanTOR and a few others have mentioned gave the NYC group info from the study the Toronto group conducted? Am I the only one who finds it a bit ludacris that the NYC group used info from another clinic, then NYC got prelim approval on a patent for taking a pill that is readily available OTC and recommended by others? My hope is NYC is just doing this for marketing purposes, which is fine, but if they start enforcing their patent with other clinics (e.g., other clinics can't tell their patients to take DHEA), good grief!

But maybe I'm just a jaded 46 year old who needs to start popping DHEA again .

not to discount what you said....... : ) The NYC clinic used a formulated DHEA from a pharmacy. They would make the pills when you gave them the script. CHR felt this was part of what helped their patients, the purity and accurate dosing in the pills. I did a phone consult with them and got DHEA through them. It was expensive, $90/month. I think they are giving credit to the toranto clinic as they gave them more data to prove their theory was right. I think the woman that started the DHEA on her own is on the committee/panel that is doing this with CHR so she IS getting credit so to speak.
I am happy to say I am possibly a DHEA success story. 6 months after having my DE baby, I tried again with my own eggs due to $. I started DHEA in Dec and in May I conceived who is now my healthy 9 month old son. I was 45.6 when I conceived him and 46 when I gave birth. This was with a history of 6 chemicals, 2 ectopics, and 2 m/c's.... 10 losses, 12 angels! Something worked!
Just FYI for you all, I know DHEA isn't for everyone. I dropped my dose to 25mg/day after a few weeks due to acne and oily skin.

HTH,
Tracey-47
DD via DE 6/6/07
DS 1/27/09 with own eggs

but do you know if they test dhea-s levels before starting someone on the regimine? I'd be curious if the women who find success had lower levels to start with, and if that could be used to help figure out who would benefit from it.

They didn't test my levels so I don't think they regularly do that. I did DHEA 2 different times. The first time I used their pharmacy. I got farther in a pg than I ever had. I had only chemicals and 1 ectopic up to that point. Took 25mg 3x/day. Had a twin gestation with a blighted ovum and a Trisomy 11 where I had a baby and heartbeat for the first time EVER. Moved on to DE. Tried it again but this time I used the ultra micronized from DHEA . com. Started at 50mg/day then dropped to 25mg/day. Both times I used it I had a lot of acne and oily skin.
I wonder if your theory is right. Never will know what my levels were before or after.

Tracey

I read that you keep taking the 75mg per day until your DHEA-S level tests at what it would have been in your most fertile years--i.e. between 200-350. Then you go to a dose that maintains that level. When I was taking it regularly I did keep track with DHEA-S tests. I had to drop down to 50mg per day in a week or two, because of testosterone getting a bit high, though this is supposed to help with fertility too. Now I take 25 mg per day because I am using E2 patches and don't think I need as much. I have to go get the DHEA-S test to see how I'm doing.

when I was tested were actually higher than normal, so that's why I was curious if they test. High DHEA-S is a sign of pcos, and I have some markers for that. I decided against taking it because of my already-high levels.

I guess I wonder if some of the women who end up with bad reactions to it are women who already have high levels to begin with. It strikes me as a bit odd to recommend it in a blanket way when it is possible to test for current levels and it seems like many women, but certainly not all, are deficient.

dhea does not work for everyone and in some can have detrimental effects. i heard about this case years ago and thought that it would be my cure all. it didn't work. i tried it twice and the second time i had real bad effects on my cycle. just be wary when trying to self treat.

DHEA is a male hormone. Though some women lack it enough that taking it increases fertility but that's not the case in all women and by taking it even at 25 mg without knowing your blood levels, you may actually cause further fertility issues. I took it hoping that was my problem since I read some women got lucky on it but it ended up messing up my hormone levels and af. I was luck in that my hormone levels went back to normal but it took 6 months--6 months that I really needed and can't get back. I got my DHEA tested and it's within normal range on the higher end.

Please get your levels tested before taking it.