I’ll try to be thorough but concise with this.
I’m a 26-year-old male who has always been a high-functioning individual. I’ve been working on my PhD in computer science while simultaneously working on a Master's degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. My normal hobbies are things such as whitewater rafting, hiking, mixed martial arts, and powerlifting. Normally, I am a very busy and active individual who loves life. However, since April 1 of this year, I have been in an absolute borderline-psychotic mess incapable of functioning as a normal and healthy human being. I have not been enrolled in my PhD or Masters program since April 1 since I have been and am still currently totally non-functional, and I am desperate to get my normal self back so I can continue on with my goals in life and live well as I had before all of this started. The basic story of how my life fell apart is as follows:
In February of this year, I visited a naturopath in my area who prescribed me oral pregnenolone MLM and DHEA to help “optimize my hormones”. On February 24, I started with 50mg of pregnenolone MLM per day and 25 mg of DHEA per day. The first week, these drugs made me feel very "off". I felt strangely intoxicated, but my doctor told me to just stick with it. By the second week, I felt fantastic. My energy was insanely high and I was unable to sit still -- I had to keep doing things and getting things done. I was convinced that the doctor was had massively improved my quality of life as I felt more energetic and unstoppable than ever before. After the second week, my physical and psychological condition began to deteriorate rapidly. I started feeling very dizzy, nauseous, extremely short-of-breath, and as though my senses were over-stimulated. I initially thought I was having an allergic reaction to some kind of food I ate since I started having major breathing problems. Soon, within an hour after taking my pregnenolone and DHEA, I would become debilitated with an extraordinary headache that felt as though my head would explode. I also started having numerous psychological symptoms such as panic attacks, episodes of delirium, and episodes of extreme depersonalization/derealization. I told the prescribing doctor on March 27, and he told me I could stop them. That day was my last dose of pregnenolone MLM and DHEA. A few days later, on the morning of April 1, I woke up in a state of delirium and extreme anxiety accompanied with intense nausea and dizziness. My entire mind had been altered in an awful way, as though something had simply “snapped”. I ended up in the ER thinking I was dying, and was fully confident that I would die in the ambulance on the way to the hospital as I was fading in and out of consciousness. An MRI of my brain showed no lesions or tumorous masses, and an echocardiogram of my heart showed nothing of concern.
Since then, I've had an amalgam of symptoms that feels as though my entire mind and nervous system is shutting down and/or going haywire. I've had numerous episodes of that anxious psychosis and unbearable akathisia lasting for three to four weeks in length with short breaks in-between them. This last episode started in the first week of August and is still ongoing. During the breaks, numerous physical symptoms are still present (e.g. nausea, dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus, stomach pain, chest pain, shortness of breath, etc.) are still fully there, but the psychological symptoms are lessened in intensity. I've also developed chills, sweats, "brain zaps", and very intense full-body neuropathies with a progressing sense of derealization and intoxication. Whatever is going on appears to be progressing, as this past month of August has been at peak intensity with many new symptoms arising. The doctors I've seen so far have yet to determine what the cause of all of this is. I feel as though I am losing my mind and, quite frankly, the functioning of my nervous system in general (shortness of breath, loss of balance and coordination, diarrhea, extreme lightheadedness, etc.). I’ve been bedridden through much of this hell, feeling like I’ve been poisoned as I’m vomiting, having extreme nausea, unable to eat anything, and suffering from extreme neuropsychological symptoms.
What I’m going through seems to be similar to the absolute worst case of benzo/SSRI withdrawal (excitotoxic reaction) or worse-cast adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones. Massive disruptions in GABA and NMDA receptor activity is about the best guess I have at this point, as (1) this disruption is theorized to be central to the cause of benzo/SSRI withdrawal and adverse fluoroquinolone reactions, and (2) pregnenolone and DHEA are known to have strong effects on these receptors, promoting excitotoxicity and seizures.
Anyways, I'm posting this both to spread the word about oral pregnenolone and DHEA as well as to get input (advice, testimonials of similar reactions, etc.). I've been compiling a list of anecdotal reports of people who have had similar reactions, but, among those reports I can find, my reaction is the most severe and protracted in length. That may be because I remained on pregnenolone and DHEA for over a month in spite of my adverse reaction, feeling reassured by my doctor that these strange reactions are nothing but my body "adjusting to an optimal hormonal balance".
Edited by erraticpattern, 06 September 2014 - 08:39 PM.
