As a writer, it never ceases to amaze me how some important medical and psychological topics will be brought to my attention, I will learn all about them, pitch the story to magazine editors, then either hear nothing or “No, we’re not interested.” Then a few months later I’ll find that exact same topic has gained national prominence suddenly in the mainstream media.
As you know, there is no copyright on ideas, just writing about them. How nice for the editors of national magazines to have so many cool stories to steal from us freelance writers who can’t even make a living with our work!
A good example of this process for me has been the apparent controversy about aging and male hormones. Manopause or andropause is everywhere in the news these days. Check out this rather vapid article in U.S. News and World Report that appeared yesterday. If you read through to the end of this story, you will see the other part of the “news” media I love these days. They expect us to send them their pre-packaged interviews and stories, and then not pay for them, so they don’t have to work too hard for anything. Isn’t that special!
The reason I am so interested in this topic, have researched it extensively, and know so much about it is my husband’s decades-long battle with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Besides the many OTC supplements he now takes to keep his CFS at bay (see this webpage for access to a free book about successful CFS treatments), we have learned lots about hormonal deficiencies that can cause age related exhaustion and fatigue.
We have found that pregnenolone and not testoterone may be the culprit leading to the many symptoms of andropause. And the good news is that it is available OTC at Whole Foods. The bad news is you have to talk your doctor into doing some in depth blood testing before you can know for certain if pregnenolone will help you at all.
In Mike’s case the outcome has been dramatic. When originally tested, we found he had almost no pregnenolone (“the mother of all other hormones”) in his blood. He started taking 50 mg./day and seemed like a changed man within a day or so! The body can’t make testoterone, or any of the other hormones it needs to function, without an adequate supply of pregnenolone.
I have learned VOLUMES of useful information on this topic and so many more through my research, but cannot find one prominent magazine that will acknowledge how important and cutting-edge this research could be to those who suffer.
My experience tells me that our mainstream media are not serving us!
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank so much for this post.
I had no idea about this topic and now I will do more research about it.
Isn’t the internet a wonderful tool?
You said that your husband takes supplements to “keep his CFS at bay”. I’m wondering how you would rate his improvement or recovery? And/or how disabled is he, or is he now able to work again?
Thanks,
Dan
Dan:
Mike’s health has been periodically so bad in the past, that he needed to take short term disability sometimes from his full-time job as an electronics technician. So far this year, he has needed no short-term disability, and is only very occasionally so fatigued that he has to miss a day of work.
WE have learned slowly that he must take ALL the recommended supplements (by Dr. Myhill) very seriously, even the D-Ribose every three hours (six times a day). Mike has been living right on the edge of maintaining adequate energy, and any extra stressor (like my recent accident) can put him over that edge very easily!
Good Luck,
Laura Lee
Thanks Lynn for your reply. I bookmarked your page, then of course totally forgot about it (due to my CFS brain fog!). Anyway it’s GREAT to hear that the Myhill protocol is working for him — I’ve looked into this, but being on medicaid, I can’t afford it right now.
But since you mentioned that your husband is “living on the edge of maintaining adequate energy”, I thought I’d recommend the book “Defeat Chronic Fatigue” by Martha Kilcoyne. It’s the best book by far I’ve ever read. It’s written both for the patient and the friend or spouse — only 108 pages long. She was sick for “only” about 4-5 years, but nearly bedridden, until she and her husband worked out a schedule that made sure she got enough rest. And a LOT of it. To make a long story short, after a year or so doing this (and taking a few meds) she was better. Three years later, she celebrated her newfound health by climbing Mt. KILIMANJARO.
Here’s a link to an interview with her:
http://phoenix-cfs.org/IntKilcoyne.htm
Best regards,
Dan
Thanks Dan. I sent this on to my husband’s attention. -Laura Lee
I know pregnenolone helped your husband, but was it enough? Did it create enough hormones? What about DHEA levels? Free testosterone levels? PREG is good, but most people seem to need other hormones as well. Thanks, Nick
Nick:
My husband’s specific problem was chronic fatigue and pregnenolone was the answer for him, in addition to numerous supplements to boost his mitochondrial abilities to produce energy in his cells.
If you think you might suffer from CFS please go to Dr. Sarah Myhill’s webpage for more information. She offers a free book which explains which supplements are needed specifically for CFS. And what hormone tests should be used to assess those needs.
Laura Lee