Hormone Therapy for Intractable Pain
 

I've been reading up on the title subject (there's a lot out there) but I've encountered a conundrum. In (at least) one article I find the following daily dosage recommendations for various precursor hormones:

Precursor_____________________Daily Dosage

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) 50 to 100mg
Pregnenolone _________________50 to 100mg
Androstenedione_______________50 to 100mg
Medroxyprogesterone___________10 to 20mg

Note: Intermittent, rather than daily, administration is recommended.


Can anyone tell me, or direct me to, what is meant by "Intermittent, rather than daily, administration"?

Every other day? Every other week? Every other month? What?
I'm assuming the intermittancy is to avoid pituitary supression.

Thanks.

Well, that's a new one on me! LOL "Intermittent" could mean all kinds of things! I think I would call the manufacturer and ask them -- they should have been more clear on that! :eek:

I have to admit, I've never heard of hormone therapy for intractable pain. I'll have to look that up! Thanks!!! Hugs, Lee

It's not all that new, especially if you've read anything by Forest Tennant, but he's not the only author/PM expert on it. Some of it is geared toward testosterone (which it turns out is just as important for women as for men - just at far lower levels) but from the table above, many of the "precursor" hormones are/can be involved.

Googling: "hormone therapy chronic pain" (quotes not needed) is a good starting point. Then I'd try Mayo, Medline, NIH, and any other sites you might have confidence in.

I've emailed Dr. Tennant and some vendors of these hormones about the intermittant doses, but I've not yet received any replies (and won't be too surprised if I don't). Since there is a lot of info about this kind of therapy, I thought they'd include more specific information about intermittency, but I just haven't been able to find anything yet.

Doc

I've since received a reply from Dr. Tennant. I'll be discussing it with my doctor.

What did he say about the meaning of intermittent? Inquiring minds want to know -

It was (understandably) vague - basically anything but daily. "Up to the clinician".

I'm chronicling what I'm doing with it in the Chronic Pain forum:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread156416.html

Doc