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Are there any drug interactions with DHEA?

DHEA is a hormone made naturally by the body and sold as a dietary supplement. Its full name is dehydroepiandrosterone. As people age, their bodies produce less DHEA. Some people believe that taking DHEA supplements to replace lost production may help treat or prevent health problems associated with aging. People take DHEA to lose weight, increase strength, improve thinking or mood, stimulate immunity, help with erections, and even to slow the aging process itself. It’s also promoted for preventing or treating heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. But medical research hasn’t yet shown that DHEA is safe or effective for any of these uses. DHEA is on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) list of banned substances.

DHEA may interact with the anti-insomnia drug Halcion (generic name triazolam) to increase Halcion’s side effects such as drowsiness or dizziness. Taking DHEA with certain medicines may increase the prescription drug levels in your blood and lead to an increased risk of side effects. Medicines that may interact with DHEA include alprazolam (brand name Xanax), amitriptyline (Elavil), citalopram (Celexa), felodipine (Plendil), fexofenadine (Allegra), ketoconazole (Nizoral), lansoprazole (Prevacid), losartan (Cozaar), lovastatin (Mevacor), prednisone (Deltasone), sildenafil (Viagra), simvastatin (Zocor), and verapamil (Calan). In most cases, there is limited information about how dietary supplements like DHEA interact with prescription drugs. It’s important that you tell your doctor and pharmacist before you start taking DHEA, so he or she can be on the alert for drug interactions.

Sources:
The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. Pharmacists Letter Inc., 2001.
Micromedex Healthcare Series. Micromedex, Inc., 2001.
Skolnick, A. “Scientific verdict still out on DHEA,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 276 (1996).
Anon. “Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA),” The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics, 38 (1996). Integrative Medicine Access. Integrative Medicine Communications, 2001.

This answer prepared 8/10/01.