Tribulus Terrestris Question

Dear Dr. Dean: I have some questions about VRPs stress relief product Adapta Phase II. A little background about myself. I am 40 years old. I run a busy law practice and am a competitive amateur cyclist. My great friend and training partner Norm Hoffman (rest his soul) hooked me up with your vitamin supplements years ago. Over the past several years I have developed what I refer to as a breathing problem. I suffer from shortness of breath. At times it feels I cannot catch my breath and that I will suffocate. My lips and fingers then start to tingle.I have been thoroughly examined and have endured blood lung function and stress tests by the best pulmonologists in the country. All agree that I am completely normal in lung and cardiac functions. In fact they are shocked that I can be complaining about these symptoms yet perform so well. Their only explanation for my problem is anxiety due to stress. I have refused prescription medication designed to treat anxiety. Instead Im looking for what I consider to be healthy options to reduce stress.I have taken the Adapta Phase II supplement for 20 days as recommended and my symptoms have been significantly reduced. I do not know if the supplementor a placebo effect should be credited. A cycling teammate has expressed concern that the ingredient Tribulus Terrestris within this supplement will increase testosterone to dangerous levels. I spoke with Amy at VRP and she informed me that this ingredient helps to regulate testosterone levels not just to increase them. My teammate Steve received information from Bill Misner Ph.D. that doesnt seem to agree with this. I would appreciate any thoughts and comments you have about this. Allow me to thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. Thank You.Leo

Dear Leo Good to hear from a friend of Norms. A prince of a guy who is missed greatly. I still have his email address in my address book. I keep it there just to help remember him.What you are describing is a typical panic attack. One medication you might consider is Inderal (propranolol). Although it is usually used as a blood pressure medicine it is also a great anxiety-reliever. It blocks thefight or flight response and greatly relieves anxiety without causing any sedation. I described its use for such purposes in my book Smart Drugs & Nutrients. I usually recommend about 40-80 mg as needed—especially one or two hours prior to the stress-producing event.Unfortunately hard clinical data on Tribulus are sparse. Most of what I know about it comes from the Bulgarian pharmaceutical company that developed it as a drug and from Ben Tabachnik Ph.D. who developed the original formula designed for use by Russian athletes military and Cosmonauts and from anecdotal reports from users.Although one mechanism by which Tribulus works is by stimulating LH which in turn can elevate testosterone levels I believe that the primary mechanism of Tribulus is to restore testosterone receptor sensitivity—i.e. to enable your body to better and more efficiently utilize whatever testosterone is there. If you are using VRPs formula I assume you are familiar with the Neuroendocrine Theory of Aging which we have beenserializing in our newsletter.Check on the website (www.vrp.com) for the chapter entitled The Male Reproductive Homeostat for an explanation of how this works.If Tribulus does elevate testosterone (in addition to making it work better) it will likely do so within physiological limits—i.e. it will notraise them to abnormal levels. The receptor sensitizers advocated in my series of articles are designed to optimize the functioning of theneuroendocrine system.I think Dr. Misner (who is a very smart guy) and your friend may both be a bit alarmist in this case with regard to potential adverse effects of normal levels of testosterone. I think he is echoing what I believe is a popular misconception. Please see my article in the latest issue of Vitamin Research News on DHEA and the Prostate.Also the benefits of testosterone replacement in males is being more widely recognized today. Testosterone got a bad rap by those who abused anabolic steroids (including testosterone) by taking supra-physiologic (i.e. pharmacologic) doses and by using forms of testosterone which were actually toxic (like methyltestosterone). Testosterone that is available as a drug today is natural testosterone—i.e. identical to what our bodies produce. If testosterone were harmful to the body we would see all kinds of testosterone-related adverse effects in 19-year-old males.Furthermore I do not consider Tribulus to be a prohormone. Usually when we speak of a prohormone we are talking about substances that are converted into another hormone like Pregnenolone converting to DHEA or Androstenedione or Androstenediol converting to Testosterone or Estrogen.In this case Tribulus could be considered a secretagogue in terms of potentially elevating LH.If you are concerned about potential adverse effects of excess testosterone you can have your blood tested of course. However I think it would probably be a waste of blood.Another product you might consider would be AdaptaPhase I which is also tremendously beneficial for those under severe stress (see Chapter II of theNeuroendocrine Theory) but I know that Dr. Tabachnik also strongly recommends AdaptaPhase II for its combination of stress-relieving and anabolic effects.Hope this information helps.Ward Dean M.D.