dude looks like a lady (or vice versa)

petunia · 08-08-2004, 01:01 PM

hi everybody-

i have had the diagnosis of pcos since age 14, when i had an exploratory surgery which revealed 2 ovaries completely overwhelmed by cysts.
they did a wedge resection (like taking a piece of orange from the whole), and closed me up.
it helped, to a large extent.
i'm 31 now, have been through regiment after regiment of medication, with lots of side effects and procedures endured.
i do, however, have 2 beautiful children, and for that i am profoundly thankful.

i find that the hardest thing to endure for me is the body hair, the facial hair...
how it makes me feel separate and ashamed of myself in so many ways...
how much i hate the wind blowing my hair back.
hate the wind??? cripe.

i want to try laser, but have been reading that the results aren't really permanent. i can't afford to try something that expensive if it's not going to work long term. does it result ultimately in mostly gone growth with the need for maintenance once a year or so? is it different for everyone?
i wish i had a handheld laser booper that i could use at home. just a square at a time, nothing fancy.
maybe someday, ladies, right?

are there any effective means of removing the hair?
i use razors, and i love those pads that scrub the hair off.
the hair on my arms is actually sparser now that i use those.

how can they know how to put a man on the moon and not know how to effectively stop hair growth?

this disease has some really disfiguring aspects, and it's good not to feel alone on this, so thank you all for sharing and contributing your stories.
having a community, even here, is a spoonful of sugar.

sisters in fur,
laura

JillyBug · 08-15-2004, 01:27 AM

Hi - I personally got laser. I have dark hair on my arms, legs and did have it on my neck - chin. I am now down to getting a treatment every 2 month and my chin/neck hair is virtually gone. When it grows back b4 a treatment - it's probably 99% less than it used to be. I was spending 30-45 minutes a day plucking neck/chin hair only to wake up to stubble.

I think with laser (I was told) that with PCOS if you don't get the PCOS under control the hair will come back. I am losing weight and low carbing and TOM is on a VERY regular time schedule, so I think that's helped with the hair not growing back as fast or as heavy.

Good luck on what ever you choose to do!

petunia · 08-23-2004, 10:39 PM

hi jilly-

thanks so much for sharing your experience with laser.
i was so excited about it until i started reading that the hair usually grows back.
it's good to hear that controling diet helps control the other symptoms, too.
hopefully i'll find the money to give it a try.

best,
laura