I am overweight (14 years old and was always) , but I've lost a lot of weight. I went from 234 to 186 without changing my diet or exercise much. I get my periods regularly but i am excessively hairy, get some acne (not much though, but the body acne sucks), and have slightly elevated hormones. I think the only hormone that was slightly elevated was prolactin. When I was much younger I had body hair issues and i had my hormones checked and testosterone came a little elevated. But when they check again everything is basically normal. I am baffled and my doctor didn't push medication on me but instead told me to lose weight.
I tried laser hair removal on my face as a result and haven't seen an improvement, maybe in fact it got worse...so i just stopped. I'm thinking that if my doctor puts me on some medication to regulate the weight gain and hairiness will it really help with the weight and body/facial hair? It's so hard to remove and time-consuming. I want to fix the root of the problem. Also, if i get good results with medication and i eventually stop will the body hair creep back up?
I am overweight (14 years old and was always) , but I've lost a lot of weight. I went from 234 to 190-ish, without changing my diet or exercise much. I get my periods regularly but i am excessively hairy, get some acne (not much though, but the body acne sucks), and have slightly elevated hormones. I think the only hormone that was slightly elevated was prolactin. When I was much younger I had body hair issues and i had my hormones checked and testosterone came a little elevated. But when they check again everything is basically normal. I am baffled and my doctor didn't push medication on me but instead told me to lose weight.
I tried laser hair removal on my face as a result and haven't seen an improvement, maybe in fact it got worse...so i just stopped. I'm thinking that if my doctor puts me on some medication to regulate the weight gain and hairiness will it really help with the weight and body/facial hair? It's so hard to remove and time-consuming. I want to fix the root of the problem. Also, if i get good results with medication and i eventually stop will the body hair creep back up?
Which medications really help with the hirsutism?
Hi,
congratulations on your weight loss. I'm wondering what how many treatments you have gone for and what type of laser has been used on your face? I have tried a few different clinics myself to save money and noticed some lasers aren't as effective as others for hair removal. If they don't have the settings high enough to remove your hair, it can stimulate more hair growth.
I don't have any experience with meds to help hirsutism but they seem to help a lot of people with hair problems. You could try laser removal again with medication and it might be more effective
Hi,
congratulations on your weight loss. I'm wondering what how many treatments you have gone for and what type of laser has been used on your face? I have tried a few different clinics myself to save money and noticed some lasers aren't as effective as others for hair removal. If they don't have the settings high enough to remove your hair, it can stimulate more hair growth.
I don't have any experience with meds to help hirsutism but they seem to help a lot of people with hair problems. You could try laser removal again with medication and it might be more effective
I had six treatments. I think she put the laser on too low because I remember her increasing it each time; she was really careful with me because at the time i was only 13 and i was a little scared. The funny thing is i went to quite an expensive, nice and professional laser clinic, so i don't know why this happened to me but i think it's due to the fact i haven't took care of the hormonal problem when i plunged into laser, but my doctor said i could do it...
my doctor recommended medication telling me it would help but that i didn't need it. i'm thinking about going on one but first i want to try the natural way (diet, vitamins, herbs). also, i went to a different laser clinic and they told me that i should get my blood work done again because they were confused that i had regular periods but pretty bad hirsutism and some acne. but the thing is i have always been hairy. my dad's side of the family is quite hairy but my sister, mother, and cousins aren't as hairy as i am. i am hairier than most of the girls i have seen.
I had six treatments. I think she put the laser on too low because I remember her increasing it each time; she was really careful with me because at the time i was only 13 and i was a little scared. The funny thing is i went to quite an expensive, nice and professional laser clinic, so i don't know why this happened to me but i think it's due to the fact i haven't took care of the hormonal problem when i plunged into laser, but my doctor said i could do it...
my doctor recommended medication telling me it would help but that i didn't need it. i'm thinking about going on one but first i want to try the natural way (diet, vitamins, herbs). also, i went to a different laser clinic and they told me that i should get my blood work done again because they were confused that i had regular periods but pretty bad hirsutism and some acne. but the thing is i have always been hairy. my dad's side of the family is quite hairy but my sister, mother, and cousins aren't as hairy as i am. i am hairier than most of the girls i have seen.
You sound like my twin (hair on the face where the cause has not been diagnosed by blood tests and I have regular periods).
I found with an IPL laser, it didn't work very well on me. I found the light sheer diode (XC laser) worked best for reducing hair. This laser goes down 12mm instead of just 9mm which might help. Weight loss will likely make the laser work better. When I was thinner (120lbs) I had 8 treatments and the hair greatly reduced but I gained 30 (lost 20) and have to get it done again because the hair came back.
I get blood tests done every 6 months too and nothing shows up as abnormal but I am going to ask for an ultrasound of my ovaries which is something you could suggest to your doc. You could go on some medication such as spiro to help (I have no experience with it) with the treatments and continue trying to lose weight for your hair growth to lessen.
You sound like my twin (hair on the face where the cause has not been diagnosed by blood tests and I have regular periods).
I found with an IPL laser, it didn't work very well on me. I found the light sheer diode (XC laser) worked best for reducing hair. This laser goes down 12mm instead of just 9mm which might help. Weight loss will likely make the laser work better. When I was thinner (120lbs) I had 8 treatments and the hair greatly reduced but I gained 30 (lost 20) and have to get it done again because the hair came back.
I get blood tests done every 6 months too and nothing shows up as abnormal but I am going to ask for an ultrasound of my ovaries which is something you could suggest to your doc. You could go on some medication such as spiro to help (I have no experience with it) with the treatments and continue trying to lose weight for your hair growth to lessen.
i never thought i had pcos because i always thought the main thing was having irregular/absent periods but my super hairiness is due to my hormonal imbalance. It is really hard to deal with and even if you take care of it the people around us can probably tell when we miss a hair or two time to time...i think we should all stop being ashamed. It's not our fault we have pcos that gives horrible symptoms.
i never thought i had pcos because i always thought the main thing was having irregular/absent periods but my super hairiness is due to my hormonal imbalance. It is really hard to deal with and even if you take care of it the people around us can probably tell when we miss a hair or two time to time...i think we should all stop being ashamed. It's not our fault we have pcos that gives horrible symptoms.
Of course we shouldn't be ashamed. There's pressure on us to think that women should have no facial or body hair, whereas the fact of the matter is that many of us do. I think a lot of the problem is convincing ourselves to accept ourselves as we are. I just leave all the hair apart from my face. When it comes to my face, I shave every day with a men's-type electric razor. It's a fact that I have moustache and beard growth. I accept it as a fact. My DH accepts it as a fact. Our kids accept it as a fact. I don't need to apologize for it. And because the people closest to me accept it, I don't need to worry about it.
excessive hair and medication 
