Hair loss related to PCOS even when hormones are fine?

supersilly1980 · 03-03-2009, 05:05 PM

I have been having a bad experience with hair loss since last April. I USED to have beautiful hair. Lots of thick hair. Then last APril, I noticed my hairline thinning. At first I Thought it could have been because I lost a lot of weight in a short period of time (100 lbs in a year) However, my weight loss has stopped and my hair continues to fall out. I saw a dermatologist to rule out any of those problems, and she really thought it was due to stress.... My husband and best friend of ten years left me a little over a year ago, and we share two young children together. After he left, I went throug ha real lot. THe apartment I wsa living in, which was a basement level apartment, was contaminated when there was a sewage back up, causing it to spill all into my apartment. once i got back, I had to deal with the landlords son being on my back all the time because i wasnt able to make rent. I was a SAHM and so i had no income of my own coming in, and the welfare checks certainly weren't enough to even come close to paying the high rent. THen I found out I got herpes, and then I got evicted from my apartment, forcing me to move back in with my dads. Last July, my car died and got vandalized, and then my other car died a month ago and it just seems like every couple months, something comes up to make my life that much more difficult, lol. TO go along with this, ex dh's girlfriend was a friend of mine and she's been a wicked biatch to me fo rno reasons this whole time. SO, I can see how this may be stress related. However, I then saw an endo and she said it was my PCOS doing this to me. BUT, the thing is, she ran labs on my DHEA, androgens, and testosterone, and they call came back fine. NOw, I thought when hair loss happened, it was due to the high levels of testestrone or androgen. Ever since ive lost that weight, i ovulate regularly, get my periods on time, the only sign of PCOS I have left is insulin resistance and a wee bit of facial hair. SO, I guess what I'm asking is, now that youve read my long life story here, do you feel its PCOS< even when my hormones are normal, or do you think it really could be stress??? Ive thought of going back on BCP to see if it would help, but i really dont want to because when i used to be on it, it really made me mood swingy. thanks for eading, and TIA! : )

kimm · 03-03-2009, 06:10 PM

Hugs!!!!

Well stress and weightloss could definitely be impacting your hair even if these things happened a while ago. I know that stress certainly aggravates mine.

I also have supposedly "normal" hormone levels but after reading around here a bit, I believe the lab ranges for normal are a load of crap.

I had a total T of 60 which is mid range according to the lab, but I had to pluck twice a day and was thinning out on my head like crazy!!!! I also build muscle like I'm a bodybuilder. Seriously! My arms are actually impressive if I flex!

So while one person can have a certain T level and it not effect them, it may totally effect someone else if they are sensitive.

No easy answers here. You have a lot of factors that could contribute.

If it's just stress and weightloss, you'd probably see a lot of hair shedding. You can see this with androgen related hairloss as well, but if you aren't shedding I'd be more apt to say it's your androgens that are the culprit.

I wish I could give you a clear answer but I can't!!!

I know how hard this is, and you've been through so much already.

Hang in there! If it doesn't get better soon, then I'd maybe take another look at bcps or antiandrogens.

- Kimm

joyblack · 03-04-2009, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimm

I had a total T of 60 which is mid range according to the lab, but I had to pluck twice a day and was thinning out on my head like crazy!!!! I also build muscle like I'm a bodybuilder. Seriously! My arms are actually impressive if I flex!

So while one person can have a certain T level and it not effect them, it may totally effect someone else if they are sensitive.

Check your fingers -- relative lengths of your fingers can give an indication of whether you're likely to be particularly sensitive to testosterone.

If your ring fingers are longer than your index fingers, then your skin is likely to have been sensitized to testosterone and even relatively normal levels of testosterone can have a marked effect in terms of producing, for example, moustache or beard growth or scalp hair loss.

Of course -- to state the obvious -- it's not the length of your fingers that causes it, the finger length is relevant only because it's an indication of whether or not you've had exposure to high levels of testosterone at the time at which skin is sensitized so that it can respond to testosterone IF in later life you have high levels of testosterone.

ScaredSally · 03-04-2009, 07:22 AM

I have had severe stresses in my life what with my twin beiing desperatly ill for years, ex's bad friends you name it .. However i have very few PCOS symptoms.. lack of periods and a few hairs here and there but hair loss has been HUGE .. my hormone levels are also normal ..

I have to wear cosmetic hair now ...and it is progressing rapidly ... horrfic really .. sorry I cannot help you ... and I am sorry for all your worries .

supersilly1980 · 03-05-2009, 12:49 PM

thanks everyone for your input. : ) and yes, i do shed like crazy. argh, lol

BALCYST · 03-07-2009, 01:41 AM

A couple things...

Yes, I think this could be partly stress-related.

You mentioned that you recently lost 100 lbs. (congrats!). Perhaps some of the hair loss relates to changes in your diet. Are you getting enough protein and iron? (Apologies if that's really obvious.)

Like you, I've always associated hair loss with excess testosterone/androgen. However, someone else said (in the thread DIM and hair loss) that it can also stem from excess estrogen as well. How are your estrogen levels?

witchgrl · 03-07-2009, 02:23 PM

Your testosterone level could be in the "normal" range but you may have a higher sensitivity to testosterone. There are some very good articles on this in the sticky section up above.

{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}} hair loss is THE worst and I hope you can get it figured out.........

AshPet · 03-17-2009, 12:32 AM

i seem to shed alot of hair but nothing seems to be noticably missing, but everyday i was my hair tons seem to come out! i just thought it was normal since i wash my hair alot, never thought it could be related to this