Newbie with questions

Peaches3 · 06-09-2008, 11:10 AM

Hi everyone!

I would like to start off by saying that I have not been diagnosed with PCOS but after doing some extensive research over the weekend, I feel like I need to go to a Dr. and see if maybe I do have this syndrome!

My hair has been thinning for over 2 years now and I do have excess body hair on my neck, especially my chest! I am overweight and I do have skin tags.

I went to the Dr. for my hair problem over 2 years ago and he told me it was just telogen effluvium and that it should clear up within 6 months. He said it was caused by stress and my weight loss which I have now all gained back. Well due to me not having insurance and the Dr. not taking insurance, I was not able to continue going to my appointments because it was too expensive. At the time, I was noticing these dark hairs growing in on my chest, my neck and recently on my shoulders and on my arms. Hairs that my father would have.

I've looked up symptoms and ways to go about treating it. I've noticed that some people have low libidos and some have high(including myself). My thing is, I really want to treat my hair problem as it is making me very insecure about myself but I dont want to lose my high sex drive. I've read that some people start taking medications causing it to lower theirs. I guess no one can live a perfect world but this is something that is really important to me... I just dont know how to go about it!

I've noticed that some people can be so understanding about it and others cannot! It makes me feel un sexy and un attractive. I was talking to someone before who decided they wanted to go off and date someone else rather than waiting for me to get things straightened out which is understandable. But now I've met someone who supports me and says I can be bald and he'd still feel the same. But I just want to get this fixed and not have to worry about having him wait forever!

Are any of you in my situation? Wanting to fix hair problems but afraid of losing your libido completely?

Please help!

Eva37 · 06-09-2008, 01:24 PM

welcome to sc

Victoria070505 · 06-09-2008, 02:31 PM

Well I am losing my hair not as bad as before and I am not on any hairloss treatments. I have started taking a prenatal as well as my metformin and my Synthroid . I have PCOS, IR and was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. Well technically I have a Hashimotos Thyroiditis. Both PCOS and problems with your thyroid will cause similar symtoms, weight gain, hairloss and a few others. Atleast thats what my endocrinologist told me. There is a chance you won't have to take any hairloss meds once once you start a treatment plan for PCOS or Possibly Thyroid issues. When you go to the doc have you thyroid checked and ask about having your thyroid antibodies checked as well. Because you can be within the normal range for your thyroid function but still have the symptoms of being hypo. Remember its your body and you have to push your doctors sometimes to get what you want. Just don't give up. Good luck. I hope everythign works out well for you.

lisattcbaby · 06-09-2008, 03:07 PM

WELCOME hun! Hope u find out soon so u can find treatment! take care and good luck

Peaches3 · 06-10-2008, 09:07 AM

Thank you girls so much! Im so relieved to have found something for people to come to and im really glad that I have all of you who I can relate to, vice versa!

I am in the process of getting insurance but because of my pre existing hair loss condition, its taking extra long so im just kind of sitting here waiting!

I do want to comment on what Victoria said.... pushing your Dr. to sometimes get what you want..... I think that is so true! And also having your dr really explain everything! I've been put on vaniqa when I started to get some extra hair on my chest and little did I know that even if i kept on using it, though it may be effective for a period of time, hairs are going to continue growing because I dont have something else to treat it and help block it(All which ive found out on this site)

So Im really glad that Im here and have all of your support. I have yours too. I may not know alot about this yet but I will do my best to help if you need it!

Thank you again!

Eva37 · 06-10-2008, 11:19 AM

yes, sometimes drs need to be pushed into doing anything. I personally had to change gp surgery to get any pcos help

eva

lisattcbaby · 06-20-2008, 01:49 PM

Peaches! How are you? Have u figured anything out yet? I hope all is well with you and lots of luck to ya hun! Take care <3

Peaches3 · 06-21-2008, 10:08 AM

Well Im doing alright. The best I can do! I applied for insurance over a month ago and I finally got a decline letter. This is what it states.... History of hair loss with no current treatment and no follow up. Well like I mentioned before, I stopped going because I didnt have any insurance and the Dr. himself didnt take insurance. So each appointment ran about 200 each and then for my treatment, they had me on a shampoo and lotion and then a shot which was 80 bucks and only lasted 3 days. So lets just say that I only took the shot once and didnt find out until the last visit that the dr. could just give me a whole bunch of samples instead of having to go pay for the medication. So he was treating me for telogen effluvium and a short period after that was when I started noticing some hair growth in some unwanted places.

I've been doing some reading up about it and I either have a hormonal imbalance or too much testosterone or PCOS. I know I've found that they do have some natural rememdies but im kind of unsure if i should buy it and take it even if maybe I dont have all of the PCOS syptoms?? I dont know if that would cause any kind of problems or not. I did read on this one website that you could take it even if you didnt have pcos and it might help you overall.

I know that I really need to just go and see a Dr. but I was honestly counting on that insurance. I dont know how I could afford all those lab tests that they are going to have to run. But I feel like I need to! I really want to just be myself. Get out there and date. Im finishing school in about 5 months and I'd like to be a little bit better than where I am now. I was reading one of the man posts and they were talking about how people with pcos will push away and I've realized that I have pushed people away. The slightest thing they say will irriate me and thats it. I think im down to only 1 person that I talk to and we got into a fight the other day because he asked me to go have pizza with him and i told him no that i wasnt ready for any of that. He got kind of upset and just backed away which in return made me upset because i think that just backing away from something instead of talking about is kind of silly but I guess now i realize that it was for the best and time for me to calm down and when i talked to him again, i was perfectly fine.

It's all about me just finding myself again. I have my periods but they arent always the same time. I tried marking my calendar to see what days I start but i've noticed that sometimes they are days later than what they were last month and I'll just say that its stress. I also noticed that a few days prior to my period, i used to get this sticky clear looking stuff(tmi) and I havent got that anymore so I dont know if that has to do anything with ovulating or not but thats gone.

I know that I need to lose some weight.... In health class last week, we were showed what 5 pounds of fat looked like.... i bet you i have about 2 and a half, maybe 3 big blobs of those in my stomach.

So thats where I am right now. Not too much progress has been made. I've done some more research but thats about it. I guess im just trying to figure out what I should do and which way I should go about it. I did send an email to one lady on one of the websites and im waiting to get some feed back from her so we'll see what she says.

How is everyone else doing? I hope good!