My testosterone levels are normal but I've got excess body hair... this was interesting. Thanks for the info!
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While a definitive diagnoses can be made through a thorough history and physcial examination together with laboratory testing of estrogen levels and progesterone its very seldom done. Estrogen in our bodies actually are not one single hormone but a collective group of hormones working together. Instead what many dont know is that only 3 hormones are tested when dealing with PCOS. Estrone (E1) Estradiol (E2) and Estriol (E3) but infact there are a total of 24 for the female body. Many doctors do not test all 24 but stick with the basic 3. There for you dont get a complete diagnoses. Instead synthetics such as Premarin or Prempro are given out like candy. Often passed out on the premise that symptoms presented in the intial testing are due to estrogen deficiency without any considerations for the progesterone part of the equation. In reality many are suffering from estrogen dominance and dont know it. Since a standard test usually indicates that a woman with PCOS has plenty of estrogen and her levels are normal doctors assume she is still ovulating and producing plenty of progesterone. Estrogen and progesterone work in synchronization with each other as a form of check and balances. When one is off by even a margin it will set into motion side effects that will effect the other shifting the balance. Such as symptoms that many women see with PCOS. What many dont know is that progesterone acts as an antagonist to estrogen..for example when estrogen is too high it stimulates breast cysts while progesterone protects from it. Estrogen ehances water and salt retension while progesterone acts as a diuretic. So each play a hand in the others purpose. Most with PCOS are often found to be insulin resistant and that is almost always the case if your estrogen dominate a condition that is treatable and reversable. But beware doctors dont practice preventive medicine and will frown upon this and say its all just in theroy...if you want more information look up a substance called "DIM" Diindolymethane...it enables the body to metabolize excess estrogen...look for other posts Ive made with regard to this..or email me if you have questions..its truly something to look into.
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While a definitive diagnoses can be made through a thorough history and physcial examination together with laboratory testing of estrogen levels and progesterone its very seldom done.
Definitive diagnosis of what?
If you are referring to PCOS, the above statement is 100% incorrect. There is no definitive diagnosis for PCOS (yet). Currently, it is a diagnosis of EXCLUSION.
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I saw a dermatologist about a year ago for my baldness plus some moles too. I use a very expensive dandruff shampoo which Target and Walmart sells. It's a blue/grey bottle but can't remember the name of it though. I also use the stuff for going bald on top. I use Men's extra strength Rogaine for the balding area on top. I don't know how much it's helping as I'm still going bald somewhat on top. I think it has helped some with growing some of my hair back but it's no where close to a full set of hair though. I truely miss this. I can handle shaving my face with a men's electric razor for the extra hair. I HATE being bald/thin on top!
I haven't been to the doctor about it, but i have had excess hair snce i was 13 and im taking long dark hairs ..... kids in school made fun of me all the time and to help the case i was a fat kid .....i was treated worse than a dog at school ... guys considered male .... i remember an incedent once in class a guy reached out and grabbed my breasts .... there were a bunch of people around us and the teacher was out of the class room .... when i asked the boy what he was doing he replied ... "its not like it matters your a guy"... everybody laughed incuding the girls... they felt sorry for me sure .. but they weren't about to even try and understand because the truth was they thought everything about me was abormal. I basically went home and got angry i took duck tape and starting using it as wax strips ... which didn't help cause i basically pulled out most of my skin... ( I lived wih my father and brothers). SO when i bonded with my mother a few yrs later she took me to get my face waxed , except it hurt and made me break out, so i began bleaching and tweezing . I actually liked my mix ... i would bleach pretty much all of my face and then tweeze the few hairs on my neck and chin .... what i didn't realize was tweezing had a ripple affect the hairs grew long and dark and more began to pop up it as horrifying...... but unfortunately thats not the end im now 18 and the hairs still grow dark and long as they always have .... but now i have scars many scars on my neck and chin ..... even the best makeup cant cover them up although if i go out i always have make up on because i really don't want to be stared at ...... You see the what i didn't know was if you tweeze long enough you may cause ingrown hairs and to get them out (because i had so many i had too and if you don't get ingrowns out they cause infections)and so to get the out i had to pierce my skin and pull the hair out. I used to have beatiful skin every one would always complement my skin. THe hair on my face has caused me sooooooo much pain it literally hurts just to think about it . Iam not a normal 18 yr old even the woman i sometimes go to to wax my face when im too exhaustd to look at myself tells me "ohh hunny you would have beautiful skin its only the hair " .ITS only the hair
Last edited by girl i think not!; 12-03-2006 at 05:53 AM.
I haven't been to the doctor about it, but i have had excess hair snce i was 13 and im taking long dark hairs ..... kids in school made fun of me all the time and to help the case i was a fat kid .....i was treated worse than a dog at school ... guys considered male .... i remember an incedent once in class a guy reached out and grabbed my breasts .... there were a bunch of people around us and the teacher was out of the class room .... when i asked the boy what he was doing he replied ... "its not like it matters your a guy"... everybody laughed incuding the girls... they felt sorry for me sure .. but they weren't about to even try and understand because the truth was they thought everything about me was abormal. I basically went home and got angry i took duck tape and starting using it as wax strips ... which didn't help cause i basically pulled out most of my skin... ( I lived wih my father and brothers). SO when i bonded with my mother a few yrs later she took me to get my face waxed , except it hurt and made me break out, so i began bleaching and tweezing . I actually liked my mix ... i would bleach pretty much all of my face and then tweeze the few hairs on my neck and chin .... what i didn't realize was tweezing had a ripple affect the hairs grew long and dark and more began to pop up it as horrifying...... but unfortunately thats not the end im now 18 and the hairs still grow dark and long as they always have .... but now i have scars many scars on my neck and chin ..... even the best makeup cant cover them up although if i go out i always have make up on because i really don't want to be stared at ...... You see the what i didn't know was if you tweeze long enough you may cause ingrown hairs and to get them out (because i had so many i had too and if you don't get ingrowns out they cause infections)and so to get the out i had to pierce my skin and pull the hair out. I used to have beatiful skin every one would always complement my skin. THe hair on my face has caused me sooooooo much pain it literally hurts just to think about it . Iam not a normal 18 yr old even the woman i sometimes go to to wax my face when im too exhaustd to look at myself tells me "ohh hunny you would have beautiful skin its only the hair " .ITS only the hair
I'm in the same boat as you. I'm 20 and have had under the chin hair since I was a sophomore in high school. I would tweeze every day and it was so much that I lost the pigment in my skin and it looked like it was completely bruised under there. I went and got some lasering done but I could only go for a couple of months b/c I couldn't afford it. Of course insurance doesn't cover it. I'm now resorting to shaving every morning and I'm always self-conscious. Even around my boyfriend I sometimes won't let him touch my face b/c I feel like if he feels the prickly hair he'll wonder why he's with me and not a "normal" girl. I know that this sounds foolish considering we've been together for over a year and he knows what's going on and still loves me and planning a life together, but I can't help the way I feel. I always feel like people can see it and if I miss a spot makeup can't cover it up. I always have a razor in my purse just in case. I too won't go anywhere without makeup. I just want to be a normal girl!
so what does this mean? If your testosterone is within normal range and you still have excess hair/other issues relating to high testosterone. It's still too high for your body? Mine is 30 - within normal range, but its still high enough to have every high test. related problem. So there's no set number to aim for, it's just supposed to keep going lower until it's stops effecting you?
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I have hirsutism. Its mainly a Mediterranean thing. My whole family has had this problem, well the females. I was like this since I hit puberty, combined with the painful irregular periods. My testosterone levels were normal, not to mention I have a lot of estrogen. So its hereditary. Unfortunately I have a nice thick dark line of hair under my belly button that prevents me from wearing bikinis. I have hair on my face that also grows back soon after waxing, hairy arms and legs. Of course it looks just as bad when I shave because my legs are pale and my hair is dark so you can still see the follicles. Even when I was waxing the hair is there the next day if not the same day. I hate this. I mean I hate medications and I know it's only solved when I'm taking the meds, so there is no cure.
With me it was never because of weight. I was always in the right weight for my height, but still. I was and still am the ugly hairy duckling. Its weird because my fiance is Asian and he is turned off by a lot of hair, somehow we ended up together. He mentions it like its easy to remove it. He wants me to save money, but how can I if I'm going to wax my face, arms, belly, legs every day just so I'm not hairy for me and him as well? I hate hair on places where it shouldn't be.
So due to the fact that I have hirsutism, it's hard to say for sure if I have PCOS.
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Last edited by cedardryad; 03-06-2007 at 03:04 PM.
Can someone please help me?? I noticed that my hair is starting thin out... Can it be because of my medications? I had a blood test done and my hormone levels are fine and I have noticed that I have small light brown hairs on my breasts and my face also but... why am I losing my hair??? Does anyone know what I can do to stop this from happening? Any suggestions or recommendations will be helpful!!
Can someone please help me?? I noticed that my hair is starting thin out... Can it be because of my medications? I had a blood test done and my hormone levels are fine and I have noticed that I have small light brown hairs on my breasts and my face also but... why am I losing my hair??? Does anyone know what I can do to stop this from happening? Any suggestions or recommendations will be helpful!!
Thank you!!!!!!!
For woman with PCOS, the most common cause of the hair loss and excess hair is a presence of too much testosterone in the body. Just like testosterone in a man causes him to have more body hair and to bald, it causes the same in us.
Were you specifically tested for the presence of testosterone? Even if your levels were within normal ranges in general, it could be high enough for your system to respond by growing and losing hair.
When my PCOS symptoms first appeared, hair on the face and dark hairs on my breast were present. After my blood work, my gyno said that my testosterone level was only slightly above normal, though it was enough to cause my symptoms. I went on spironolactone and BCP's to lower it, along with taking herbal supplements like saw palmetto and drinking green tea. The hairs on my breast did go away completely and at this point, the dark, course hairs on my face are limited to just my underchin area and there are only about 15 to 20.
There are other causes of hair loss like hypothyroidsim, cushings disease, etc. You should ask to be tested for those if you haven't already.
Keep Up The Great Work Heather.i Have All The Symptoms You Have. I Am Really Trying To Figure Out What It Is That I Should Or Shouldn't Be Eating So That It Will Be Easier For Me To Lose Weight.i Hope You Reach Your Goal.
Hi, sort of new around here. My main problem is a hairy face, although I have got very thin hair on my head, it does not seem to be thinning now (I hope).
I have been battling hirsutism since I was 16 or so. My Mum and my sister have the same problem even when they are both a lot thinner than I am, so it must be hereditary as well.
I have tried everything: depilatory creams, waxing, bleaching. The only thing that allows me to go out every morning is daily plucking. This hurts my skin and it always looks irritated, but it irritated is still better than hairy.
I went for a laser consultation and a test patch. The test patch went okay, but then the girl told me that I had to shave instead of pluck for a couple of weeks before the first treatment and then between treatments so as to achieve the best results. I couldn't. I just can't go around with a manly 5 o'clock shade on my face. It's just too scary. So I carried on plucking for a while. Then I saw on this tv programme (the diet doctors) that saw palmetto helped with hirsutism and male pattern baldness. I have been taking it for three months now and I must say that it has worked wonders. I only pluck twice or so a week, it may not seem like much but it has made such a big difference. Just to be able to get up on a Saturday, jump in the shower and be ready to go out with my boyfriend in half an hour is such a joy.
My testosterone levels were normal, not to mention I have a lot of estrogen. So its hereditary. Unfortunately I have a nice thick dark line of hair under my belly button that prevents me from wearing bikinis. I have hair on my face that also grows back soon after waxing, hairy arms and legs. Of course it looks just as bad when I shave because my legs are pale and my hair is dark so you can still see the follicles. Even when I was waxing the hair is there the next day if not the same day. I hate this. I mean I hate medications and I know it's only solved when I'm taking the meds, so there is no cure. 
My main problem is a hairy face, although I have got very thin hair on my head, it does not seem to be thinning now (I hope).
