I know there are a lot of questions on this topic, and since I finished my fifth treatment last week, I thought I would share what I experienced. As far as my PCOS goes, I am definitely one of the higher affected individuals. I have excess hair growth on my arms and chest, and since the age of 13 I have suffered from full blown hirsutism on my face. It began with the only the chin, but for several years now I have had to shave my entire face every single day. It has definitely worn me down emotionally.
I also have infertility issues, of which my doctor and I are still not sure how far they really go. My husband and I have not used protection for 1 1/2 years now, and still no pregnancy. Thanks to 1000mg of Metformin, I do now have regular menstrual cycles. As for weight, in a four month period I gained 90lbs, and have been struggling to get it off since. Don't worry - this is all information my doctor knows and is working with me on!
So, back in October I decided I was going to have laser hair removal done to see if it would help me out. After my fifth (and final, at this point) treatment, I am happy to report that it most definitely has! My hair growth is not gone completely, and I do still elect to shave every day, but I feel like the "edge" has been taken off. I used to have a shadow even a couple of hours after shaving, because the growth was so fast and dark. Now, I can really go two days without shaving, but choose to do a touch-up in between. I also have completely bare spots on the sides of my face and under my chin, and though I never really had a moustache, what was there is 100% gone.
My face is softer now. It doesn't look like I attack it with a razor every morning, and my confidence is so much higher these days. Even the in the places where there still is hair growth, it is MUCH thinner, lighter, and more sparse. I only had my last treatment a week ago, so I still have a few weeks to wait and see what the complete results will be. After that, I am going to go in for touch ups every few weeks to try and completely eliminate the hair on my chin.
As both my doctor and the medical spa I went to indicated I have a pretty serious case of hirsutism, I thought it would be beneficial for me to post some of my thoughts and experiences. Some women only need two treatments to completely wipe out the hair, but as you can see, for those of us with more serious cases it can take quite a bit longer. Even so, I cannot stress enough how different my face is. It's amazing waking up in the morning and not having stubble cover my face. I'm no longer embarrassed if my husband wakes before I do, because the majority of it is still soft, and instead of having to shave morning and evening or - if I was bold - only morning to morning, I can now go two days if need be. The hair has gone from being thick and dark to thinner, and more of a honey color. It's just truly amazing, and I'm so grateful I went!
So, my advice is not to let this get the better of you! I may still have to shave, but ten minutes every morning (or every two) is a thousand times better than 30!
She will be using the GentleLASE on me. She claims that it's the best, for my skin/hair color. I sure hope so. I am having to shave now, no plucking. It sucks. I was suck a plucker. I feel so much hairier having to shave. Oh well.. in the end it will all be worth it, I hope.
I'm really glad Laser has helped you. I want to agree that lasering my face was the best self esteem booster I've ever done for myself (except maybe for maintaining a regular exercise routine, but that's another issue!) My mother started by hauling me off for eletrolosis as a teenager, and it was horrible. It hurt, it was embarassing and the hair just always grew back. Finally, after age 50, I gave laser a try, even though I was skepticle that anything would actually help. It seems to have worked, all the dark hairs are gone (after about 5 treatments to my chin, upper lip, sideburns) I still have a few white hairs which I pluck whenever I think about it...they sometimes get too long because I don't really think about them too much!
Now, I wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and am not immediately confronted with this disfiguring and emotionally distressing condition. Laser helped me feel more female, more normal, more under control with my PCOS. The PCOS won't go away, but you can make some of the excess hair go away with laser. You've got to treat the underlying cause, but looking and feeling better also makes a huge improvement in your overall health.
It's expensive, but too me, was well worth the money. Also, considering what I've paid out over the years for waxing, electrolosis, razors, etc. this is a bargain because it really put an end to the hair.
What Laser Hair Removal Did for Me... 
