Hormones and weight

San2

San2

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I am not entirely sure if this fits into this category, but it didn't fit into any of the others, so I thought this one's the best bet.

I am slightly confused by something my current doctor told me a few days back. At the moment I have a pretty annoying problem with too much facial hair (I'm a girl!!), mainly upper lip and chin. I have tried to get rid off it in a myriad of ways, but nothing worked.

When I lived back in Germany, my gyn told me that because I am so overweight, my body produces more male hormones, which are the main reason for the hair growing when it shouldn't. She explained in detail, but I can't remember exactly. It made sense to me though.

But a few days back I talked with my GP over here, and told her about the hair and stuff, and she told me that I have too many male hormones (she tested me for that), and that is the reason I am prone to putting weight on easily, and also the hair thing.

Now I'm confused...one tells me the hormones act up because I'm fat, the other tells me I'm fat 'cause the hormones act up...what's correct? I always had the secret hope that maybe if I lose enough weight, the hormone problem will sort itself out, but now it seems that it won't. Which would be a bummer.

Does anybody know anything about this (I tried to google it up, but there was nothing that I could make any sense out of), or has anybody experienced a change in hormones/excessive hair problems when they lost weight? Or is it all a bunch of baloney and I'm stuck with my stubble?? *lol*
 
PCOS does cause excessive hair... it does cause issues with fertility...


but it doesn't prevent a person from losing weight... you just might have to be more vigilant...
 
what has your doctor recommended in fixing the hormone problem? isnt it possible to regulate is somewhat by taking birth control pills? (im not sure if this is correct medically, but it seems logical to me because they have estrogen, no? i wouldnt advise doing it but perhaps asking your GP about it or researching it)
 
Mali, don't get me wrong, I don't seem to be having trouble losing weight, even though I looked into PCOS. It doesn't seem to be that though. I am mainly wondering if the whole hormone thing and the weight thing are connected, or if it doesn't have anything to do with each other.

amagheti, neither of them suggested anything other than trying to lose weight, that's why I am wondering if that is really going to make a difference. I was on the pill for years, but it didn't have any effect on the hair thing. It made me sick though, and I gained weight and had pretty bad skin problems caused by it. Maybe I'm just weird? *lol*

It's just confusing that two doctors tell me two completely different things.
 
doctors are not all knowing - despite what some would like you to believe :D

Get a second/ third opinion... your doctor should be willing to work with you and treat your condition and not blow off your concerns and issues with a simple - lose weight... Losing weight is kind of a given... but having some sort of expectation of what's to come would be nice...
 
I saw a thing about that on tv and a girl that had the same problem lost about 30 pounds and said that it was starting to clear up. I think losing weight is the only way to get rid of it.
 
Oh yeah, they just love to believe that they know it all, but sometimes they just have no clue...the other doc I went to didn't even know what PCOS is! So yeah, I will definitely go for a few more opinions and see what comes out of it. I'm losing weight anyway, and if it helps great, but if not it would be nice to know if there is anything else that I can do, or that can be done about the whole thing.
 
i know a girl that has a facial hair problem ... i dont know if its pcos.. but she is not overweight at all. she is about 100 lbs and about 5'4 so im not sure if loosing weight will be the solution to regulating the hormones? maybe it just depends on the person though
 
jaraku said:
I saw a thing about that on tv and a girl that had the same problem lost about 30 pounds and said that it was starting to clear up. I think losing weight is the only way to get rid of it.
Click to expand...

I'm going to only speak from my own personal experience with a health problem I have found at the very least exacerbated by weight. I was losing hair(also related to male hormone problems) and my psoriasis was at its worst at my heaviest. After losing 60 plus pounds so far the hair volume has increased quite dramatically--about where I remembered it before it started coming out and my psoriasis is starting to clear. I have lost weight in my 20's(not as much to lose then) and my psoriasis totally cleared up. I have a feeling both issues can feed off of one another and make both weight gain more likely and the weight gain continues to feed the hormone stream. At the very least, the weight loss may clear it up to a point where you know what you are REALLY dealing with. That's where I"m at with my psoriasis. I refuse to take a dangerous drug like Enbrel when I know I know that at about 50 lbs lighter then I am now, it usually is all clear. I still have control over this and I intend to exert my control. I guess what I'm saying is that there are conditions like this that can be treated, but if they are not life threatening and the weight loss can help them, then why not go the least invasive way first: losing weight.

I'm not sure if this helped. I guess I'm saying is it is hard sometimes to determine cause and effect, but with something like this, why not go with the path that is least invasive first and then go from there. I really do hope that my experience with psoriasis and hair loss also offer you some reassurance that a condition like yours may be responsive to weight loss.
 
Facial hair is a regular issue for PCOS sufferers (like myself).

I suggest that you get laser treatment while you are young. It is the most effective solution to facial hair that I have discovered over the past twenty years. I spent many years having electrolysis - and although the level of hair growth reduced with that - it never reduced to the level that I would have liked.

When I was in my twenties there was a time when I was having electrolysis for facial hair twice a week. The level of hair growth reduced reasonably quickly (in a matter of months) so that I was able to cut that to once a week. As the years went by - I was able to reduce that to every two weeks.

A standard form of treatment for PCOS at that time was the birth control pill dianette. I believe that it contains a drug which is effective for some of the PCOS issues which would damage an unborn child so it is only ever given in the form of a contraceptive pill. Since I had always wanted children - I refused to take this pill for very long - but I did take it for a while as part of a process to try to start me ovulating (I discovered that I hadnt been!!!)

I was able to reduce my electrolysis sessions to every three weeks after taking dianette.

The best reduction to my level of facial hair was when I started having laser treatment. I found that four or five sessions had a very noticeable effect.

Most laser clinics warn that they can not permanently get rid of facial hair for PCOS ladies - but they can make it a lot more manageable.

I have now had about five sessions at each of three different laser clinics - and would say that I still have a definite facial hair problem.

My biggest problem is that I was well into my forties before I had my first laser session. It is not widely advertised - but most laser equipment is of no effect on grey or white hair. Some of my hairs grow in grey or white (but as course as ever) and the laser has not reduced these hairs. As other hairs have reduced - this is now quite a big proportion of my facial hair. I now have to travel some distance in order to have specialist laser treatment on these hairs. There is no certainty as to whether it will have the effect that I desire.

My BMI is now "normal" but I cannot say that I have noticed a major reduction in my level of hairiness. It is possible that I am an extreme case though - and I would not let that put you off losing weight. I am reasonably convinced that my general health and other PCOS health issues have improved due to my weight loss - so I definitely would encourage you to continue controlling your weight.
 
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Sorry for not answering this one earlier....simply lost it out of sight.

Anyway, the hair and hormone thing is not my main reason for wanting to lose weight, so I am certainly not going to give up on that, no worries there.
I did decide to get myself checked for PCOS though, after reading up about it I realised that a lot of the symptoms sound awfully familiar. So far I have always been told that it's all because I'm overweight, but I'm starting to think that the person who told me simply had no clue what they were talking about, and couldn't be bothered to check on it properly. And better safe than sorry!

As for the laser treatment, I have recently gotten myself one of these laser hair removal systems, paid a ridiculous amount of money, and after about 6 weeks I must say that I see no result whatsoever. If anything, the hair grows back even quicker. The problem is, I can't fork out £ 200+ for a treatment, so for the time being, I think all I can do is keep doing the laser thing at home, hope it works at some point, and shave the rest of the time. :(
 
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