Facial Hair and Insulin Resistance

[journeytomiracle]

Hello
Just going to start SB and I have a question
I have terrible facial hair (woman) and although I do not have PCOS I do have Insulin Resistance
Will the facial hair stop growing once I begin to get started on SB?

[lorka150]

probably not. have you been checked for other things? any medications?

[auburnlocks]

Well I just did on search and found an article that said this

"A weight loss of only 5 percent can improve insulin resistance, leading to lower levels of male hormones (and less facial hair)."

But they were specifically talking about PCOS. If it is the insulin resistance that is causing the problem I would imagine you will see improvements with south beach and weight loss. But there are a lot of endocrine disorders that are difficult to diagnose and I don't know how much testing you have had. I personally think PCOS is under diagnosed and have a friend whose gyn told her that she definitely didn't have PCOS but who was later diagnosed with it by her reproductive endocrinologist. Not sure who you have seen but I think a lot of regular gynecologists and general practitioners miss it. Have you seen an endocrinologist?

[lorka150]

good article, auburnlocks.

you had mentioned that you don't get your period. have you had an ultrasound? they can easily check for them. lacking ovaries (or having extremely small ones) would result in no period and facial hair because lack of production of female hormone.

[journeytomiracle]

hello
thanks for all of your replys
yes I have been to an endocrinologist
she said that I do not have PCOS but do have IR. I have had every test for disorders because of infertility. The facial hair has gotten much worse with every pound I gain
Although I trust my Dr's I do not believe that they know everything for sure and while my diagnoss was IR I belive in the back of my mind that PCOS is the culpret.
I am beginning this journey with a whole lot of weight to lose but more importantly I want the me that is hiding behind the weight, facial hair and mood swings back.
Thanks so much

[lorka150]

why don't you try a PCOS diet and see how you feel? sometimes people are their best doctors.

my sister has had MS for ten years, and we all knew... however, the doctors said 'no' for ten years and then 'finally was diagnosed'.

[auburnlocks]

I think South Beach sounds like a really good choice. It certainly won't hurt and it may really help. As Lorka said...sometimes you have to do what feels right for you in spite of what the doctors think. I'm not saying to ignore them (obviously you have found people you respect) but to question is a good thing. There seem to be quite a few doctors out there that don't really believe in PCOS despite, what seems to me, to be overwhelming evidence that it exists and affects many, many women. The endrocrine system is so complicated and there may be other related disorders that haven't even been identified yet. Sometimes the best doctor is one that says "I don't know" or "I don't understand" and then works through the problem with you.

Have you ever tried Metformin (Glucophage)? My friend had great sucess with it and did eventually concieve (through IVF) while on it.

Also there have been some PCOS threads here lately. You may try reviving those treads or PMing some of the people on those threads to see how this has worked for them. Even if you don't have PCOS you seem to have some similar issues so there may be a connection even if it isn't a direct one.

Good luck!

[journeytomiracle]

Hello

Thank You all so much for your encouragement!
This is already a wonderful place to be!
Yes I have tried Metformin, actually that is the very last med that I tried on my entire TTC journey. I became so sick on it that my Dh asked me to stop taking it and to consider adoption as an option for our family. I did stop it and went through the whole infertility grieving process. In the meantime gained a ton of weight so right now I am just looking to getting myself healthy and see what each new day brings!

Thanks again

[auburnlocks]

I'm so sorry the treatments haven't worked for you.

Best of luck with whatever comes next. And welcome!

[journeytomiracle]

thank so much
I am a looking forward to waht comes next!

[april26]

I have had random facial, neck and chest hair (ewww...there is a SEXY thought) since puberty. It got worst for me after I got pregnant. You are soooo not alone. There is nothing like sitting in the sun, and having your best friend (who happens to be a hot looking guy), ask you what's up with all of that hair around your chin line! How embarassing! I wish that I could remember the name of it...but just recently I saw a commercial (or saw it about 3 times) for a new medication that reduces unwanted facial hair in women. I just saw these commercials last week. If I see it again, I'll jump on here and throw the name up. Maybe you could talk to your Doc about it, though. I am already on some medication for my own issues...and I don't want to mix and match meds, or else I would take it,too. You know, though, atleast plucking all of that hair keeps us from eating out of boredom!

[ash6181]

I have PCOS. I don't have the problems with hair growth, but I wanted to point out that you don't have to have all the symptoms to be diagnosed. For example, you don't have to actually have cysts on your ovaries to have PCOS. If you've looked at some websites that describe PCOS, and you feel like you may have it, you might want to think about a second opinion. Once I was diagnosed it explained a lot of things.

I think the name of the medicine for hair growth may be something like Vaniqua (sp?) I believe it's a cream that slows the regrowth.

[sunshineonleith]

i also have a lot of facial hair and have had to deal with those embarrassing questions. i tried vaniqua and found that it irritated my skin immensely. my dr's keep telling me i'm not a good candidate for pcos, but that HAIR is still THERE.

so i added some money on to my college loan and now i'm getting electrolysis. i love the results so far. its $$, but to me - its worth it.

[ColoradoDreamer]

I asked my gynecologist to prescribe some Vaniqua when I went for my yearly physical. I guess if I used it twice daily, over time I might see some results, but I haven't had much luck with it. Fortunately, most of my fuzz is the same color as my skin, except for about 5 or 6 sprigs on each side of my chin that are as dark brown as my natural hair color (I'm salt & pepper under my current haircolor ). I either tweeze (yeeeowch!) or I use one of those bikini-line "hair eraser" things to get the fuzz down. Depilatories and bleaches both break me out to where I look worse than if I'd just left the chin whiskers alone.

Sometimes it just really sucks to be me.

[BeachyLili012]

Hi Journeytomircale! Finally, I have found someone who deals with facial hair issues. I have facial hairs, have on my face,underneath the chin area, also have it on my tummy,breast. Been dealing with this for years, seen many doctors, even done some laser, which the laser was a waste of time and money. My doctors mentioned to me on losing weight and the facial hair would dimished. I have not found anyone who dealing with this and were success. Also one doctor mention that I have PCOS, which I get irregualr periods. The treament that I had done was back in 2000.

If you would like a email friend on this, feel free to email me anytime..Good luck~