r/Hirsutism

I have had hirsuitism since a teenager. I am trying my best to mange it but it makes me feel so horrible. It makes me feel so insecure and I think about it everyday it’s so exhausting. I’ve been getting electrolysis on my face and neck every 2/3 weeks for over a year and although there’s been a bit of improvement I still feel hopeless I feel like it’s going to be a never ending journey. I’ve lost over a stone and a half to try and see if that will help (it doesn’t). My gp has also said that I likely have PMOS because I have abnormal androgens. I’ve had 8 sessions of lazer on my body(the pain was excruciating) and have stopped for summer and now it’s growing back. I’m at my wits end. I know this is something I am never going to completely fix but I feel like an ogre. How do you all deal with the emotional side of things? When I saw an endocrinologist 3 months ago he referred me for lazer for my face and said come back in a year and if no improvements we can try spironolactone.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some brutal honesty and shared experiences because I am at my absolute wit's end with my chin hair. I’ve been on Spironolactone for 6 months total. I started at 100mg for the first 4 months, and I’ve been on 200mg for the last 2 months. So far? Zero improvement. Honestly, I’d wager my chin hair is actually worse and spreading.

(Side note on the dosage: I know 100mg seems high to start, but I have a heart condition and have been on blood pressure meds for years. The Spiro actually replaced a different medication, so as far as my cardiovascular system is concerned, it’s a weak dose/swap, but I am taking it now specifically to target this hair). This is officially my final try before I throw in the towel and invest in electrolysis. Before I talk to my doctor about stopping, I have a few questions for anyone who has been through this:

1. Did Spiro ever actually work for your facial hair? If it did, how long did it take before you noticed a real change in texture or growth speed? Did it take longer than 6 months?

2. Has anyone had it just straight-up not work? Did you give it a full year at 200mg and still see nothing?

3. What happens when you quit? If you stopped taking it, did you experience a massive hormonal rebound flare? (More hair, acne, etc.?) I am not worried about my heart because I would just be switched back to my normal medication.

Don't worry, I won't stop taking it cold turkey without talking to my doctor first since it affects my blood pressure. I'm just tired of taking a daily pill that feels like it's doing absolutely nothing for my face.

Would love to hear your experiences good, bad, etc. Thanks in advance.

I have PCOS & bought topical minoxidil for my thinning edges, but then I read a lot of posts where people used topical minoxidil, men as well, & it literally turned them into a Wolverine everywhere even thick dark hairs under the eyes etc…

Im curious for those with pcos & facial hair, that tried topical minoxidil foam (not the serum), did it make ur facial hair worse??

Im current getting electrolysis for my facial hair & it’s going well. Im also taking tirzepatide currently to balance my hormones for context.

Ideally, I would like to do it at the nearest Scottish diaspora Cultural festival to see who can grow a huge Scottish beard.

I'm supposed to leave for my sister's home today but i don't have any excitement rather I'm worried about my body and facial hair. I was planning to get my arms and legs waxed from parlour but she's out of town. Not like there aren't other parlours nearby but I'm not comfortable anywhere else. I don't like how they react to my hair growth. Idk what to do now... I wax my facial hair at home. And i know my hair growth cycle, one week is enough. I usually wax on Sundays. But since my vacations were going on, i was growing it up. And I've started working out yoga exercise something and i was being consistent, controlling sugar intake, trying to gradually increase protein and fiber, and also started applying "Eflora" for facial hair and taking "normoz ds" as well (thanks to someone on reddit) Inbetween i had to go somewhere so i waxed on june 21. And now my hair growth isn't enough to be pulled out by waxing 😭😭😭😭 bcoz i think all the efforts i made or especially the cream i applied... It worked. It slowed down the growth rate. But at what cost.. I'm still not at peace. Atleast earlier i knew my hair growth speed so i could manage and plan my waxing sessions (self at home) accordingly 😭 But what do i do now. Hair will be back when I'll be at didi s place 😢 She won't mind if i tell her i need to wax but she'll be just curious to watch. And ask questions about pcos, my period cycle, what I'm doing about it, and she's not a bad person but she'll say somethings I won't like. There are so many more things to say but.. I was not expecting this post to be that long.. Sorry for the long rant. And thanks for reading if someone would. Kind suggestions are welcome if you like.

I’m considering the pill and was wondering which type, if any, have helped any of you?

If you could also let me know if you were diagnosed with PCOS and/or heightened levels of androgens, that would be amazing.

I have a gynaecology appointment in a couple of weeks, and I want to know what your choice of medication was after finding out the cause of your hirsutism, and if it helped or not. I’m currently very confused and overwhelmed with the amount of info and potential decisions. I just want to finally be happy with how I look 🙁.Thanks so much for any help.

I'm going to be starting on the electrolysis journey soon after tweezing forever- I just got my PMOS diagnosis and I may wait a bit to get my androgen levels more in check first. For now, when I have been shaving my chin / lip with a regular Venus razor or a face shaver, I get the little white pimple like bumps a day or two later.

Please recommend any razors, creams, or other shaving products that you love!

Hello guys. I’ve always been quite the hairy person, especially on my neck/cheeks/chin. No PCOS, I have regular periods, blood work is okay, slightly elevated DHEA-S 2 years ago but no endocrinologist or OB-GYN was concerned about it. Got pregnant naturally on the third try.

I did laser procedures twice before, one 4-5 years ago and second time very recently. The results were good, I got my confidence back! But the hairs kept coming back as soon as I did a longer pause between sessions (like 30 days). I stopped the treatments only because of my pregnancy (I am 3 months now). The problem is that I am pale and my hairs are super, super visible! My MIL noticed them and has talked to my husband about it… guess how much I cried. Idk what to do!

Is it safe to wax? I have a very very low pain threshold and waxing my body has always been a nightmare for me. But if it’s what i have to do, I’ll take the leap. Shaving, don’t wanna do it because it gives me a shadow. Trimming? Idk, please help me out 😔 my self-esteem is getting lower because of this problem.

Does anyone have any inspiring stories to share of someone with PCOS that had success with electrolysis WITHOUT “controlling the underlying hormones”?

I’ve been getting electrolysis on my chin/neck for two years with not hugely noticeable improvement. I see a couple of gaps but I still have a lot of hair, although slightly lighter and softer (but also could just be in my head to validate the time and misery I have put into this). Today my provider asked if I’ve ever been on spironolactone, which I’ve not been and don’t plan to be because I’m in between pregnancies. It just felt like basically her implying that unless I want to be on medication forever, I’m not going to get improvement.

I am going to seek out a second opinion later this month, but it has me feeling so disheartened that she didn’t really give me much hope. I’m so tired of dealing with this 😩 just looking for some hope.

I’ve started getting dark hairs on my belly that I tweeze, but in result of that I get circular open like “wounds” on my stomach that I am so embarrassed of. Anybody else deal with something similar?

So I’m not sure if this has ever been brought up in here but I’d like to issue a warning based off my experience with mushroom coffee and how it was affecting my physical health.

Now as someone already struggling with PCOS and bad enough hirsutism, I was actually under the impression that drinking the mushroom coffee would have a positive effect on my hormones etc. but I had an adverse experience. 3 months into drinking it everyday, my hair growth on my body as well as my chin was worse than it had ever been. The hair was growing in much darker than previous, and it was so frequent that the shaving everyday made the hair more bristle and it caused acne and irritation like I never had before.

I’m not sure if this is a reaction to the collagen and lions mane in EverydayDose specifically, but I’ve been a week post stopping it, and my acne cleared up and the hair growth went back to normal and it’s not nearly as bad. I did read online though that the combination of the two basically acts like fertilizer for your hair.

Has anyone else experienced something similar with these mushroom coffees? I’ve looked online for any insight on this because it was the only lifestyle change that I made at the time and now it’s improving.