If birth control is going to help (only does in a small percentage of people) it can take a year or more.
If the women in your family do not have the same issues with hirsutism, do not stop trying to get help. Try an endocrinologist (not reproductive).
<BY THE WAY>...your testosterone level changes throughout your cycle. Make sure you get your hormones tested approx 2-2.5 weeks after the beginning of your menstrual cycle. This is when it will be the highest. It will be the lowest when you are on your period - 4 days after. Also- make sure they test your FREE Testosterone and not just serum (or total) testosterone. If that is all normal see my above post.
Last edited by ms_mod; 04-20-2008 at 07:18 AM.
Reason: Replaced text message, chat room words with the proper words. Please follow the posting rules. Ms_Mod
I was taking bc pills for over two years and didn't really see any difference in hair growth at all.
Nope, women in my family definitely don't have this issue. My mother has hardly any body hair at all. I have no idea what my doctor tested for... he wasn't even sure that he needed to test for anything at first, but than later he called me and tested me for a whole bunch of different hormones and apparently they all came back "normal." So I just gave up since I don't really have anyone to talk to about it and I don't know which doctor to go to.
I also know that I don't have thyroid issues since he tested for that as well and for PCOS. I've never had period issues so I know that's not it. I have no idea... this is frustrating, especially now that it's getting warm out and shaving everything everyday is kinda obnoxious and embarrassing.
Last edited by ms_mod; 04-20-2008 at 07:17 AM.
Reason: Removed unnecessary quote. Ms_Mod
Don't assume that your doctor is on top of everything. Call his office and request your medical records. Then you will have copies of your labs so you know what has been done and what you still may need to check. Have your doctor refer you to an endocrinologist. They deal with endocrine disorders, which hirsutism is a symptom of.
Don't go through your life feeling like you do. It is only going to cause more problems. You are 22 now, but think of the effect this will have on you by the time you are 32. It is a very real problem and you deserve treatment for it.
Try Vaniqua (expensive but worth it). Also, there are some very good electric razors out there now. Pick one up in the mean time and shave the hair off.
Hormone tests being "normal" doesn't mean a lot. What's normal for other woman may not be normal for your body. PCOS can be difficult to diagnose. You can have none of the "normal" PCOS symptoms and still have PCOS. Syndrome X is also something to be considered.
Dr. Geoffrey Redmond is a nationally recognized expert on issues such as this. You may want to check your library for his books. One is called "The Hormonally Vulnerable Woman."
Don't assume that your doctor is on top of everything. Call his office and request your medical records. Then you will have copies of your labs so you know what has been done and what you still may need to check. Have your doctor refer you to an endocrinologist. They deal with endocrine disorders, which hirsutism is a symptom of.
Don't go through your life feeling like you do. It is only going to cause more problems. You are 22 now, but think of the effect this will have on you by the time you are 32. It is a very real problem and you deserve treatment for it.
Try Vaniqua (expensive but worth it). Also, there are some very good electric razors out there now. Pick one up in the mean time and shave the hair off.
I had this stuff tested about 2 years ago. I think it's probably too late now to call him and ask for those records. I don't think that I can afford to go from doctor to doctor, getting everything tested, and hoping that they find something (I'm pretty sure that this kind of stuff isn't covered by my insurance).
I've pretty much learned to live with it since I was 15 so I really don't see very many other options.
As far as Vaniqa goes... I can't afford it, and I've also heard that it's only for the face. I don't have facial hair issues... I mean I do, but the hair on my face is very fine, light, and virtually unnoticable (except in bright/sun light). I don't do anything about it because I figure why make it worse when it's not as bad as it could be. I doubt that it would work on the rest of my body since the rest of my body is also covered in the same type of hair... very fine, blonde, but long (about 1cm). Hair creams wouldn't do much for that.
Also shaving, I don't think I want to shave my entire body every day... or every couple of days. I already shave most of my body and it's extremely time consuming. I don't know... I'll just live with it for now and maybe someday when I have a whole bunch of extra money I'll go see an endocrinologist and see why this is happening.
Hormone tests being "normal" doesn't mean a lot. What's normal for other woman may not be normal for your body. PCOS can be difficult to diagnose. You can have none of the "normal" PCOS symptoms and still have PCOS. Syndrome X is also something to be considered.
Dr. Geoffrey Redmond is a nationally recognized expert on issues such as this. You may want to check your library for his books. One is called "The Hormonally Vulnerable Woman."
Thank you. I'll look into that. It's better to read about this or talk to a doctor who knows than just any doctor <BECAUSE> obviously many of them don't know much about this issue. They do figure that what's normal for most women is normal for everyone.
Last edited by ms_mod; 04-27-2008 at 02:47 PM.
Reason: Please always use whole words in your posts.
I've been thinking about this issue more frequently for a few days and it's really irritating. Some of the body hair I have has been getting worse and spreading more recently. I don't know why or what to do. So I think I need to go see a doctor soon.
Does anyone know if endocrinologist appointments/tests/treatments or whatever is required is covered by insurance (mostly)? I'm not really sure but I hope they are.
Also, how would I go about finding an endocrinologist? I did a search one a certain specialist website but it appears that endocrinologists are quite rare to find (at least in my area), and I only found two in my area - one who specializes in "thyroid disease only" and another who specializes in "pediatric endocrinology only." Should I go to the first one?
I found only one doctor who specializes in hirsutism in my state and she is located about 130 miles from here... definitely not close enough.
Also, if I go to an endocrinologist, what should I expect at my first appointment? I'm assuming that they would probably examine body parts, and although I know it's a doctor and they see everything all the time I still feel soooo embarrassed since the only ones I found are men. What should I do?
Insurance should cover the tests and appointments with an endocrinologists. Just be sure to follow any referral requirements your insurance may have, so that they don't have any reason to refuse coverage.
Ask your primary care physician for a referral. Also call the thyroid specialists and ask if they can recommend an endocrinologist who specializes in reproductive endocrinology. If no one else is available, you can always go to the one who specializes in thyroid. I personally would seriously consider the doctor that is 130 miles away. It could be very much worth the time and effort.
For the first appointment, let the hair grow. They need to see it to believe it. And trust me, they have seen things far worse than hirsute women.
Ellie- Doctors offices keep a patients records for many, many years. They WILL have copies of your previous labs all you have to do is ask (it may save you money and time). You could even have them send a copy of your record to the endocrinologist of your choice. I live in a mid to large sized city, there are only a handfull of Endocrinologists here and it takes a long time to get into one (months). Where I live, they require a referral (whether your insurance does or not). Most endocrinologists should accept insurance. I would call first to verify, though.
Insurance should cover the tests and appointments with an endocrinologists. Just be sure to follow any referral requirements your insurance may have, so that they don't have any reason to refuse coverage.
Ask your primary care physician for a referral. Also call the thyroid specialists and ask if they can recommend an endocrinologist who specializes in reproductive endocrinology. If no one else is available, you can always go to the one who specializes in thyroid. I personally would seriously consider the doctor that is 130 miles away. It could be very much worth the time and effort.
For the first appointment, let the hair grow. They need to see it to believe it. And trust me, they have seen things far worse than hirsute women.
I don't think that I can afford to drive 130 miles just to see a doctor (with these gas prices I avoid driving 10 miles, let alone 130). Luckily I found a bunch of endocrinologists/diabetic specialists in a couple of local hospitals. A lot of them work together in the same offices so that's always a good thing.
There is also an internal medicine/endocrinology center here so that is probably my best bet. Unfortunately they're all men but it's better than not going at all.
I'm probably just going to go to the internal medicine/endocrinology place and see what that doctor says. If he doesn't know enough about the problem than I will ask for a referral... but I did an extensive search online and looked at all specialists who are covered by my insurance and though there are a lot more of them than I thought, they're mostly general endocrinologists or thyroid/diabetes specialists... there don't seem to be any who specialize in reproductive endocrinology
I hope this one's reliable and that I can get an appointment soon.
Ellie- Doctors offices keep a patients records for many, many years. They WILL have copies of your previous labs all you have to do is ask (it may save you money and time). You could even have them send a copy of your record to the endocrinologist of your choice. I live in a mid to large sized city, there are only a handfull of Endocrinologists here and it takes a long time to get into one (months). Where I live, they require a referral (whether your insurance does or not). Most endocrinologists should accept insurance. I would call first to verify, though.
Thanks!
I'm going to call an internal medicine/endocrinology center tomorrow and ask for an appointment first, see what they have to say. The first time I went to my primary doctor he sent me to a hospital to take a bunch of tests that were "normal." He didn't even call me back to tell me anything about my results till I called him a few weeks later. My primary doctor is not very reliable. My mom goes to him and the last time she had MRIs done they "lost" a couple of them for a while.
I'd rather just get the tests redone... who knows, maybe some of my hormone levels have changed (last time I had them tested was about 3 years ago).
I also live in a mid size city and there are maybe 15 endocrinologists but they mostly specialize in thyroid/diabetes so I don't know how helpful they're going to be. I hope I can get an appointment in the internal medicine center soon since that seems like the best place to go... who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and get an appointment soon. And I knwo for a fact that this place accepts my insurance since they're listed in my participating provider directory.
Lets hope I can get an appointment soon.
Thanks again to both of you!
So I just called the internal medicine center not long ago and set an appointment. They seem to deal with all sorts of issues since it is an endocrinology center so I don't think that this doctor is going to be as clueless as my regular one was.
I almost got really lucky because I called and the woman I talked to said that she could squeeze me in tomorrow afternoon since they had a cancellation. Unfortunately the computer wouldn't let her because apparently someone else was scheduling that appointment at the same time ... huge disappointment since I could have got this problem taken care of so quickly.
She scheduled me for the next available date - July 11! Soooooo far from now. I gotta wait two months! But I figure two more months is nothing compared to the 6 years I've deal with this annoying problem.
I hope they can figure it all out and that my problems don't get worse by July (lately it's been worse for some reason... hair growing quicker and spreading and it doesn't make sense).
Anyway, I'm glad I did this. Thanks for your encouragement! I really appreciate all the input.
