[kelleyincolorado]

In a nutshell...diagnosed last year and was put on avandia. Didn't work, stopped that and put on b/c pill Yasmin. Made me feel nasty and took for just a couple of months. No meds right now.

Today my lovely stylist of several years mentioned what I've been dreading to say out loud. My hair is thinning in front on top. Fun times.

I need advice on what I can use to stop this! What have you all tried and know works?? I do not have the $$ to throw around, so please help!

I'd also love to know if anyone has had luck with stuff for complete lack of sex drive We're talking ONE TIME since the beginning of the year. Not cool...not good...

Help! Kelley

[Noodles913]

Hi Kelley!!

Ugh I just typed you a LONG post and it ate it up like flys in a venus fly trap!!! Bah!!!!!!

Anyhow...I was on Yasmin too. I stopped it after a month. It made me sick and made me feel like I was hauling watermelons around for boobies. BLah!

My hair is thinning too. My endo. told me to try Rogaine. I haven't yet. Seek has though, so she could better explain it than I can on how it has worked for her. I also read that Saw Palmetto helps stop the thinning process, and when I was on it I noticed that after a month I wasn't thinning/losing gobs of hair in the shower anymore!! But then I had to stop taking it because of my surgery, and I have to wait until June to go back on it again. Darn!! But I would like something to make my hair grow back in where these little "holes" are on my forehead. No one notices them due to how I style my hair, but *I* know they are there and it makes me more self-consious about it.

As far as the low sex drive, well, I know that Yasmin will do that to you. I have a very high sex drive because of the extra testostrone and being in my 30s, but when I was taking that Yasmin, it dropped right off!! Hubby was asking me what happened?!?! I told him heck if I know...but then when I talked to my DR. she told me the Yasmin sometimes does that. Pfft! I was like this even after the month I stopped taking it. I'm back to normal now thank God. But I do know that there are women with PCOS that DON'T have a sex drive. It's all in the hormones...I would suggest asking your doctor about this...and see what she/he has to say and what they might be able to do for you. How long have you been off the Yasmin? How long has your sex drive been kaput?? When determining what might be the culprit you have to take in all of the factors beforehand. I'll also do some research and see what I can come up with and post an article for ya.

Hang in there!!! Us fellow PCOS'ers are with you all the way!!

[SeekInnerThinChick]

Hi Kelley! I had a bad problem with "male pattern balding," in fact that's kind of what got me started losing weight-- I hoped good nutrition would help. And it definitely has. But Rogaine has also made a big difference, and it worked very fast for me, I started seeing results in under a month. There is a sticky on this at the top of the forum page, BTW. The other thing that really helped was Spironolactone, a testosterone blocker medication for women with PCOS, like us. That has made a big difference in my overall well-being, I feel much calmer and less angry/aggressive with it. I can't address the sex drive question, mine has always been pretty out the door, I think that's the extra testosterone. I just wish it didn't give me excess hair, that kind of interferes with feeling romantic--

[kelleyincolorado]

Oh yeah, the extra hair is fun, isn't it? It's now on my arms I carry tweezers with me at all times...who woulda thought I'd spend my 30's plucking hair every time I stopped moving?! hahahaha!!! I can't afford laser hair removal at this point and time

the sex drive has been kaput for a couple of years. It's been just plain awful since last summer when the weight started piling on at a rapid rate. I am married to a saint, though at times it's really tough on him. He's currently concentrating on training for an Ironman, so this has pre-occupied him quite a bit and taken the pressure off of me. Love him!!!

I took Yasmin for two months and hated it. I had the upset stomach and felt bloated all the time. I would have enjoyed the watermelon boobies as mine have become EVEN SMALLER. At least they're where they are supposed to be, right??


I just found out that there is a chapter of PCOS support right here in Denver, so I've left them a frantic message asking for info. They have a list of docs who have a clue, too, and I'm hoping my insurance has one of them on the list. My current doc said they had a lot of patients with PCOS, which is why I went there. I was really upset when she just stuck me on the pill and told me to "try to exercise more". I wanted to reach out and smack her!

thanks for the info on different meds and hair stuff! Kelley

[Noodles913]

I know the feeling, Kelley. I am seriosuly considering the Lazer treatment my DR. offers. $50 a treatment seems to be looking more and more worth it now. I am tired of investing in Venus!!!

Hey if I could, I'd give you some of my watermelons. I am hoping they shrink a bit more as I lose more weight. So far, nothing. Last time I lost weight they shrank some and I could buy pretty bras and panties, but this time?! Nope. Still jugs. blah... if I don't lose boobie weight by the time I lose the other weight, I am eligible for a reduction. I can't right now because "you have to maintain a proper weight loss for 6 months to a year before they will even look at you for breast reduction" is what I was told so...pfft!! What's a girl to do...

I wonder if anyone has done well on Yasmin? So far all I have seen is complaints.

I hope you get your sex drive back...Supposedly in your 30's you are in your prime and things get a going even more so. It happened to me...I already had a healthy drive but then 30 hit and...Look out!!! It was like an internal switch got flipped on all of a sudden. With no OFF switch!! Well until I was on that Yasmin for that month.
It was funny too because my girlfriends who are 10 years older warned me about this "30's and prime" stuff. Then they had the nerve to take me "shopping" on my 30th birthday. I told them I don't need this stuff!! They both chimed in "Yes but you will...". Hahahhaa!! Smart-Asses. Gotta love friends that tell ya how it is.

[kelleyincolorado]

Well, I'm 34 and this dry spell has lasted the majority of my 30's! I had my son right after my 30th bday....then it all went downhill from there At first they thought it was post-partum depression, and stuck me on an anti-depressive....didn't work for beans. I just cried all the time and felt like I needed a nap. I took myself off of it after six months. Then about a year later, all the other fun things kicked in---the hair growth, the weight around my mid-section, etc...
So, I'm shooting for a change in things by my 35th bday---in October. Hopefully by then we'll have figured something out!

$50 a treatment for the laser does sound mighty good! I need to find a place that's as cheap as yours!

Kelley

[kittykitkat1971]

Hi, I was dx with PCOS last year and started using the Nioxin line of hair care products. My hair dresser and I, as well as other people, have noticed a difference. My hair is stronger, the shafts seem thicker, and I have YES new growth.

I use the cleanser, conditioner, and scalp treatment. It runs about 45$ for 6 weeks worth - a BARGAIN when it comes to saving my hair.

Good luck and hope you find relief!

Kitty

[faded_moon]

Hey i know how u feel. I'm not sure how old u r but i'm only 20 and my hair started falling out cuz of PCOS noticeably at 13 to the point where school kids felt the need to point it out to me. Imagine at 13 having to worry bout your hair falling out .

I def understand bout the hair thing. I'm on yasmin and glucouphage i dont see a change at all but that is just me.

[notlookingback]

i have PCOS since i was 21 when diagnosed, did not get period for 12yrs after that then i ended up pregnant and miscarried and then my period came normally and i thought it was gone i finally had a child when i was 42 and have gone thru menopause and am 55 now and still have PCOS and i have the male pattern baldness, i just started taking spironolactone and have recently lost 11.8lbs in the past 3 weeks. i hope my hair starts growing back too when i lose more weight i get tired of wearing a wig or having people stare at my head all the time. I just was tested for this again after all these years and my testostrone is still high i guess it doesn't go away even after menopause.............

[kelleyincolorado]

I went out and bought Rogaine. Humbling moment I've talked to my doc and can't seem to convince them that this birth control pill isn't helping matters. I'm on a mission to find yet another doctor who knows more about PCOS. I'm really tired of switching doctors!!

Kelley Where do you get Nioxin hair stuff??