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This has been a soar subject for me for many years. I get facial hair badly on the chin and under the chin, my doctors checked me for poly. Ovaries I tested negative on that, the gyn doctor said it generally is seen in obese women... now that I've been sleeved I'm hoping this all slows down because I now have to shave it. Any other women experience this ?

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Electrolysis is the answer

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Sadly I have the same issue and for me weight loss did not help much. I have been waxing, looking into electrolysis. I can warn you that Biotin (which people will tell you to take to prevent Hair loss on your scalp -- IT WON'T) will likely make the problem worse and I strongly advise against taking it.

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Weight loss didn't help my facial hair.< /p>

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I was hopeful that losing weight would help to reduce the amount of facial hair I have, but I'm down to a size two and still dealing with it. I had been taking 200mg of spironolactone ever since being diagnosed with PCOS at age 19, but over time it had become much less effective and caused numerous undesirable side effects like depression, fatigue, and weight gain due to the increased appetite it gave me. I slowly tapered off of it, and finally stopped taking it all together. This has meant that I've seen more facial Hair growth, but am not contemplating going back on it because I'd rather deal with one problem than multiple ones caused by this medicine. I just started taking birth control again on Sunday to help with facial hair, but am going to discontinue it because it's causing severe insomnia, nausea, and hot flashes (I'm 20 years too young for menopause). I was also given a prescription for Vaniqa at my recent doctor's appointment, which is a cream that helps to retard hair growth. It takes about 8 weeks to see any results, and the 1 ounce tube was $169. o.O I bought it anyway because desperate measures and all...... In reviews of it I read some women called it a holy grail product that had changed their life for the better, and others said it was not only ineffective but caused breakouts.

I am hopeful that a method I've just started trying will be effective, and the medicine and cream won't be necessary.

I recently started having it removed with sugaring and have been fortunate to not have any breakouts as a result. It's painful, but not excruciatingly so. I live in Los Angeles, and the woman who did it for me came highly recommended on Yelp and only charged $6 for the chin (I was trying one area at a time). I don't know how much it cost elsewhere, but it's definitely less than electrolysis and laser (which I was told wouldn't work for me because my hair is blonde). Ladies on another forum, Soul Cysters, had recommended a product from Amazon that you apply immediately after removing facial hair (whether by waxing, shaving, threading, etc) to prevent ingrown hairs and acne, and it's been really helpful.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C4YJL96/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd felt trapped in a cycle where removing hair caused breakouts, which made me want to hermit as much as possible (which is dismaying because I want to show off the weight loss and go out there and have fun), but the facial hair made me want to hermit as well. I've only been using this product for a few weeks, but thus far it's been a huge relief.

You can have higher androgen levels without having PCOS, and that will cause excessive facial hair growth too. PCOS can also be tricky to diagnose because the name is a bit of a misnomer. My endocrinologist said that many women with it do not actually have cysts, so they look at other criteria like your hormone levels and symptoms. Women who are not obese can also have PCOS and facial hair. I'm a young professor, and because of that my students tend to confide in me more than they would older professors. One of my 19-year-old students was telling me how depressed she was due to facial hair and acne caused by PCOS, and she's very slim. If she lost any weight she'd be medically underweight.

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I also have pcos and have dealt with hair issues forever. I've done waxing, electrolysis, vaniqa...you name it!!! Most recently I bought an at-home laser that I use. It works reasonably well to keep the hair at bay and I trim/shave in between to keep it under control. The one I have is by silkn.

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Look up a Tria machine if you have darker hair.

Also, after fighting for many years don't be adverse to just shaving daily. I recall using cremes to get rid of it and sitting for 30 min or so to allow it to work and then hiding on day 4-5 of the week until I could do it again. Now, I just get it over with by shaving and no one knows any different. We have to do what we have to do!

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I bought my own little wax kit at Sally's Beauty Supply - I do my chin, eyebrows and upper lip. My chin is the worst - I feel like the bearded lady in the circus. If it doesn't stop with weight loss - I'll be going for laser treatments.

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I have been lasering it off every 4 months (it's not a lot so I bleach it in between) for over 5 years now. I have pcos and I don't have much hope for it disappearing any time soon either but I will let you know if it does.

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I did try vaniqa problem with that is it's so much money for a small tube and I would need a tube a month .... I used it morning and night like it says for several weeks and it did slow down the hair but not as I had hoped and I stopped because I couldn't afford to buy another tube .... sad ... that they make this so unaffordable

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Yep. I just shave it and will tweeze the big guys as well. It's genetic in my family my mom, sister, and Aunt all have it. We're all different sizes.

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whats the name of the one you use? my facial hair is sooo dark & thick. I have been waxing for the past year & it doesn't get "thinner eventually". I need to nip this shit in the bud!!!

I also have pcos and have dealt with hair issues forever. I've done waxing, electrolysis, vaniqa...you name it!!! Most recently I bought an at-home laser that I use. It works reasonably well to keep the hair at bay and I trim/shave in between to keep it under control. The one I have is by silkn.


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My laser clinic says they won't treat most facial hair in women because if the cause is hormonal- the lasers won't work. I don't have facial hair but I have a funny manly dark patch that grows on my upper back that they refused to laser. Started growing in about 2 years ago as I rapidly gained weight. I get it waxed and sometimes I epilate. I was hoping it would go away with weight loss but I'm only 3 months out and can't tell yet.

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@@pleezeSleeve I had laser professionally done which did not work and wasted me thousands of dollars. The at home laser I have is by Silkn and keeps the hair at bay when I use it at three week intervals. It's lower power than if you went to an office, so using it more helps. Not a cure, but something to manage.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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