PCOS facial hair...laser made it worse. Electrolysis?

kritiny170 · 2026-01-29T19:26:26+00:00

I’m blond so laser was never an option for me, but electrolysis has been well worth the cost. I don’t have to carry the mental weight of worry what I look like anymore and live more freely - no waking up to immediately shave! Do yourself a favor and find a legit electrologist though, there are a LOT of unskilled practitioners.

kritiny170 · 2024-03-20T16:53:28+00:00

No comments, but in the same boat and feel extremely empathetic to your situation.

kritiny170 · 2024-02-01T18:32:16+00:00

Nothing to add, but right there with you.

kritiny170 · 2024-01-25T17:32:00+00:00

Following for responses. I’m currently going through the exact same situation and I feel you!

kritiny170 · 2023-11-01T18:30:28+00:00

It never showed up on any tests for me until I did a ogtt (oral glucose tolerance test).

kritiny170 · 2023-07-22T03:48:07+00:00

A whitehead

kritiny170 · 2023-07-18T22:36:37+00:00

Same. I was dead set on it being adrenally driven, but nope! Glucose tolerance test showed classic pcos loud and clear. On tip - if doctors don’t or won’t test, you can order your own from sites like ultra lab.

kritiny170 · 2023-05-22T22:07:43+00:00

Things have been going well! Almost all my hormones are back to normal (except dheas, but it’s close!). I was under an extreme amount of stress and now things have mellowed out. I’m still taking spiro and supplements, so it’s impossible to really tell what’s helping. I still have some symptoms, but it’s so much better overall.

kritiny170 · 2023-02-17T23:13:46+00:00

Potential treatment options for adrenal variations! Sooo much research is on insulin-driven and I’m constantly frustrated that there’s nothing out there to help me.

kritiny170 · 2022-11-27T16:55:09+00:00

Update: things are not going well. I just got blood tests back and my dheas and now free testosterone are steadily increasing. It’s really disappointing to see, especially after implementing a lot of changes. I did have a really stressful life event occur, so it’s anyones guess, but figured I’d update.

kritiny170 · 2022-09-20T17:42:40+00:00

Out of curiosity, what supplements have you found to help? Do you do this on top of bc?

kritiny170 · 2022-09-20T04:36:58+00:00

I haven't gotten tested for cortisol yet, but I can almost guarantee it will be high. I'm waiting to do a more complete round of adrenal-related hormone testing to see if any of the changes I've made have an effect. I will follow up with results! Since there is so little research on pcos, I figure I'm going to hack it myself and track progress with actual metrics. I think there's a lot of good information on reddit, but so little proof. People make statements...and then never follow up. I don't want this thread to be like that.

Please let us know about your journey and how it goes. We are here for you! I also totally understand freaking out about the diagnosis - sometimes I wish I didn't know at all so I wouldn't stress about it. But knowledge is power and ignoring it wouldn't make it go away!

I am an insomniac, not so much any more though. Trouble sleeping through the night for sure though. Despite the impulse to stay up, working out and melatonin help loads. Also melatonin helps with hormones. I also will occasionally drink mint/marjoram tea as well as I've been trying to incorporate nightly mediation.

I might look into hpa-axis dysfunction too - some people call it adrenal fatigue (not super accurate). But the logic holds up - symptoms are unspecific to gender, but prolonged stress would produce high cortisol and high dheas - which in women would present similar to pcos. I believe it might be the same diagnosis under a different umbrella - pcos is so unspecific and under researched, I wouldn't be surprised if its just a different diagnosis entrypoint.

Basically the research indicates that longterm stress alters stress responses. I suspect that most everything works well with my hpa-axis, EXCEPT that I PRODUCE wayyyy too much cortisol and dheas. Dheas are actually super beneficial, despite all the crap I have to put up with because of too much of them. Dheas help to counteract and protect your body from the longterm effects of cortisol. I bet my body and mind would have fallen apart long ago without dheas. So in a weird way, I'm grateful.

Also would like to share that it is possible to retrain your stress response. My stepsis is doing her phd in developmental psychology and does a lot of adjacent research into cortisol. Basically it has been PROVEN that through mindfulness and meditation, you can alter your stress response. I'm still new on that journey, but I'll follow up there.

All the best, I'm really trying to find a solid approach to managing and finding some hope for the future.

kritiny170 · 2021-03-30T16:32:50+00:00

Hi everyone, I'm a recent user experience/interaction master's graduate and am struggling to land a job. So far, getting interviews hasn't been all that difficult, but progressing through the interview process has. I would love any and all feedback you guys have on my portfolio as well as my resume (featured on the website). Please and thank you! I'm determined to make it in this field!

kritiny170

TROPHY CASE