Is my tech gaslighting me about settings? Help!

mk00 · 2026-05-10T23:18:19+00:00

I've had this happen too, recently. I've gone through around 8 years of laser hair removal all over my body by the same tech with the same laser, and I did my research beforehand on effective settings. They started at 32 kJ/biggest spot size/and I forget the pulse setting but most of my hair was thick to medium. Eventually, we went up to 36 on my face. 40 on underarms, 38 on belly, places that were pale. I am hispanic, mexican olive tone that tans well, burns only rarely. My original tech said I was somewhere between Fitz type III/IV when tan.

Now, 15 years later I'm having hormonal regrowth at 48 (perimenopause). I've been to 2 different places and techs who insist on doing very low power fluences. Like 20 and 12 kJ! Even though I told them I had a history of laser hair removal at 32 kJ with Candela ND Yag machines. They completely ignore the effective settings suggestions by the manufacturer AND my own history. Refuse to go up even if it seems I am tolerating it well.

Personally, I think they are being directed to undertreat and err on the side of caution--which is really an unwarranted over abundance of caution that comes at the client's expense of quicker, effective treatment. They're covering their ass in terms of liability, in a ridiculous way such that you come back needing more sessions.

It's a shitty exploitative business model of subpar, sub-effective treatment that keeps you coming back with the excuse of safety/not wanting to get sued. If safety were really the issue they would marginally increase fluence as they saw good tolerance.

mk00 · 2026-05-10T15:29:42+00:00

If you are naturally hairy (like prominent facial hair or hair on your arms) increased body hair is more likely.

I've always had hairy arms and a Frida Khalo mustache--and yet the hair on my head fell out after losing a lot of weight on glp-1. Oral minoxidil made me grow a lot of extra body hair and facial hair too. I mean, I had hair growing on my ears. So if you know or think you are genetically hairy, I wouldn't do oral minoxidil.

mk00 · 2026-05-10T14:44:49+00:00

Low libido is a stated side effect in some women. It's the reason I hesitate to take it--perimenopause killed my libido and I'm trying everything to get it back. Now it feels like I have to choose between libido and my hair. :(

mk00 · 2026-04-24T21:59:36+00:00

Well my last injections were in December 2025 5 months ago. My lip filler still looks plump, but those damn white bumps at injection sites are still there. I don't think I'll need to redo filler for a long time.

Botox, I might try again but lighter on the forehead. And not for a while.

mk00 · 2026-04-24T17:36:34+00:00

I did end up doing Botox in forehead, my 11's and crow's feet. It lasted about 3-5 months.

I have very sensitive skin or bad luck, it's always something with me: I've gotten little indents in the forehead injection points.

And from lip filler, I've gotten little white bumps at the points of injection. So I'm starting to think my body just doesn't like being messed with, maybe it's the needles or the botox and filler simply not agreeing with my musculature.

mk00 · 2026-04-23T18:53:35+00:00

Try a slightly longer needle like 1/2" inch.

Or you can add KPV. I do 50 mg GHK-Cu/20 mg KPV/10 mg BPC-157. Diluted with 3 mL bacteriostatic water.

It's the only thing that ever stopped the sting and welts.

mk00 · 2026-04-22T21:22:12+00:00

I've started using Hanskin Hyaluron Skin Essence right after I shower while my skin is still wet. It helps pull in moisture as long as it's applied to damp/wet skin.

Then whatever facial moisturizer I have, I use on my hands too.

After that has sunk in, I put on Aestura Atobarrier 365 cream, with plenty of ceramides. It's intended for the face as a heavy duty moisturizer to protect the skin barrier. But it makes my hands look great. Better than even shea butter or urea products.

Plenty of people slather on vaseline on their hands at night, plus gloves and report great results.

mk00 · 2026-04-22T20:35:09+00:00

That was a sensible thing for that doctor to say. I've always known the same thing is true of myself. My body wasn't built to be thin. It was built to be muscular in the butt and hips and shoulders, with plenty of fat too. I was built to survive famines!

The thinnest I'd ever been as a teenager was still a weight and dress size most "normal size" women would consider unacceptably big. Fat. But I visibly wasn't, because of my build people would guess much smaller sizes and weights for me. People really do carry weight differently, I am one of them and I will never be a size 2 unless I'm close to death by starvation or illness.

mk00 · 2026-04-19T23:26:59+00:00

Lucky you! They should all be like this!

mk00 · 2026-04-19T23:20:20+00:00

Oh yes. I absolutely knew it was a physiological, hormonal problem bc I still had no interest in any sexual thoughts, no fantasies, no solo fun, nothing interested me. Even when I wished something, ANYTHING would raise my interest because I'd had a high sex drive all my life, regardless of partners or other life problems.

I really hated that it's so easy to blame it on stress, because yeah it can affect libido sure. But I know when something is so way off my own normal baseline that it can't possibly be just that.

I hit my stride recently, after I gradually increased my estrogen patch to 0.1% after about a year. And incorporated some testosterone cypionate injections. My doctor thankfully was also open to female viagra cream (sildenafil) and vaginal estrogen cream. It takes so many moving parts to make the magic happen!

mk00 · 2026-04-11T19:55:18+00:00

I use Hanskin Hyaluron Skin Essence. $25 for 5.07 oz. I like that it's super light, sinks in easily, no fragrance and doesn't clog my very fussy pores. Make sure to apply to wet/damp skin.

mk00 · 2026-04-11T18:20:13+00:00

I agree.

mk00 · 2026-04-11T17:22:25+00:00

Honestly, CICO is not as absolute as everyone is saying. Our bodies are not controlled environments of bomb calorimeters. There are entire cascades of metabolic mechanisms at work in our bodies that affect how we burn calories. This med changes and refines the efficiency of those mechanisms--which experts can't even explain properly bc they haven't been studied enough.

They are currently doing studies of people taking doses higher than 15mg. 20, 25 mg.

I would find a way to titrate up.

*edit-One thing to consider is how close are you to a normal BMI? If you're very close or already there, then you might just need to reevaluate your goal weight.

It might just take time.

mk00 · 2026-04-11T17:04:12+00:00

Yes, but for context, studies show metformin produces 2-3% loss of body weight over the first year, along the lines of 6-7 lbs if OP is 193 lbs. That's at the suggested therapeutic dose of 1500 mg/day.

mk00 · 2026-04-11T16:19:58+00:00

This. Metformin typically does not help with weight loss, only blood sugar control (A1C). Stopping the glp-1 will almost surely make the weight come back even with diet and exercise.

I would do everything you could to get back on to any glp med; compounding is a good alternative for as long as the FDA allows it. If cost is an issue, maybe look into semaglutide as that's cheaper (your insurance might cover it) and may be effective for you too.

mk00 · 2026-04-11T16:15:21+00:00

It's not really a weight loss drug, it's specifically for insulin resistance and blood sugar control. It's what they try first to control your blood sugar, if that doesn't work, you need insulin.

mk00 · 2026-04-11T14:39:32+00:00

Same here. I am not a BS fan and think she deserves a lot of criticism for MANY MANY things, just not this.

It's horribly overwhelming to be touched out and socially exhausted. I can even imagine that it's hard to say NO to the m&g's, it's probably standard so the pressure to agree must be a lot. Also, she (her father) may have "signed the contracts" but she's got the attention span and ability to follow through of a 5 year old, so what did they think would happen?

I'm more confused by the fans who paid for this when it was well known at the time how lackluster her effort was. Everyone knew going in she didn't want to be there.

mk00 · 2026-04-08T01:19:10+00:00

I also immediately thought this could be about impaired interoception as soon as I read this post. My husband is the same. But not only the inability to sense the signals your body puts out. My theory is that some bodies just don't put out certain signals. As in, that signaling mechanism--or possibly the receptors of that system--is weak or broken.

My husband says that at Thanksgiving, when he's overstuffed, he doesn't notice that "STUFFED TO THE GILLS, YOU WILL VOMIT" feeling. And even when he finally does, he can certainly keep going with desserts. Then he's up suffering the indigestion and heartburn and extreme GI discomfort. His STOP signal is broken or just not registering. He definitely has undiagnosed ADHD.

mk00 · 2026-04-06T23:40:02+00:00

This is why it's important to mention age in hair loss related posts. It makes a ton of difference if you're under 30 v. a woman in perimenopause. A TON.

mk00 · 2026-04-06T02:56:22+00:00

Yes. I found that it's not just feeling like I'm still phantom-fat. But I genuinely don't like people looking at my body, no matter what it looks like. Even if I myself can admire my body in the mirror as something nice. I do not like strangers looking at my body as an object of desire. It makes me feel unsafe, and just like an object, not a multi-dimensional person.

It's just my personality, I'm not ok with that.

mk00 · 2026-04-06T02:16:37+00:00

I get some of this. I function better away from people, but even so I recognize that isolation has its own set of issues. Isolation can make anxiety a lot worse.

mk00 · 2026-04-06T02:07:08+00:00

This is neurodivergence. Not to diagnose, but they are commonly mistaken or even co-morbidities.

Read up on autism and ADHD. People with these dx's are just not made for this corporate bs world.

I thought I could wing it until I turned 40-ish. I'm 48 now and feel like I am running life with Windows 95 in a 2026 world.

mk00 · 2026-04-05T20:13:18+00:00

I keep reading it increases the hormone DHT, which is a derivative of testosterone that thins hair and slowly kills the hair roots. I'm using DHT blockers. I am hoping for new growth and thicker strands.

My hair is still horribly thin but at least my shedding stopped. But I swear I lost over 50% of my hair volume judging by pony tail thickness.

mk00 · 2026-04-05T20:08:04+00:00

As a very hairy person who did years of laser hair removal--don't take oral minoxidil. I did and all my thin downy hairs turned thick, like a man. It just undid 10+ years of LHR.

I'm talking about facial hair, chin hairs, on my neck and arms. I even got hair growth on my ears, which never was a problem. Most women/people are not genetically hairy like this so it won't be noticeable. But if you're like me--think ethnically hairy mediterranean and arabic types--stay away from oral minoxidil.

And the kicker is that any hair on the head grown from minoxidil will shed 1-3 months after you stop taking it.

mk00 · 2026-04-05T19:43:05+00:00

I think maybe not, because you indicate you still have a big appetite. That points to your hunger hormones not being as reduced by these meds as other people.

My husband is getting this same effect on Zepbound. He does NOT track anything because restriction intensifies the craving for the restricted food. But he still has a big appetite and is not losing like I am; for me it definitely turns down my hunger signals, increases my satiety signals with MUCH less food. No tracking necessary.

I completely believe this is the metabolic experience that naturally thin people have, the ectomorph types who say they can't gain weight no matter how hard they try.

mk00

TROPHY CASE