James, i just want to thank you for all the help that you have personally given me. I hope you had a wonderful holiday and have a great New Year!!
Andrea, if it wasn't for this site, i wouldn't have known about PCOS. Thank you.

Awww, shucks, now you are making us blush.

You are welcome.

Okay girls I have a success story for you for a change.
I got into the field of electrolysis ultimately because I have PCOS............that's the short story now here's the long story:

Way back in 1999 I had an ultrasound for pain in my abdomen and my family doctor just sort of casually said I had multiple cysts on my ovaries, but never mentioned pcos or told me anything to do or what it meant. I pushed him for info and he finally sent me to a OBGYN who explained to me that the only way for my cysts to go away was to lose weight and that it was impossible to lose weight because of the cysts............she then handed me some brochure about losing weight and sent me on my way.

Needless to say I was pissed right off because she had nothing to contribute. So I went back to the family doctor and insisted he send me somewhere else so he sent me to a doctor of Internal Medicine, which I'm still not sure I understand.

This guy was equally as annoying as the previous one and told me I didn't have enough facial hair to warrant anything to be done about it in spite of the fact that I had a man beard.
He did do tons of tests after which he told me to pack my bags and get out, he had nothing for me.

Again I was pissed and decided to take care of my own facial hair by buying a professional electrolysis machine from ebay and starting my own treatment. By the way I don't really recommend this because as your treatment goes on and the hairs get thinner you can no longer see them properly and still end up needing professional help.

Meanwhile the periods and ovulation times were so bad that I wanted to just kill myself or my family, not sure which would have happened had I not gotten some help.
I went back to the Obgyn with a letter that basically told her that if she didn't do a hysterectomy I would do it myself and that my death would be on her hands and she agreed to do it for me. I specifically asked that she take the ovaries and she didn't............I was not happy about that at the time but now I am........will be explained soon.

The hysterectomy (uterus and cervix only) was the first best thing I ever did.........no longer did I have those painful periods and heck it's great not having to wonder when you're going to start bleeding when you least expect it.
Shortly after that I was talking to a client about what had gone on and she told me she had gone to see this holistic type GYN doctor in Toronto and he had put her on natural progesterone cream and she had immediately lost some weight and felt great. I thought there is no way that it could make such a difference but she offered to give up her next appointment so that I could go see him because he wasn't taking new patients. So I called him up and managed to get in to see him the next month.

Oh my god.............this man is amazing, I didn't have to say a word, he just knew what I had been going through, almost like he could see it in me. He sent me for a blood test and an ultrasound and immediately prescribed the natural progesterone cream for me. You just rub this cream (1/4 teaspoon twice a day) into your soft skin (belly, inside arms, hips etc.) and that's it. Within two months I had lost 15 lbs. and felt like a new person..............I couldn't believe it.
This was the second best thing I ever did.....the cream.

The hysterectomy took away the period pain but not the ovary pain and the cream took away the ovary pain and the general feeling of wanting to kill everyone that I had three out of four weeks per month.

Now somewhere in there after working on my own facial hair, underarms and bikini area I decided to take the course and become certified for electrolysis............which I did and have been for over two years now.
After working on myself for a year and I finally got fed up and sought professional help and can say that my face is clear.

I attribute the clear face to the electrolysis of course and most the progesterone cream. I stopped the excessive hair growth and allowed the electrolysis to work.
I still go for electrolysis because I'm having the bikini area cleared but about once every two months she removes about 5 very fine hairs from my chin that I didn't even know were there............sounds like success to me.

So just know there is help out there for you.
Specifically, this doctor I found uses the techniques that an American doctor (I'm in Canada) discovered and he has a website that I believe has referrals to doctors in other areas so you might be able to find someone in your area.
http://www.johnleemd.com
Go check out his sight and you may get the help you need.

I have to end with this......I feel human again, and I know that both you ladies know what I mean when I say that.

indygirl, how is it working for you??? i suppose my dr. will put me on it also, so i would like to know if there is any chance of controlling those hormones.

spiro is also a common drug for PCOS. i would suggest for all of you to check out specific forums for PCOS women. there are several that exist, you can google for them. you can get a lot more help on this specific issue there.

then, after you have your hormones under control, do come back here and check out the laser and electrolysis sessions to figure out the best way to kill the present hair.

Progesterone cream helps for facial hair? I was reading on another forum for women that it is the progesterone that increases androgen activity (so a bcp is wanted with lower progestin and higher estrogen for hirsutism) and the estrogen that helps combat hair. I'm confused!! Does anyone else use progesterone cream for facial hair? (I assume you don't actually put it on your face, tho, since it was mentioned above that it goes in fatty areas, right?)
alli