Thanks Heather!
I have been so NOT OBSESSED with facial hair, I have barely checked the site! I am so grateful that I started electrolysis and I am enjoying wonderful results!!! I am so excited about my next appointment and I think it will be even longer after that one when I will need to go back. I am shaving maybe once a week now, down from 1-2 times a day, so I would say these results are amazing!

Well, I guess the fact that I have almost forgotten about the hairtell community is in itself a testimony to the fact that ELECTROLYSIS WORKS. Hands down, there is no better way to remove hair from your face. I am thoroughly convinced of that. However, I wonder if I am experiencing some of the "rolling hills of West Virginia" moments that I have heard Dee write about in her posts. I was experiencing great freedom and liberation there for a while, but my technician suggested we go three weeks between treatments this time and, to be honest, I wonder if we should have stuck to our twice a month plan. I am just so surprised that there is still so much hair! I am seeing it as full and thick and coarse as it was before electrolysis, and that is strange since I have been seeing it decrease from the time I started treatment up until recently.
Any cheerleaders out there, now is the time for you to come out and tell me that it will be okay and this is only temporary and if I just can stick with it in a few months I will never have to look back....because right now I want more than ever to go get the tweezers and pluck away till my little heart's content.
Sorry to sound so disappointed, but this is really upsetting, even though I knew to expect peaks and valleys.

Hi Imosm:

If you felt better with the sessions every 2 weeks
then tell them you'd like to stick with them for the time
being until you are happy.

I remember when I first started laser and how happy
I was when some of the hairs seemed to be anihilated
into black smudges, but then a lot came back and I was devastated.

Then I remember the many hours of electrolysis and
wondering the same thing, about why the hairs kept
coming back, how I had to be crazy to put myself through
this, and when would it ever end.Talk about nerve wracking.
But I was determined to win. I had to!!

Eventually it does though if you stick it out,
but it may take a while. Today I don't have to shave,ever,
don't need foundation and am really ecstatic about
the results. To me it has been nothing short of
a miracle.

I wish you the best of luck, but I am sure you will
eventually achieve what you are looking for.

Alicia

imsom:

When did you start electrolysis? How many treatments have you had? Remember hair growth cycles? You have more hair than you think. You just can't see the activity below the skin and those hairs are going to come in waves and waves, over the first six months. HAIR GROWTH CYCLES are happening to you. If you got cleared 2-3 weeks ago, those are NEW hairs appearing and they are not going to go out of cycle if you go every three weeks for a clearance. If you tweeze, you lose and the time to completion is much longer. Go back to an every two week schedule if you are tempted to tweeze.

Thanks Alicia dear for your very valuable comments. I don't care how much I/we repeat the information about hair growth cycles, it is never ever enough. It is a hard concept to understand, but those that don't follow through with a good plan for about a year, will not end up successful and satisfied like you.

Dee

If you really think you can't control the urge to tweeze, then go in sooner. Maybe you could try 16, 17 or 18 days before going 3 full weeks. Just remember, what you are experiencing is completely normal. If you started your treatments anywhere around the date your registered here, you most likely still have hairs that have yet to be treated.

Wow, I am so thankful to have such level-headed and caring people on hairtell. Thank you for the info and the reminder about the cycles. I had honestly forgotten, and now I can regain the confidence that YES, in fact, I am doing the BEST and the ONLY thing that will really work! I have a hard time seeing past my own emotions sometimes, and a hairy face triggers alot of emotion. Actually, I requested that we went a little longer because I am going away for a couple weeks. So, my electrologist isn't at all to blame.
As far as aftercare, I see wonderful healing and terrific results on my chin and upper lip, but last time I had a couple dark, coarse hairs in my sideburns zapped and forgot to tend to them like the other treated areas. Now I have crusty, irritated, flaky, sore bumps in those places and I want to care for them but I don't know if I treat these the same as I would have the rest of the treated areas. I am going to a session on Wednesday and can wait and ask my electrologist then.

Imosm - reading your story is very similar to my own. Someone may have responded with all of this info already, but just wanted to post real quick as I'm on my way out.

Please seek a reputable Endocrinologist for testing and diagnosis of PCOS. I have found that OBGYNs and other doctors often overlook this disease. And you sound like a classic case. There are MANY variables involved in diagnosing PCOS. Your hormones do not necessarily have to "off" to have PCOS. And you don't have to have increased testosterone. (I didn't) What you could have is increased angrogens, OR a hyper-sensitivity to androgens.

Not much that can be done, but treatment options include medications: spironolactone (only if you're not trying to conceive) and a daily birth control pill. Both block androgen production. After using these meds, I haven't noticed much difference on my coarser hair on my face....but I have noticed a difference on my body hair, like on my arms and legs. Doesn't seem to grow back nearly as fast. Another side effect of PCOS is diabetes or insulin resistance, which can be marked by weight gain. Meds like Metformin can be used for this.

Anywho - below is a snapshot of different types of PCOS. See a reputable endocrinologist for more details! If you are diagnosed - a great website is www.soulcysters.com

Hope this helps!


traditional PCOS -- anovulatory, increased androgens, no insulin resistance

endocrine syndrome X -- anovulatory, increased androgens, insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes

non-traditional PCOS --anovulatory, normal androgens, obese, insulin resistant or type 2 diabetes

non-traditional PCOS -- ovulatory, increased androgens, mild insulin resistance

idiopathic hirsutism -- ovulatory, increased androgens, no insulin resistance

There is probably a good chance that the cysts are causing this and I would seek an endocrinologist. If you do not, you just have to realize that whatever is causing this hair in your body will continue to develop new hair over time unless it's controlled.

wishingwell - how long were you on Spiro?

Actually to clarify - I believe only those that have hormone disorders (ex: excessive testosterone, excessive androgens..et.)will continue to develop new hair over time, potentially in different areas. Those that are simply sensitive to androgens should not develop new hair....you just continue to have the same existing hairiness. I'm probably not doing the explanation justice, as how my doc explained to me. I have a follow up in two weeks so I can ask her for clarification.

* Lagirl, I've been on spiro about 10 months.

YAY!!!
I am at the 6 month mark and I have been seeing tremendous results! I am seeing my electrologist every 2 weeks for a full clearance and we have less and less to clear each time.
I shaved last Monday to prepare for my Wednesday appointment. We achieved full clearance in under 2 hours. I had nothing to shave until today. So, I have went from shaving every day, sometimes twice a day, to shaving ONCE in the last 11 days! I am so pleased with these results! The reaction I am getting from friends and family is great, too. Everyone is telling me I look great and they are seeing not only less hair, but also a positive change in my skin as well.
So, we are heading into the home stretch. However, in just 12 short weeks, my husband and I will be moving to Corpus Christi, Texas. I know I won't be completely finished with electrolysis when we move and I'm hoping someone can give me a referral to an electrologist in Corpus who uses the Apilus Platinum.