decreased body hair?

I know this sounds like a blessing in disguise. Thanks to brain drain, I remembered that I haven't shaved in a week and really didn't need to. Pre-hyst, this was a daily thing to do. Eyebrows, I waxed those the week before surgery and seven weeks later, they don't look like a uni-brow forest. The jury is still out on the pubic hair density since I am in the process of regrowing that still, but it does seem more sparse.

Now, I think I read somewhere that testesterone is the hormone that dictates body hair growth. Of course, with the fog in my head, can't tell you when and where I read this LOL!

What symptoms tipped off your docs that testesterone levels might have fallen off? Sex is something I haven't been too interested in for months, but I was writing that off to being under extreme stress. Maybe it isn't just stress?

More will be revealed when my hormone panel results comes back. Just interested in how others were diagnosed as being deficient in certain hormones.

for me the determination that i needed testosterone was because i still had symptoms. i first started on estrogen, then because i was still symptomatic added prog, then still had problems, added test. with each hormone i felt better, just not as good as i felt i should feel. the test has taken care of my super dry skin, my very dry eyes, has given me energy and that zest for life and i think all of the hormones have affected my hair-quality and growth. the test makes my hair grow faster all over and it is of a much better quality than before, but as i said, each hormone has affected my hair. the test defintely affects the sex dept. too---i was pretty much flat lined before starting it. my goals for hrt, which i feel are realistic, are to get me close to the person i was before surgery...not turn me into someone else. i'm glad you're getting the testing done and be sure to let us know how you make out. oh, i wanted to add that i know a woman who has been on just premarin for 20+ years and her face is quite hairy...also pubic hair thinning is a consequence of menopause.

Have you had your adrenals tested for adrenal insufficiency? One of the symptoms of low adrenal reserve is a lessening of body hair, including in the pubic area. I have been taking hydrocortisone (only 30 mg. spread out 3 times a day at 10mg each time). It is helping.

For your sex drive, have you tried Enzamatic Therapy's 5 mg of DHEA to get your testosterone levels charged? I get a facial hair when I use testosterone. Just a small amount of DHEA helps. My doctor recommended Enzamatic Therapy brand.
Amy

chiropractor has me on an adrenal supplement prior to my hyster and did make a diff. Mostly bovine extracts in that supplement. Where do you buy this Enzamatic therapy brand and it is pharmaceutical grade DHEA? I read it has to be pharmaceutical grade to be effective somewhere, I think it was Dr. Northrup's book.

Won't get my consult on the hormone testing until the end of the month. My second-opinion gyn agreed to do testing in advance of our appointment so we have data to work with. All I am on right now is vivelle dot .05 and am still very symptomatic. Hopefully my dosages will be adjusted to replace more than the estrodial and things will be better. The gyn that did my surgery isn't into hearing about all the symptoms and is pretty lacksidaisical in his approach to prescribing HRT.

The other factor to be considered is my path results on my remaining ovary showed multiple hemmorhaggic cysts. Possible PCOS that is gone now that I don't have the ovary, who knows? I don't have the classic PCOS symptoms of being overweight, abnormal masculine hair growth, insulin resistance, irregular or absent periods, etc. Hmm?

Here's a list of symptoms of too much/too little testosterone:

ABUNDANCE OF TESTOSTERONE

oily skin
acne
facial hair
deepening voice
feelings of anger and aggression
male pattern baldness
clitoral enlargement


DEFICIENCY IN TESTOSTERONE

vaginal dryness
urinary incontinence
dry skin
brittle hair
decreased sexual desire
reduced energy and sense of well-being
insensitivity to clitoral stimulation
insensitivity to nipple stimulation
decreased arousability overall
lower capacity for orgasm
thinning of pubic hair (for some women)


If your free testosterone level is too low, supplementing with testosterone can help restore your energy level and libido. If it is not too low and you supplement with testosterone, you are going to get the side effects of too much testosterone. Testosterone is the hormone where it's most important to get your level checked before deciding to try it. Other things (including imbalance in general) can affect libido, so a lack of libido isn't an automatic indication of low testosterone level.

You are still very early in your recovery (I know it doesn't feel that way, but in HRT time, it's true). Any time something is changed, it can take weeks for your body to adjust. It's important to take the balancing process slowly and deliberately, and only change one thing at a time. Many of us have taken six months to a year or longer to get to where we feel pretty well balanced, and even then, any time we gain or lose weight, become ill, get stressed out, etc., our hormone needs can change again. Our ovaries used to do the job of automatically adjusting production for us so we didn't realize it was happening... now that job is our responsibility and it can take us quite a long time to learn what we need to do to compensate when symptoms occur. For more on this concept check out this thread:

Ever wonder why it's so hard to achieve hormonal balance?

Hang in there! Do let us know how your levels come out when you get your test results back, and we'll try to help.
s,
-Linda

Interesting, we are all so different. Climara and Vivelle seems to make my body hair grow like crazy, including YUCKY facial hair, which I never had prior to TVH/BSO. Somehow for me the transdermal turns into testosterone. How, I don't have a clue. Have recently switched to Oral Estrace, I hate switching, as it takes my body so long to adjust.

Yes, I think testoserone rules all the body hair, I think Estrogen rules the hair on our head. I even noticed longer eyebrows...all very strange. BALANCE is the key, getting it is why we are in the jungle.

Good Luck, but please, right now I would take less body hair then more...I have hair where I have never had it before, toes, hands, not gross, but definetly wasn't there before. STRANGE.

One of the symptoms of low adrenals (low cortisol level) is a lessening of pubic hair and other body hair.