Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues

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Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« on: November 03, 2008, 05:41:08 PM » by bmom

I am new here, although not new to Beeyoutiful or the Anast’s – I thank God for both! I have a question I’ve been praying for guidance on, but wasn’t sure “where” to post it. If you think it would be more appropriate in another forum, please let me know (or feel free to move moderator).

I have a teenaged daughter who is having some symptoms which concern me – which could have a number of different “causes” – possibly hormone imbalance (maybe even PCOD) or thyroid imbalance, or Huh

Thankfully, her periods have been relatively normal since she started menstruating. (She is 17 and started her period about 11 ½.) They are at times quite heavy and she can have pretty intense cramps (both of which I have dealt w/ all my life). She also tends to have some PMS moodiness issues, mainly w/ irritability and sometimes anxiety/lack of perspective – but thankfully, no depressions of note. She is built similar to me, which tends to be on the fuller/rounder/voluptuous side ((although I was thinner overall at her age – but living a very different life) - she’s quite buxomy (which would seem to possibly rule-out PCOD).

The main thing which concerns me is the darker hair on her face. I may be way off-base here, as I am a blonde and she is a dark brunette since birth. I have struggled for years w/ knowing “what is normal” for a brunette. (For example, I have never had to shave my thighs as the hair is pretty fine and blonde. I told my daughter to NEVER shave her thighs, then realized that wasn’t practical for her.) At present, she has a good amount of dark, somewhat courser hair above her lips, plus some (sparse) on her chin. In addition, she has some hair on the sides of her face which she really doesn’t like – it’s not course, but darker and longer, and there maybe more of it than is normal (although it probably just “shows” more because it’s darker). If she starts waxing (her lip or eyebrows, which she does rarely, simply because she’s thankfully not too obsessed w/ her appearance and has better things to do w/ her time), she starts waxing off all the hair on the sides of her face too. I understand it, but it doesn’t seem “right” to me. She also has course, darker hair on her thighs and her bikini line – (thankfully, she doesn’t wear bikinis, and wears shorts over her one-piece, so this is not an issue) – her courser pubic hair comes down onto her thighs a couple inches.

Again, I pray no darker-haired women are feeling judgment from me – I realize some of this is perfectly normal. My problem is, as a blonde-haired woman, I’m not sure “what” is normal and “what” may be an indication of a hormonal imbalance or possible thyroid issue. How much facial hair at 17 is normal?

I hesitate to take her to a regular, allopathic doctor. Although I’d appreciate their blood tests, I would not like to fend off their potential treatment, (plus the potential awkward questions they would desire to ask my daughter regarding sexuality, birth control, etc.). I’m sure they would immediately recommend low dose birth control pills when the heavy periods were mentioned, something I’d never do. I know a great female naturopath, but quite frankly, I just can’t afford it. Our insurance of course pays for the allopathic and not the natural alternatives. I’ve been thinking of taking her to an internist or gynecologist to get the blood tests run, then saving up to see a naturopath w/ blood test results in hand. I just am unsure if I need to take action (in terms of seeking medical analysis) or not.

Is it appropriate for a young woman her age to use progesterone cream to balance the environmental xenohormones she’s exposed to?

Thanks for any thoughts or advice! I apologize for the length.

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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2008, 06:34:50 PM » by SarahK

A few ideas....

Are there dark haired women in her father's family you see enough to make a comparison?

Generally speaking, women have fuzz in all the same places. Hair texture and color will vary, but where you have blonde fuzz, a brunette has dark fuzz. Coarseness varies a lot.

Though there is the possibility that there are hormone problems, I would recommend a different approach before making appointments.

Investigate these things for PMS and balance:
Red Raspberry Leaf
Evening Primrose Oil

That's where I would start, anyway.

Sarah K

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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2008, 08:01:46 PM » by KristenA

If your husband a dark headed Italian... or something like that?

I have dark hair and am of 50% Spanish origin (other half scot/irish/engl american). When I was a teenager I plucked my eyebrows (lots of hair), had hair on my upper lip (used bleach cream), and shaved my thighs. I've never had heavy cycles.

My cousin (who is also 50% spanish/ 50% N. Euro.Russian something) had lots of hair on her lower back (she bleached it) and she shaved her toes... cause there was lots of hair there. She had heavy bleeding cycles, don't remember anything about cramps.

I didn't have the back or toe hair. She didn't have the mustache or heavy eyebrows. Cheesy

I don't know what all my cousin does now, we don't share everything like we did when we were bubble head teenagers.

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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2008, 10:33:39 PM » by twitterpated4hubby

When i was 14 i had hair on the sides of my face. Not tons or anything but just dark peach fuzz and one of my friends later told me that it was the first thing she noticed about me when she met me. Embarrassed

My dh who was just my bf at the time would call me ape baby because of it. LOL!! Later it just went away so maybe your dd's is just hormonal and will go away. I wonder if evening primrose oil would help at all. I know its helped my dd's mood swings so much that she never has them anymore and at one time she was in tears all the time.

I would get some of that stuff that bleaches the hair light for face hair. That will help her if she is feeling insecure about it. Just don't shave it or pluck it.

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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2008, 12:04:29 AM » by mykidsmom

Well, I'm a darkie and I think Sarah K was pretty accurate regarding where hair is. I have two blond sisters (no I'm not the postmen's child - although some have wondered! Cheesy

). They both are as furry as I am but their hair is much less visible because it's so blond. I have waxed my brows and face (below cheek bones from hair line to chin) for years now. I also have very hairy legs (five o'clock shadow Roll Eyes

) and yep, even my lower back. Arrggghh. My dad was a fur ball so I assume we all got our hairiness from him. At her age, if you've eaten a decent diet most of her life, I would assume it's mostly genetic if anyone in the family was hairy. And not just immediate family. Sometimes it can come from a grandparent. I have russian decent and had the eyebrows to go with it. Angry

As for dealing with the hair - if you know her diet has been good and there is no reason for concern that way, then you'll have to make some decisions about what you deem acceptable. If it were my daughter, if she's not self conscious about it and didn't care, I would let it go until a time when she asked. I didn't become really self conscious until I got married (at 25). At that point I started waxing. And I've never regretted it. The longer one waxes the hair follicles eventually die and that is what has happened with me. I have about 1/4 the facial hair I used to have and you can clearly see where the hair follicles are just dead because nothing grows there.

I did have hormonal imbalances but I have not noticed a difference in facial hair even taking progesterone cream. There was still a lot and it was still dark and course. So don't know if that would really help. You might also consider calcium/magnesium supplements daily for her PMS. I had horrible PMS and terrible cramps until I started taking that stuff daily (1500mg of cal./ 750mag. is what I took) and I NEVER had trouble again as long as I stayed on it daily.

In my mind, even if what she has would be considered "normal," if she's self conscious I would consider letting her do something about it. I guess for me, I just see that as one of those things we ladies do to keep ourselves looking nice. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I don't treat it as such a big deal. It's just a fact of life for those of us that are of the furry nature. Cheesy

patti

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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2008, 05:19:48 AM » by jhandrh

When I was diagnosed w/ polycystic ovary syndrome several years ago, the reproductive endocrinologist told me that any pubic hair that extends onto the thighs or up onto the stomach (in other words anything outside of the normal "triangle") is indicative of hormone imbalance consistent w/ pcos.
I was very irregular w/ cycles as a teen and I started developing ovarian cysts at age 17 at which time my mom sent me to a regular doc to see what we should do. The doc of course wanted me to go on bcp's to regulate my hormones and help w/ my acne which was awful at the time. But her main concern was that I had a boyfriend (now my husband) and no matter how much I told her we were not having s*x she thought I should be on the pill "just in case." So I would say definitely that is what they will tell your daughter and they will probably ask you to leave the room thinking that kids may not be honest about s*x in front of mom. And all that happy hoopla so I would agree that a regular doc may not be the best choice. And just because your daughter is "busty" I don't think that rules out pcod or pcos--I have a good friend w/ pcos who wears a D cup.
I have not posted this on the celiac disease thread because I am still getting my diet worked out and waiting to see the extent of what symptoms are being helped; but it appears that some if not all of my hormone issues have come from gluten intolerance. I went through my whole life with stomach pain--i thought it was normal because I didn't know anything else--and all of my adult life with unexplained uterine bleeding between periods. But since going on a gluten free diet the stomach pain is gone and the uterine bleeding has stopped without medication. It has never done that before. I was considering an endometrial ablation or possibly eventually a hysterectomy but it is looking like this will not be necessary. Grin

(there needs to be a dancing happy smiley face for this; I am so so happy about it! Cheesy

)
It is well documented that gluten intolerance can lead to infertility but many docs never put that together because the digestive and reproductive systems at first glance don't seem to be related. My endocrinologist initially told me he thought the gluten intolerance was worth checking into but a separate issue from the pcos...now that I have seen huge improvement on the gluten free diet he is changing his tune. Gluten free is a little bit of an inconvenience--well, okay, a lot of an inconvenience since I react to even trace amounts of gluten in things--but definitely has been worth it for me and it is something that wouldn't hurt anything to try.
Just my 2 cents...hth.

Quote from: bmom on November 03, 2008, 05:41:08 PM

She also has course, darker hair on her thighs and her bikini line – (thankfully, she doesn’t wear bikinis, and wears shorts over her one-piece, so this is not an issue) – her courser pubic hair comes down onto her thighs a couple inches.

Again, I pray no darker-haired women are feeling judgment from me – I realize some of this is perfectly normal. My problem is, as a blonde-haired woman, I’m not sure “what” is normal and “what” may be an indication of a hormonal imbalance or possible thyroid issue. How much facial hair at 17 is normal?

I hesitate to take her to a regular, allopathic doctor. Although I’d appreciate their blood tests, I would not like to fend off their potential treatment, (plus the potential awkward questions they would desire to ask my daughter regarding sexuality, birth control, etc.). I’m sure they would immediately recommend low dose birth control pills when the heavy periods were mentioned, something I’d never do. .

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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #6 on: November 05, 2008, 02:05:28 PM » by hedy

If she has PCOS, she will also be insulin resistant. I would do some research on both and see if she has any of the other symptoms. I have PCOS and have struggled with these symptoms:

difficulty losing weight, even if it's a small amount
irregular cycles
PMS
foggy-headedness
too much peach fuzz Tongue

unstable blood sugar
infertility
difficulty waking up in the morning
thinner hair (on my head)

For the record, I am plenty busty.

I have been able to control much of this (even erase some) by changing my diet and adding a insulin-reducing medication prescribed by a rep endo. I tried herb after herb, as well as progesterone cream to no avail. If she has PCOS, diet will be the main key; cutting back carbohydrates as much as you can. (I do drink a lot of rasp tea; it can't hurt!) Medication should be a last resort, but I have to mention it because it helped me so much; I would not recommend bcp's.

I strongly suggest having her learn how to record her basal temps. You can learn a lot from this information. My basal temps were very low until I addressed the insulin problem. They also showed that I ovulated late; another sign of PCOS.

You can have PCOS without many symptoms at all. If you want a positve diagnosis, a trans-vaginal ultrasound will do it. I really really wish I would've gotten my PCOS diagnosed when I was your daughter's age. I think the sooner you can start addressing it the better.

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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2008, 04:59:07 PM » by jhandrh

For the record, Cheesy

before I tried a gluten free diet I cut out wheat (not all gluten) and any processed sugars from my diet and it had NO effect on my pcos symptoms. I also tried metformin (medication to control blood sugar) and felt absolutely awful on it. It did control the uterine bleeding but I felt worse on the metformin than I did from bleeding all the time. The reproductive endocrinologist told me that for thin women w/ pcos, his opinion was that diet was not effective as it would be for someone heavy.
But I would second what Hedy said about getting diagnosed early...if I had known as a teen I would have been a lot better off. I was not diagnosed till I was 25.

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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2008, 08:35:19 AM » by healthybratt

Possible contributors to hormone imbalance:

SLS
Soy
Meat (fed soy or injected with hormones)
Dairy (from animals fed soy or injected with hormones)
Plastic dishes and storage containers

Here are the links throughout the forum, that you might look at first.

Estrogen Dominance & Other Hormone Imbances: Causes & Cures
Xenoestrogens interfere with your normal hormones...
Soy Bad, Soy Good: The Pluses of Fermented Soy
Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLS)
GROWTH HORMONES & ANTIBIOTICS IN MEAT
Finding [Buying] Range Fed, Antibiotic & Hormone Free, Organic Meats
Milk [Dairy]: Hormones [rBGH], Antibiotics, Homogenization & Pasteurization
Risks/Dangers of Using Plastics to Store/Cook Foods and Beverages
Progesterone Cream: How, Why & When to Use
Wild Yam Root and hormones?
Homemade wild Yam Cream
What kind of progesterone supplement should I take?
Excess Facial Hair on Women: Causes, Reduction & Removal
Irregular/Difficult Menstrual Cycles & PMS: Cramps, Bloating/Water Gain, Nausea, Etc.
Sanitary Products: Cloth vs Disposable

« Last Edit: November 07, 2008, 08:37:44 AM by healthybratt »
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Re: Teen daughter experiencing some hormone imbalance issues
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2009, 03:33:25 AM » by christinalewis

Hi,
Why don't you consult a Chiropractor? They are the right people who would detect what exactly is causing those symptoms in your daughter's body. If I can suggest, I would definitely suggest Dr. Maegan Davis of the Natural Body in Balance. She has an experience of 25 years in practicing Chiropractic and offers natural remedies to cure health problems that have no side effects. Her treatments are quite affordable and show quick positive results. Read here more about her http://www.naturalbodyinbalance.com/ or find her on Facebook and contact her immediately. Blessings to you and your daughter.

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