I'm 35 years old and for the past 3 to 4 years I have suffered from cystic acne on my chin area, hair thinning all over my head but more noticeable at the front centre part. Acne on my head too. I have been suffering from all these things since being on the contraceptive pill Ava 20 which contained Levongestral. I was on this pill for 2 years during which time I ran this pill together preventing periods. I stopped taking this pill 15 months ago after realising what it was doing to me, I'm currently not taking any hormonal contraceptive. After stopping it I had consistent 28 day cycle periods for 12 months following, however, the last 3 months my periods have stopped completely. The acne is terrible and my hair doesn't seem to be shedding but is definitely not thickening up. I am over weight at 130 kilos. I know my weight must be having an impact. I have seen a oriental medicine prac who has told me my hormone levels are low (even though the doc says they are fine because they sit in the normal ranges) the oriental prac say's I am exhibiting symptoms of PCOS without actually having PCOS. My thyroid test is'normal' at 2.0, my estradiol level is 156, my FSH is 1.6 (these bloods were taken 14 days after I missed my first period). I have started taking a herbal formula prescribed by the oriental medicine pract for my acne but I would really like to get to the underlying issue - but neither my doc or the oriental medicine prac seem to know what that is. Can anyone on here help? I am getting desperate, I'm so frustrated, it has taken me 3 years to work out what is happening and numrous doc visits only to be brushed off with 'oh its just hormonal', well yes but I need to fix it. I hope there are some answers for me out there. I live in Wellington NZ. thanks :-)
Hi there. I agree with your TCM practitioner, that from what you are saying, it sounds very much like PCOS or metabolic syndrome. The way your doctor looks at results is somewhat different from the way someone like myself would - where we are looking for imbalance, the Dr is generally only interested in clear signs of dysfunction or disease.
I am in Auckland and could support you by phone/Skype if you are unable to find someone in Wellington to work with.
Let me know if you want to discuss this further.
Kind regards
Sharon