high levels of testosterone and cortisol

[anetapahang]

hi I just wanted to share my hairloss story and to see if some of you had the same problem.My hairloss started few months ago .One day I just realise that my hair has really thinned outh for the past 4 months.My initial reaction was to go see my GP but the blood work they ran was absolutely normal.I was not convinced that everything was normal since my hair was not stopping shedding.Then I decided to go to an endo and after we ran a more complex hormonal blood work he said that I am actually having some hormonal disbalance-higher level of free testosterone, DHAs higher than normal , my cortisole was high and he said that my thyroid was a little bit off although T4 and T3 was in range, something else was higher.Anyway he put me on Spiro 25 mg for a month and then for the next month twice 25 a day.My hair is still shedding but i have to go for a new bloodwork next month.I just wanted to say that this whole hailoss experience really crushed me and made me feel lonely ,kind of lost myself .But as the days go by I am trying my best to accept and live my life the way I always did.I really hope we can give each other support in that journrey and help one another with advice and info.

[Dharma2]

Hi I've never posted here before but thought it might be helpful to someone so I'll share my experience with hair loss. First of all I want to say that I believe I have corrected the hormonal imbalance that had caused my hair to start falling out last February 2008. I was 40 years old when my hair loss began. I always have had a full head of long dark hair so it wasn't hard to tell I was loosing hair rapidly. Then one morning I noticed I could see my scalp on the front and back, that's when I went to see a derm who specializes in hair loss. She initially told me it was stress. I still had a lot of hair so I don't think she believed it was a big deal. I also had burning scalp and she said it was definitely stress related. (Dr. Redmond says burning scalp is always low estrogen.) Anyway by May I had lost so much hair I became very self-conscious and sad. I went back to the derm and this time she couldn't deny I had a problem. She said it was female pattern hair loss or alopecia and gave me 100mg of Spiro daily. I start the spiro and omg my hair loss went through the roof for about 3 months. My part was widening and my hair looked terrible. I really thought I was going to end up bald. But around the end of July, 3rd month on spiro, I noticed my burning scalp stopped and the hair loss slowed down considerably. At the same time I read Dr. Redmonds book and believed I needed estrogen too so I went to my GP and ask for her to up my Spiro to 200mg/day and add Yasmin to my daily treatment. I hadn't been on a birth control for 20 years. Well I am happy to share that the treatment seems to be working. I hardly loose any hair throughout the day anymore and I use to see and feel it falling all day long. I wash my hair everyday with Nizoral and I loose a little, maybe 10 or 20 hairs in the shower. I think that's just normal hair loss. I also don't know how it happened so fast but I can see that my part is filling in and my hair feels alot fuller. The best part is since starting the Yasmin, the texture of my hair has gone back to normal. Straight, not kinky like it was when it was falling out and burning the scalp. I don't think I found a cure but I think that Dr. Redmond is right about the treatment for some types of hair loss. I believe my problem was sensitivity to testostrone, which is actually reading low and a sensitivity to low estrogen. Probably both started as a result of perimenopause. The spiro, nizoral & Yasmin combo is working right now and I wanted to share this story because for some the spiro alone will not be enough. I really need the nizoral shampoo too. I live in Canada so I use 2% but Dr. Redmond says that T-gel works well too. Oh and I actually cut the spiro back to 150mg /day because the 200mg was a bit much for me. I will up it to 200mg if I need to but right now taking 100mg Spiro in the morning with yasmin and 50mg spiro at night seems to be working, my hair feels normal again. I don't think about it all day long and I hardly ever use toppik anymore. I hope this information helps. If anything changes I will let you know. I do recommend anyone with this problem to read Dr. Redmond's book. It is very empowering. I even took it to my doctors appt. and she was very impressed with Dr. Redmond's knowledge on hormones and willing to work with me because I had done the research. Wishing you all the best on this journey. Tina

[lostalot2]

Dharma2 thanks for sharing your story. Can I ask how long you have been on the yasmin? I am also having perimenopausal hair loss and my endo has put me on yaz which is low dose estrogen. She wanted to start on the lowest dosage since I am over 40. I am worried it may not be enough estrogen to help and she does not want to prescribe spiro because I already have low BP. Just wondering how long it took to see changes after starting the yasmin.

[Dharma2]

Hi Lostalot2,
I wish I had of tried birth control before I went on spiro because I would have liked to know if it would have been enough to stop the hair loss. Also I may not have had to go through the very scary 3 months of dreaded shed with the spiro. So you might be lucky and not need to take the spiro. With that said, I have only been on yasmin for under 2 months but the results were very quick. Within 2 weeks I notice my hair loss stopped almost completely. It had already slowed down a lot from the spiro though. Then the biggest change I noticed was the texture went from dry, kinky hair back to soft, manageable hair. I am also taking Yasmin non-stop so that my estrogen does not fluctuate monthly. I will take yasmin for 3 months and then stop for 7 days. So only 4 cycles a year as per Dr. Redmond's book.
I also have quite low blood pressure, always have, but I don't think the spiro is affecting that much. Dr. Redmond says that as a blood pressure medication spiro is pretty weak so it is seldom prescribed for that reason. I was concerned about that at first too because I thought that I would feel really tired and weak all the time. At first I did notice that I was more tired but as long as I drink lots of water I am ok. I actually feel better physically and emotionally than I have in years. My moods are very consistent too. For the past 3 or 4 years I’ve had really bad mood swings for about 2 or 3 weeks, yes weeks, a month and one doctor I went to wanted to put me on anti-depressants but I didn't think that was a solution. Dr. Redmond says that spiro is actually one of the best PMS treatments. I actually notice that since being on Yasmin I am really even tempered. Not like being on anti-depressants, I still have all my feelings they are just not as extreme. I have not had any negative side effects from either spiro or yasmin but I realize it is still early in my treatment so that may change but I’m thinking positive and hoping for the best.
This hair loss problem hit me like a tone of bricks. I was totally shocked by it and even more shocked at how quickly it progressed. I think being pretty aggressive with a treatment plan helps a lot. If you don’t feel like your doctor is doing all that can be done it might be a good idea to get a second opinion. I actually went to 2 specialist and 3 GP’s before I had a successful treatment plan in place. In the end, it was my own research, largely in part to forms like this one that helped me in my treatment. I read many post and looked for common experiences and then I read Dr. Redmond’s book and everything just made since. I hope some of this is helpful. I know I would not have been where I am now if not for people posting results. I hope the Yaz works for you. It has 20mg and Yasmin has 30mg of estrogen. I don’t know how safe it is to be on BC after 40 but I am willing to risk it to have a quality of life that I don’t think I could have without hair. :>

[lostalot2]

dharma2 thanks for the detailed post. I have been dealing with the hairloss for quite awhile. When I was young, I would go through sheds where my hair seemed thinner and then it would recover and come back. I've always had fine, thin hair and have always been self conscious about it. It wasn't till early in my forties (I am 46 now) that I realized the my shedding was continuously on the high side (100 hairs a day or more) and I wasn't recovering like I used to. After researching and reading Dr. Redmond's book, I do believe my hair is due to hormonal fluctuations, especially a declining estrogen level.

At first I found an endo who would work with me using bio-identical hormones because I was fearful of using synthetic BCP which I hadn't used in over 20 years. I also read so many stories about how the BCP caused hair loss to start or made it worse for people. I started on the bios, tried them for 6 months with no success. My endo kept suggesting yaz and I finally gave in. I have been on it for only 2 weeks (I plan on taking continuous dosage also) and don't see any real changes yet. I am committed to giving it at least 9 months and if I don't see any improvement, seeing if I can switch to yasmin and maybe add some dosage of spiro. I have also been trying to get my ferritin level up as it is in the 30's and I am trying to attack this from all angles. At the very least I hope the yaz helps my PMS/moods like it has helped you. I also have suffered from 3 weeks of pms and wild mood swings for years now. My poor hubby! We would both be overjoyed if I could get some relief from the pill. My endo thinks it should help my moods alot but so far, I still feel the same.:(

I hope to hear about your continued success and like you, I will definitely post if I find success!

[Dharma2]

I wrote a while back about having some success with Yasmin BCP until I stopped for a few days and had a major shed. To update, the Yasmin did seem to be working very well or at least not enough that I felt satisfied with the results so I switched to Diane 35. It's only been 6 weeks of continuous use but my hair loss has slowed down to almost nothing and my hair seems fuller too. I am taking 200mg spirolactone, Diane 35 continuously, and Nizoral 2% shampoo daily. Diane 35 is kind of my last resort so I'm really hoping for continued positive results. I have yet to find any woman who has not had success with this BCP and hair loss. I know it is not suppose to be good for you but I also know it has been around since the 70's and lots of women have taken it long term. I originally had some side effects that I didn't like but they are subsiding. I'll post back again in a few months to update any progress.