Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: rosekay on January 08, 2014, 04:13:46 PM
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OK, no period since last May - brilliant. Hot flushes - not much fun. Waking up with sweat pouring in the night - definitely not fun, never experienced anything like it before. And now - I have noticed black hairs above the edges of my lips - I'm growing a moustache for goodness sake! What is all that about?? What do I do? They are quite fine, but definitely there and I am mortified. I am 52. :o Help, anyone!!?
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Estrogen dropping, testosterone getting a foothold= black hairs, its no fun.
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Get the tweezers out. You are not alone in this. CLKD has had a topic going called my chin and lots of us are in the same boat.
What I want to know is how to they manage to grow so quickly and why are some of them spiky ;D
Oh the joys of getting older.
Honeyb
x
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honeybun - I think they go spiky once they've been plucked ie they start out fine and then that's it, forever plucking!! Unfortunately I don't see mine due to increasingly poor eyesight as I age so have to keep remembering to look in my magnifying mirror in a good light to make sure there isn't one sprouting! Luckily I only have one or two and they grwo slowly otherwise this could be embarrassing!!!
silverlady our testosterone levels drop with age so the increase in facial hair appears to run counter to that which is puzzling. I've tried to find out about it because I don't understand why this is. I've found an article on hirsutism which explains a little more about hair growth and androgens but doesn;t really answer the question. It seems a lot more complex than meets the eye.
http://www.womenshealthnetwork.com/womenshealth/facialhair.aspx
Hurdity x
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This is interesting
http://edjanse.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Prepare-Spearmint-Tea
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Good grief, this is so unfair!! What is the best way to get rid of them, do you think? I don't want to shave and get stubbly! All advice very welcome!
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HRT to balance your hormones?
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Hi Rosekay - it's always a shock when it first happens but you will get used to doing your top lip and eventually your chin as part of your daily routine. Well the chin each day but maybe not the moustache. There are various ways such as waxing or laser treatment - some women bleach theirs. Some women also get nipple hair (I wonder how I know that? ;D) and these have to be tweezered out - after a bath or shower is best.
There is an explanation here as to why it happens http://voices.yahoo.com/perimenopause-unwanted-facial-hair-causes-it-6316480.html
HRT made my chin hair worse.
Taz x
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Forever thankful I'm fair, though I do get the odd wiry one poking through. My mum got electrolysis on hers, cost her a fortune & she was still as hairy afterwards.
My daughter has been told she can attack mine when I get older as she used to hate kissing her hairy grannies. ;)
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I'm very fair too CG!
I was listening in to some young guys in the pub last week. One said to the other "You know what I discovered? My mum has only gone into HairyFaceMode!! It's so f***ing embarrassing!"
Taz x :)
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We should all start drinking spearmint tea there is some research on it, have a look at google scholar
http://www.drbriffa.com/2007/02/21/spearmint-and-cutting-carbs-may-help-hairy-women/
I have some in the cupboard.
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That's interesting silverlady - especially as it may also help PCOS women. Thank you.
What I can't understand is why I suffer from chin hair etc. and also low libido and sexual response which seems to be caused by excess testosterone when the "treatment" for the sexual symptoms is said to be taking testosterone.
Taz x
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I started getting the yard broom bristles on my chin when I was still on the Pill.
If they are dark and your skin is light, laser treatment is the most effective (although it can be hurty)
Many of mine are white, so no luck there. They are so thick they do not seem to be able to get out of the holes and I get really sore spots and lumps. Sometimes, they start off as soft fine hair, then become suddenly stiff and bristley after about 2mm. :-\
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I have been wondering that for years Taz, though I have always suffered from unwanted hair, it can be genetic especially if you have a Mediterranean or Asian blood, and as I have an Italian inheritance I have always blamed that. Chinese women don't seem to have this problem.
My sister and one of her teenage daughters suffers too ( she was diagnosed with PCOs) and it is very upsetting.
Personally after doing research I think that that for some women and more so after menopause, that the hair cells become sensitised to the testosterone that we produce even in tiny amounts for the rest of our lives, the tiny amount of estrogen that the ovaries continue to produce is not enough to counter the testosterone.
It could also be that progesterone had a part too, we stop producing that at menopause and some women never produce enough, even during the years from the start of menstruation to menopause.
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Thank you,, ladies. And that article was very interesting, Taz2, thanks for that. So all I have to do is pluck up enough courage to - ummm- pluck!? I think I'm too much of a coward for that, don't even do eyebrows! Maybe a cream, then. I was worried that I'd do something which would make them grow more coarse etc. It was a heck of a shock! Really, what will happen next!? I'm not on any HRT - wouldn't that just start me off bleeding again? I really don't fancy that! Thank goodness for this site and all you lovely ladies! ;)
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Much easier then tweezing
epicareuk.co.uk
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Ohhh! Have you used it yourself? I've looked at the product and the reviews on there, which are good, but I'm a bit suspicious of reviews on product's own pages!
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Have used epicure for about five years or more, we have a thread somewhere.
You can get them on amazon, there will be reviews there , there are lots of different makes that do the same thing.
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how easy is it to use?I have been bleaching and plucking like the thread says "What next"
xx
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Here is how you use it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_MP513a0v8
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As I said earlier on - our testosterone levels decline with age and decreased testosterone is associated with fatigue and loss of libido amongst other things.
Therefore I would not want to be doing or taking anything that shows any sign (proven or otherwise) that it might reduce androgens in the body.
Here is a summary of the paper the spearmint tea info comes from - it only relates to hirsutism - and we are talking about menopausal hairiness which is different.
http://www.pcoforum.dk/print.php'type=F&thread=221
Mentha spicata Labiatae, known as spearmint and Mentha piperita Labiatae, known as peppermint can be used for various kinds of illnesses in herbal medicine and flavoring in industry. M. spicata Labiatae grows on the Anamas plateau of Yenithornarbademli town of Isparta, located in southwest part of Turkey. In this town, clinicians thought that consumption of tea steeped with M. spicata or M. piperita caused a diminished libido. Because antiandrogenic effects of spearmint and peppermint were found previously in rats, it was decided to observe the effect of this herbal tea on the androgen levels in hirsute women.Twenty-one female hirsute patients, 12 with polycystic ovary syndrome and 9 with idiopathic hirsutism were included to the study. They were took a cup of herbal tea which was steeped with M. spicata for 5 days twice a day in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycles. After treatment with spearmint teas, there was a significant decrease in free testosterone and increase in luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and estradiol. There were no significant decreases in total testosterone or dehydroepiandrostenedione sulphate levels. Spearmint can be an alternative to antiandrogenic treatment for mild hirsutism. Further studies are needed to test the reliability of these results and the availability of spearmint as a drug for hirsutism. Copyright 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
From what I've read (and including I think the link silverlady?) hirsutism is a different issue and not related to increase in stray hairs at menopause. If it is due to sensitisation to even the small amount of testosterone as you have read silverlady, then I would say put up with it and keep as much tesosterone as you can! Better to pluck and ..... ;D than be hairless but tired and be unenthusiastic for sex.
Well that's my view anyway!!!
Hurdity x :)
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So, I have my pretty pink Epicare (though my husband looked at it and said "You bought a spring?? I have loads of them in the garage you could have had!") Took a while to get the courage to use it, and more of a while to get the co ordination right to use it, but yep, it works! And not too painful at all, even for a wimp like me! Yay!
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I've had to use creme to remove upper lip hair since my mid-teens :'( ……. now I have upper hair and get the tweezers out every day - some hairs under my chin are now white and stiff, great feeling when they do get pulled ;) and I have to squeeze some black hairs from under the skin as they annoy me >:( …… it's those that break off when I use the tweezers that really make me angry …….
Might try one of those thingies ………..
However, spearmint T :sick02:
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;D rosekay that's a typical husband remark, had many of them. The epicure is a good investment, simple and effective.
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Go for it, CLKD! If I can do it, anyone can - I'm an awful coward! I was amazed it was so much less painful than I expected.