what is causing my 23 year old daughter face hair.

[MrsVain]

I am not sure if i am on the right site or forum, but i need some help. my 23 year old daughter has to shave her face almost everyday, and her hair is falling out rapidly. i worry about her life and happiness even thou to me she will always be beautiful. is there anything we can do, or who does she need to see, is it her hormones, thyroid, what? 2 years ago, we saw a doctor about her 3week to 3mth long periods and was told her that her eggs were turning to cysts on her overies and they were so bad that she will never have children, but the doctor never told us what we should do or how to fix it? now her face hair is out of control and she is going bald.  can anyone just point us in the right direction.

[John H. Kim, M.D.]

It is possible that your daughter has Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome:
This is from my website: www.integrativefertilitymd.com/services.php#Reproductive
PCOS can affect 5% of all women and common symptoms include irregular menstrual cycles, increased growth of hair on the body, loss of hair on the head, acne, and weight gain. Based on the 2003 ESHRE/ASRM sponsored Consensus Workshop Group, PCOS is diagnosed in women who meet two of the three following criteria: ovarian dysfunction (not ovulating regularly), hyperandrogenism (increased male type hormones on lab testing or clinically increased hair growth), or polycystic ovaries on ultrasound (ovaries which show multiple small cysts on ultrasound). PCOS is a common cause of infertility and puts women at an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. There is also increased risk of insulin resistance, hypertension, and abnormalities of cholesterol and triglycerides in women with PCOS. Due to these risks, we advise our patients with PCOS to have the complete metabolic assessment with complete lipid panel testing and a two hour glucose tolerance test.

Your daughter should have a complete hormone work up including total testosterone, DHEAS and 17-OH progesterone and also be tested for prediabetes or diabetes. She should have an examination and pelvic ultrasound.  She can be treated with birth control pills to regulate her period and to decrease the production of hair.  The best birth control pill would be Yasmin which contains a progestin called DSP which will decrease production of testosterone.  Although, Yasmin can help decrease future hair production, the current hair can only be removed by electrolysis or plucking or removal.  I suggest that she a specialist called a Reproductive Endocrinologist because given her hair loss she may have a severe form of PCOS or some other androgen secreting disorder. And not to alarm you but even a androgen secreting ovarian tumour.  So I suggest seeing a specialist.

[MrsVain]

Thank you for your response and information. I really needed to know where to start. Yes she does  have Polycystic ovarian syndrome and has been on Yasmin and had an ultrasound. But i dont know what to do from there. after the ultrasound, all the doctor mentioned was that she couldnt have any children because she has too many cyst on her ovaries. But never mentioned a follow up or where we go from there. Her hair loss is drastically falling out and her facial hair has drastically gotten worse in the last year.

I will start looking immediately for specialists in this area. However, what is the next step if the birth control pills dont work.

I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions, i realize you are very busy.