What can you do to fight unwanted hair growth?
Can low testosterone impede weight loss in men?
Get the answer to this and other questions – how do you fight unwanted hair growth with PCOS? And what’s the role of progesterone and estrogen i breast cancer? – in this week’s Q&A with the fertility specialist Dr. Fox:
What can I do to fight unwanted hair growth?
Other than following the keto diet, what can I do to fight hirsutism/unwanted hair growth? I’m looking at possible creams and possibly using Myo Inisitol if you think this will help and have any recommendations?
Heidi
Dr. Fox:
You need to be very strict with the diet. If you are insulin resistant or have PCOS, you should consider taking metformin and ovarian suppression with birth-control pills that will decrease testosterone production.
The other thought would be to use flutamide which is a potent anti-androgen. This will slow hair growth, reduce shaft diameter and diminish color in some patients. It will not get rid of hair altogether. One must get total control of the hormones before utilizing depilatory therapies such as laser or electrolysis.
Using all of these therapies you will have the maximum treatment available for hirsutism.
Good luck!!
Testosterone and weight loss?
Hi doc!
Can low testosterone impead weight loss in men?
Many thanks,
Roberto
Dr. Fox:
Great question Rob,
Answer is exactly the same as low estrogen in women. Increases in insulin resistance make weight loss and more importantly metabolic improvement much more difficult. Get the testosterone normalized.
Progesterone/estrogen and breast cancer
Dr. Fox, I’m confused…
For years I’ve been told progesterone is the “feel good hormone” and that taking more estrogen increases a woman’s chances for breast cancer.
I’m 44 years old and have been on LCHF for four months now. I’m still trying to figure out my body on this new journey. I’m experiencing heart racing and for the first time since my journey, last month no cycle and this month I’m on day 16.
I feel like I’m on a roller coaster ride sometimes. My mom past away of breast cancer when she was 38. Any advice would greatly be appreciated.
Claudia
Dr. Fox:
Briefly, due to the Whi study in 2003, there was a great void in hormone treatment when all of medicine abandoned hormone replacement.
A group of doctors with little hormonal experience or training entered this space. To be different from traditional approaches, these doctors began to promote progesterone as the “magic hormone.” If i take any menopausal woman and give progesterone, the symptoms of menopause will get some better and often dramatically better.
Unfortunately, the estrogen-deficiency problems and abnormalities in the metabolic system continue unabated. The only reason a woman makes progesterone is to prepare the uterus for an implantation (pregnancy).
Progesterone is a negative metabolic hormone, potentially worsening insulin resistance. This group has been very successful in convincing nearly everyone that progesterone is the answer to all ills. It especially bad for those who are premenopausal, because it dramatically lowers ovarian estrogen production, making things much worse than they were.
Over time progesterone has become more popular, but in my opinion it should be reserved only to balance estrogen in HRT for patients with a uterus. Hope this helps…