Yes, I know everything comes back
I am skinny but was diagnosed borderline pcos. May have adrenal problems... what are the symptos?
Do you think some diet could be enough to solve the problem? I have quit smoking, coffee (still drink some), change my diet, but I did not see real improvments...
My plan was to try having some regrowths with CA, then lower it slowly and try to keep the regrowths... but I know, almost no women ever managed to keep the hair she had gained with CA... But I am different and clever so I will figure it out ! LOLOLOL
I live in Paris
Thought you lived here too. Good luck on your studies mademoiselle.
Here is a super interesting article :
Hypersensitivity to a normal amount of androgen
A slightly more perplexing cause of excess androgens is an apparent
hypersensitivity of the androgen receptor. This is the diagnosis when there are high androgen symptoms but
normal levels of androgens on a blood test. When hair loss is the main symptom, androgen hypersensitivity is called androgenic (or androgenetic) alopecia.
Androgen hypersensitivity is said to be genetic, but that explanation is not very satisfactory because previous generations of young women did not suffer as much hair loss as we see today.
There are other explanations:
- Birth control (progestins) with a high-androgen index (discussed above).
- Inflammation at the androgen receptor, as explored in this 2011 research.
- Elevated prolactin which up-regulates the 5-alpha reductase enzyme (causing more activation of testosterone to DHT).
Treatment of birth control induced androgenic alopecia is to avoid birth control with a high-androgen index.
Treatment of inflammation hypersensitivity of the androgen receptor is to reduce chronic inflammation by 1) Not smoking, 2) Avoiding inflammatory foods such as sugar, wheat, and
dairy products, 3) Eating anti-inflammatory vegetables (phytonutrients
improve female hair loss), 4) Reestablishing healthy intestinal bacteria, 5) Supplementing with the
anti-inflammatory mineral zinc, and 6) Optimising progesterone, because
progesterone has a natural anti-androgen effect.
Treatment of prolactin-induced DHT excess is the
herbal medicine Vitex.
Adrenal androgen excess
Your adrenal glands make about 50 percent of your total androgens. You can estimate how much androgen is coming from your adrenal glands by measuring a hormone called dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) on a blood test. If only DHEA-S is elevated, but testosterone and androstenedione are normal, then you have predominantly adrenal androgen excess. If you have DHEA-S, testosterone, and androstenedione are all elevated, then you have ovarian androgen excess (discussed below).
One cause of adrenal androgen excess is a relatively common genetic condition called non-classic (or late-onset) congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCAH), which is diagnosed by a blood test for a hormone called 17-OH-progesterone.
Another cause of adrenal androgen excess is
elevated prolactin.
Treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia is low dose hydrocortisone to down-regulate adrenal androgen production. Interestingly, low-dose hydrocortisone was also
historically used to treat PCOS and is still used by some doctors today.
Adrenal androgen excess is also the key feature in about
20 percent of women diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Predominantly adrenal-androgen PCOS is quite a
different condition from ovarian-androgen PCOS (see below), in that it is
not driven by insulin resistance or underlying conditions that impair ovulation. It is driven by factors that affect the adrenal glands, such as stress. I truly hope that PCOS’s upcoming
name change will distinguish between adrenal-androgen PCOS and ovarian-androgen PCOS, and therefore save us all a lot of confusion.
Proposed causes of adrenal-androgen PCOS include genetics and
stress around the time of puberty. I strongly suspect that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) also play a role, but
that research is still in its infancy.
Treatment of adrenal-androgen PCOS is to normalize adrenal function. This is probably the type of PCOS that responded to the low-dose
cortisone historically prescribed for PCOS. Adrenal-androgen PCOS also responds to stress-reduction, and to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) regulating supplements such as
magnesium, phosphatidylserine, and
Rhodiola. Adrenal-androgen PCOS may also require
androgen blocking supplements such as diindolylmethane (DIM). For a full discussion of adrenal-androgen PCOS, please see Fiona McCulloch’s post:
Treating adrenal androgen excess.
Treatment of adrenal androgen excess caused by elevated prolactin is with the herbal medicine
Vitex.
Ovarian androgen excess
Now we come to a condition that is synonymous with androgen excess in women: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The key defining feature of PCOS is ovulatory dysfunction, and the over-production of testosterone and androstenedione
by the ovaries.
PCOS is not an ovarian disease
per se. The ovulatory dysfunction is an expression or symptom of a larger set of underlying hormonal and metabolic problems such as insulin resistance and inflammation.
But don’t ovarian cysts cause PCOS?
Polycystic ovarian syndrome got its name from the way ovaries look on ultrasound. You would be forgiven then for thinking the small multiple follicles cause the condition, but they don’t. They are simply an
indicator that ovulation did not occur that month. Any woman can have polycystic ovaries
on occasion, including a woman on the pill, and a woman with perfectly normal hormones. Don’t be misdiagnosed by an ultrasound. See the
Surprising Truth About PCOS.
Is PCOS genetic?
Yes, genes play a role in PCOS, as does exposure to androgens or environmental toxins in utero. That is a depressing thought because it might mean you were born with the condition. It doesn’t work like that. A genetic tendency does not mean you will always suffer the symptoms. You can modify your genetic expression with diet, lifestyle, and other natural treatments.
Treatment of ovarian-androgen PCOS is to correct the underlying
insulin resistance (or other metabolic problem) and thereby reestablish regular ovulation. That usually means quitting
sugar, and using insulin-sensitising supplements such as myo-inositol,
magnesium, and berberine. Exercise and the diabetic drug metformin are also helpful. Non-insulin-resistant types of PCOS can benefit from the androgen-reducing herbal formula
Peony & Licorice.
Source
http://www.larabriden.com/causes-androgen-excess-in-women/
To diagnose these stuff, we need to do our hormone panels without interference from CA, spironolactone, Duta, 17-b-estradiol and all that.
I'm not taking all natural stuff like a bible, I know that there are many many bogus supplements and fake doctors and homeopathy is sh*t. What I like with Lara Briden is that she adds valuable sources to her assumptions. Ofc not every study on pubmed is trustworthy neither; but it's at least worth taking into consideration. I don't know if diet can solve everything but it sure as f*** helps, because some hormones are produced by adipose tissue, and the kind of adipose tissue we have is influenced by what we eat.
I have somewhere a list of studies I posted on an women's hormonal health fb group. I'll try to find it, maybe you can find useful stuff for you
Et merci beaucoup :*
