laser vs spironolactone...opinions please

Hair Removal Methods Laser hair removal
#1

i am very hairy and literally have hair all over my body (except soles and palms) its somewhat fine in a lot of areas but still noticeable and bothersome
Its has and is greatly affected my life and i dont know what to do about it
for laser i would need the ND:YAG and i read somewhere its not advised to treat large areas of the body with it
i also talked to my endocrinologist and she agreed to put me on spironolactone but i already take other harsh medications full of side effects and am worried about adding another one.

Not sure what would be the best course of action

#2

ND:YAG can be used on large areas; there are no safety issues with size of area treated by lasers. Professionals will agree here that taking hormonal medications for long term hair control is not practical, expensive and carries risks of side effects that outdo the benefits of being hair free. Find an experienced laser practitioner and consider electrolysis route too as an option out there.

#3

@herebyfault are you transgendered or a genetic female with PCOS or other hormonal imbalance? If not, Spironolactone isnt going to give you the desired effects.

Spiro is at it’s core two things:
a) a powerful antiandrogen which has the effect of reducing serum testosterone levels, which in a 100 mg dose twice daily is sufficient to drop a genetic males testosterone level to near zero. NOTE! your body cannot maintain itself without SOME sex hormones. So if you are male, and you arent on estrogen as well, long term spironolactone use is a VERY bad idea.In particular you will notice an extreme drop in energy which testosterone provides.

b) a blood pressure medication that lowers your blood pressure considerably. It does this largely by reducing the amount of water in your system, and makes you pee a fair bit. When I was on it, I ALWAYS knew where the nearest bathroom was.

Here’s how this affects hair growth, by reducing the serum testosterone level you reduce the incidence of new hair growth that accompanies testosterone in your system. But , and I need to stress this, IT DOES NOT AFFECT HAIR THAT IS ALREADY GROWING.

The primary side effect comes from the reduced blood pressure, you can get dizzy when standing up suddenly for example.

If you are taking Spironolactone to reduce the incidence of new hair it works very well. Over time , while it wont remove any hair it will thin body hair on the arms and legs. On the face or genital region it has no effect.
On the off chance you ARE transgendered or a genetic female with a hormonal imbalance, you need to know that if you stop taking spironolactone your testosterone levels will go back to normal, and hair stimulation will result.Generally if you are on Spiro you are on it for life.
An alternative to spironolactone is cyproterone. It has an even stronger antiandrogen effect, but not the blood pressure side effect.

As for laser, as fenix has stated large areas shouldnt be an issue, but note that on various parts of the body the results will vary, and often people get patchy results. The arms for example have some areas that are denser than others, and it’s difficult to have laser and have it come out looking natural.

Generally an endocrinologist wont prescribe spironolactone unless you are TG or, have elevated testosterone levels .This is because alll it does, is reduce testosterone levels, if they arent already high, you would be taking on possible side effects with nothing to be gained.

I Did have laser while on Spiro. My results unfortunately werent very good.

Seana

#4

hello Seana, thank you very much for the very informative answer.
I am naturally female with a chistic ovary and testosterone is normal i think but i have about 5 times than normal higher prolactine ( wich anihilates testosterone and progesterone as much as i know) due to medication. However hirsutism has been a life long problem. Doctors did not say PCOS so im not sure if its the culprit.
If you say spiro is not the antswer i will have to go with that. Im just not very keen on laser since im not shure how i will afford it and if it will be possible all over since one practitioner told me it wont remove hair since its to fine. I wont it done only on my torso (where her ranges to barely noticeable to corse) since it bothers me the most there, ill just razor my arms and legs and will tell people to deal with it since ive seen other people with same amount of arms and legs :stuck_out_tongue:
Face i guess ill just pluck and bleach (all of it)
Guess ill have to go with laser

why where your results on spiro not so good?

#5

Spiro results were fine, laser results were less than satisfactory.
Please Dont pluck. It will make things worse trust me on this. If it’s bothering you is electrolysis on the face an option?Electrolysis ALWAYS works.

The practitioner who told you laser doesnt work on fine hair is 100% correct. Laser works best on thick and dense hair but not so well on fine or sparse hair.

PCOS is poly -cystic ovarian syndrome. Sounds close to what you said? If other drugs you are on drop your testosterone level then it wont do much.

I’m a transgirl, and for me the spiro reduced the thickness of body hair to female levels. From there I shave it.For the face though I have electrolysis there.If you have close up- pictures of your affected areas on the face I might be able to advise you further on strategy.For me electrolysis worked far better than laser.
I should note that PCOS is what you have, you should look at your diet. Usually large gains can be had by just eating healthier.

Seana

#6

why do you thing laser did not work for you?

regarding the PCOS (yes polychistic ovary syndrome) im not shure i have it, doctors did not mention it.
At the moment i dont have a decent camera so no face hair pic but i have been plucking for years and it did not seam to aggravate it. Also electrolysis is not an option in my city.
What freaks me out is that in the last 2 years i have grown male type hair around my aoreolas and one strand of coarse hair one my chin (which was hairless a while ago) and one on my belly and im only 27 and 3 years into the medication i was talking about earlyer.
also dont know what to do now, cause i asked the doctor for spironolactione and she gave me but my testosterone levels are within normal limits so am i batter off not taking it?
Im defenetly looking into healthy eating anyway , thank you for the advice. :slight_smile:

#7

I’m not going to second guess a doctor who examined you. But all it does is drop testosterone. “Normal” tends to be a pretty broad range, and the doctor had some reason for prescribing it.

Seana

#8

but aren’t there other hormonal shifts that can cause hair growth, not just raised testosterone?

i think “normal” tends to be a broad range and also a somewhat uncertain range; some doctors disagree…

i think the spiro could help. that said, again it does not change existing follicles

#9

It is quite common even for women to have hair around the areola and tummy. Though I’m not at all sure what it means for you, having only noticed the hair there in the last two years after taking Spironolactone for three years.

I would recommend asking your doctor about whether or not you have PCOS.

As to your question, if you only have one sizeable hair on your chin and tummy then laser isn’t the way to go.
If the areas were thick and dense it would make more sense, but not to pay that kind of money to remove one or even several hairs. You would also be at a higher risk for induced hair growth if you did treat the finer hairs with laser.

Until you are in a position to see an electrologist I would stick with bleaching (definitely not plucking).