Women Hair Loss Forums - To Alli: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin?

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To Alli: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? (Yasmin)

posted by eb, 21.12.2007, 17:02

ť My gyno wants to put me on it but w/ so many mixed reactions I'm naturally
ť scared. Since you seem to know a bit about it (and I'm so glad it's
ť working for you), I'm wondering if you think I'd be a good candidate too.
ť
ť
ť My story in a nutshell:
ť
ť 37 yrs. old
ť
ť never got my period naturally; was put on the pill at age 16 to induce it,
ť have been on it ever since (currently Sprintec, which is low- but not
ť no-androgen)
ť
ť all my tests come back well within the range of normal--hormones, thyroid
ť etc.--and always have
ť
ť started to notice VERY mild increased shed a couple of years ago--POSSIBLY
ť around the time I switched to Sprintec from Orthonovum, but it's so hard to
ť say; so much else was going on. At any rate I wasn't at all concerned until
ť the shed began in earnest 10 mos. ago
ť
ť What do you think?
ť THANKS SO MUCH!

Hey, I think we just talked about this the other day, and it's still your (very tough) call, but if you are going anti-androgen, go on Yaz first, not Diane, and only switch to Diane if Yaz doesn't work. Please, by all means try Yaz before Diane. I know one woman with acne and presumed AGA who did GREAT on it, and I think V is doing well on it, but a lot of other stories are a bit scary.

I might even try Desogen before Yaz/Yasmin.

Note: Yaz (20mcg) is lower E than Yasmin (30 or 35mcg), so if you can tolerate high E, go with Yasmin (better for your hair).

Alli's right, you really should find out why you never started having periods...but that likely involves getting off the pill for a cycle. Also, the problem of your NOT cycling makes it difficult to determine when your day 3 is. It could be nothing (programmed to start late), it could be PCOS, it could be another hormonal problem, and it could even be a rare pituitary defect (my best friend in middle school had this and got growth hormone injections, and only got her period at 17-18--lucky her! and she's now taller than me!) and it really sucks they didn't bother to figure out WHY before they stuck you on the pill for decades!

Ok, Sadie, about the low or high androgens, labs don't always reflect what goes on peripherally, and this is but one part of why AGA is so confusing and frustrating. Read some of Holly's posts on endocrinology at the periphery. I used to have the lowest androgens...T in the teens low 20s, and a free T that was barely measurable (but higher DHEAS). But if you looked at me, knowing what you do now, you'd see I belong in a dermatology textbook because of my sh*tty skin (Crisco oily, acne, cystic boils) and thinning hair. I mean, if I don't wash my face every hour it glistens. I went YEARS wondering why this was the case and only when I started losing my damn hair did I search for the cause.

I've had visible androgen sensitivity since I was about 10 and got my period and it has just gotten worse and worse, but generally my labs do not reflect high (or even normal) androgens. Just low. (I'm discounting my post-spiro labs hoping they will normalize because those showed PCOS numbers for some reason. And, despite my low androgens, spiro cleared my skin up nicely and with the aid of Rogaine, slowed my shed. 100% CONFIRMING my androgen sensitivity, not that you couldn't tell by lookig at me.)

Basically, if you suspect AGA and see high androgens on labs, that all but confirms it. But if you suspect AGA and see normal or even low androgens on labs, that doesn't rule out AGA. Labs just tell you part of the story.

Clear as mud, right?

Sadie, one more thing, did you get your thyroid antibodies sorted out? I wouldn't bank on it as the cause of your HL, but it might be a contributory factor.

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Complete thread:

To Alli: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - peridot, 13.12.2007, 11:57
- To Alli: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - Sadie, 13.12.2007, 18:01
  - To Alli/Sadie: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - peridot, 14.12.2007, 11:24
    - To Alli/Sadie: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - alli, 21.12.2007, 10:20
      - To Alli/Sadie: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - peridot, 27.12.2007, 10:43
      - p.s. To Alli - peridot, 27.12.2007, 10:54
    - To Alli/Sadie: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - Sadie, 21.12.2007, 11:37
      - To Alli/Sadie: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - peridot, 27.12.2007, 10:58
- To Alli: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - eb, 21.12.2007, 17:02
  - To Alli: what defines a good candidate for Yaz/Yasmin? - Sadie, 21.12.2007, 17:22
  - To eb - peridot, 27.12.2007, 10:53
    - To eb - Holly, 27.12.2007, 11:19
      - To Holly - Sadie, 27.12.2007, 14:51
        To Holly - Holly, 27.12.2007, 15:34
        To Holly - Sadie, 27.12.2007, 16:15
      - To eb/Holly/Sadie... - peridot, 28.12.2007, 09:47
    - To eb - eb, 30.12.2007, 14:21
      - To eb - peridot, 30.12.2007, 15:10
        To eb - eb, 07.01.2008, 15:39
        To eb - peridot, 07.01.2008, 17:34
        To eb - eb, 07.01.2008, 18:09
        To eb - peridot, 08.01.2008, 14:40
        To eb: Decision '08! (also posted on AGA board) - peridot, 08.01.2008, 18:32
        To eb: Decision '08! (also posted on AGA board) - tc, 08.01.2008, 22:15
        To tc/eb: Decision '08! (also posted on AGA board) - peridot, 09.01.2008, 10:52
        To tc/eb: Decision '08! (also posted on AGA board) - tc, 09.01.2008, 14:00
        To tc/eb: Decision '08! (also posted on AGA board) - peridot, 09.01.2008, 19:13
        To peridot: Decision '08! (also posted on AGA board) - tc, 10.01.2008, 09:08
        To peridot: Decision '08! (also posted on AGA board) - delilah, 10.01.2008, 11:24
        To Delilah - tc, 10.01.2008, 21:04
        To Delilah - delilah, 11.01.2008, 07:06