So sad.

I hate how I look and I hate having PCOS. I know I sound awful saying that as there are so many conditions and diseases out there that are worse but I don't feel like I have had a life.

I look in the mirror and hate myself. I feel like everyone is staring at me as I am quite pale with dark hair on my arms, legs, backs of legs, tummy and even my face. Add to this being fat and spotty and I just look like a monster. I feel like I am so unfeminine.

I am on a diet and am trying to lose weight (5 pounds off so far) but getting to a healthy weight might not help the hair at all. The doctors around here are terrible and make me feel like I am over reacting and yet I am 25 and have never had a boyfriend as I just can't bear the thought of someone touching me and being as disgusted as I am.

The hair and my weight are constantly on my mind and I just don't know what to do. :cry: I just worry that I will be like this forever and reach the end of my life with out ever living or falling in love. I would love to get married and have a family but how can I when I dare not even speak to a man in case he notices the hair or is just being pitying.

I try to keep covered up as much as possible and am terrified that my skirt will blow up and reveal all the hair on the back and tops of my legs. I even have hair on my hands - I am a hideous monster and feel utterly unlovable.

Don't be sad! It sounds like your self esteem is at rock bottom and you need to build it back up.

I have the same issue with hair everywhere, even on my nipples, hands and feet. The only thing I can suggest is finding a hair removal method you are comfortable with and sticking to it religiously. I shave most days as I can't bear to let the hair grow back to have it waxed. I'm saving up for laser hair removal on my face, otherwise I epilate or pluck the hairs out religiously. I get a fake tan before big social events when I know there will be lots of photos to make myself look less pale which does hide the hair shadows, I get a good haircut and make sure my makeup is nice.

I wear tights with dresses and skirts if I can't be arsed to shave my legs.

I've had two boyfriends (one is now a fiance) who have known about my hair issues and both have said that they had never noticed it until I pointed it out, my OH even loves sitting there with the tweezer and doing my chin (lol!!) and they don't see it as a big deal except when it gets me down. Have you tried internet dating? You need to work on your confidence and self esteem...there are courses you can go on to learn otherwise I would say FAKE IT!!!

Keep yer chin up xxx

aww hun, you sound really low atm, maybe going to the doctor to see about some counselling?
I know how you feel, i can cope with the hair on my legs and the little bit on my chest, its the full blown beard i cant cope with, it gets me down everyday! I have had this beard since i was about 15 (am now 22) and only just plucked up the courage to tell the doctor to which she said "sorry they have cut funding in this area for laser treatment" so basically no help at all, but i have been refered to counselling for self confidence issues which i think may help, so maybe you could give that a try?
xxxx big hugs hunni xxxx

I know exactly how you feel love.

The doctor was a complete and utter waste of time for me. Took me about 10 years to pluck up the courage to go, and what a waste of time that was. Hair removal isnt important enough for the nhs to fund - but my anti-depressants because of it are, apparently.

I used to be ocd with a pair of tweezers, to the point where I'd get the needle out and dig out ingrowing hairs and then tweezer them out. I get really bad hair on my chin, sideburns, jawline, neck and nipples. I also have dark hair round my navel and on my back at my shoulders - but I cant really see that, so I'm not sure how much that annoys me.

Waxing, although it would be better than shaving, can be a bugger because the hair needs to be a certain length to get it removed, so I understand the difficulty in that. I hate any hair on my body apart from my eyelashes and my head (my eyebrows are tattoo'd! lol!).

Laser is very pricey - I was paying £180 a month for jawline, nipple and sideburns. And, tbh, the jaggy hair I can feel is quite light - dont get me wrong, I have a tonne of dark thick hair, but the lighter brown ones werent getting picked up by the laser, so it wasnt working for me because the some of the hair on my face is light brown.

Can I suggest electrolysis for the hair on your face? I get my nipples and my face treated every week, or every other week. I go for 30mins at a time (15mins nipples, 15mins face) - mainly because it hurts too much to make me want to sit there for any longer. I did 45mins last week and it was agony.

But, its the only method that is truely permanent, and they remove each hair as they go, so its a massive improvement straight away, whereas laser you need to shave and I can see all the dark hair folicles still there which really disheartened me.

And price wise, my beauticians charge £20 for 15mins, £35 for half an hour, £45 for 45mins and £60 for an hour.

My beautician said she could clear all the hair on my face in 1hr 30mins. But I cant sit there for that long, so I'm doing it in stages!

I've been to get about 5 sittings now and theres a vast impovement on my nipple hair. My facial hair is certainly alot better, but theres still plenty to still come out. Its a definite work in progress, but I feel more comfortable knowing im dealing with it.

If anyone wants to chat about it, feel free to pm me

There is a cream available now that is used on the face and body to prevent hair re-growth. My doctor told me about it cos I was so worried about the odd hair appearing on my chin! However it is not available on the NHS, but, rather, on private prescription.

If it is safe enough for regular use on the face it is safe for the rest of the body. I would ask about it at your next GP appointment.

Depending on how much it costs, it could be money very well spent. Good luck with getting help,all of you xx

Please don't feel sad i was exactly the same as you until a research company put me in touch with thats life magazine i was mortified about my story being in a magazine but then i thought if it can help just one person ill be pleased, the story was about overcoming and learning to except my facial hair agmonst lots of other places also about falling in love and marrying my husband despite all of this.

I have tried laser treatment and for me it did not make a difference whatsoever but thanks to Claire i will now be looking into electrolysis and hope this helps, Im here if you need to talk through anything x x x

girlygirl1 said:

There is a cream available now that is used on the face and body to prevent hair re-growth. My doctor told me about it cos I was so worried about the odd hair appearing on my chin! However it is not available on the NHS, but, rather, on private prescription.

If it is safe enough for regular use on the face it is safe for the rest of the body. I would ask about it at your next GP appointment.

Depending on how much it costs, it could be money very well spent. Good luck with getting help,all of you xx

Click to expand...

Are you on about vaniqua cream? If so i have had this on nhs prescription however the doctor did make a point of telling me how expensive it was! for me it didn't make any difference but i do know of a few people that have noticed a difference x

shenzi said:

Are you on about vaniqua cream? If so i have had this on nhs prescription however the doctor did make a point of telling me how expensive it was! for me it didn't make any difference but i do know of a few people that have noticed a difference x

Click to expand...

I was just about to ask the same thing. I have a tube of that in the bathroom - was useless for me. My doctor also made a point of telling me how expensive it is! lol! £50 or something if I remember correctly!

I'm telling you, try a wee 15min session of electrolysis - hurts, but certainly removes the hair. I'm booked back in for tomorrow night!

ClaireCat said:

I was just about to ask the same thing. I have a tube of that in the bathroom - was useless for me. My doctor also made a point of telling me how expensive it is! lol! £50 or something if I remember correctly!

I'm telling you, try a wee 15min session of electrolysis - hurts, but certainly removes the hair. I'm booked back in for tomorrow night!

Click to expand...

Blinking doctors hey! Make us feeling for trying to do something!

I am going to look around my area tomorrow for someone who offers it had a quick look last night however Google mostly spat out IPL therapy!

shenzi said:

Blinking doctors hey! Make us feeling for trying to do something!

I am going to look around my area tomorrow for someone who offers it had a quick look last night however Google mostly spat out IPL therapy!

Click to expand...

I'd just google "Electrolysis" followed by the first part of your postcode, or area, thats what I did. Failing that, you'll just have to come to Glasgow! hehe!

ClaireCat said:

I'd just google "Electrolysis" followed by the first part of your postcode, or area, thats what I did. Failing that, you'll just have to come to Glasgow! hehe!

Click to expand...

Think Glasgow would be a little bit too far lol i think i have a company that do it i will call them tomorrow! X

shenzi said:

Think Glasgow would be a little bit too far lol i think i have a company that do it i will call them tomorrow! X

Click to expand...

Good luck with it! I'm looking forward to my session tomorrow!

i think i might just have to google electrolysis, is it completely permanent? so the hair which they remove doesnt come back?
I am not a fan of pain lol but i think i would go through anything to not have a bloody beard

assj said:

i think i might just have to google electrolysis, is it completely permanent? so the hair which they remove doesnt come back?
I am not a fan of pain lol but i think i would go through anything to not have a bloody beard

Click to expand...

It is completely permanent, but how many session you need is debatable. I will ask my therapist tonight and see what she says.

If it helps, I've been going since June and I know she did a hair on my neck that was really annoying me, and I've only just noticed last night that I think it has come back. So whats that, about 12 weeks before the growth started again?

Im sure she said hair growth cycle is 13 weeks. I just go every week because Im not brave enough to get it all done on one sitting! My nipples tho, she said I'd probably need to get them done every 2 weeks, and I do. But I dont know if thats re-growth of the same hair, or different hair. It must be different hair if its a 13 week growth cycle.

The dark hairs she did on my face havent come back yet, so thats a bonus. I have loads of other ones tho, so its hard to tell whats what! lol!

Its definitly working tho. And I feel much better about the hair thats still there, because I know im doing something about it and I'll get round to it eventually lol!

Ok... back from the beauticians!

Apparently its only been 8 weeks since she did the hair on my face, so regrowth seems to be around 8 - 12 weeks (8 in my case).

She also said I have really stubborn hair - takes her a few zaps to get them to come out, so she is fairly certain most, if not all of mine will grow back in. However, she said, each time they grow back, they will be much weaker, and eventually, disappear.

So, its been 8 weeks, and only one of the hairs has decided to start coming back. Its not even broken the skin yet, but I know its there! lol!

She did my nipples this week again too, and it took her no time at all, so they're definitly getting better. Usually it takes her 15mins to do them and it was only 5mins or so. So thats always a bonus!

When she does the hair on my face, it puffs up and goes red for a while afterwards, but then its usually fine. My nipples, on the other hand, tend to scab at each hair folicle because its more tender - so its not very pretty the next day. I'm not allowed to pick at the scabs or I might leave dents! So I have to put up with them. I'd much rather have a scab for a week than a hair, so its fine!

Hope this information is helpful. And sorry for hi-jacking your thread. It really wasnt intentional!

The electrolysis sounds fab! I think I might see if losing weight helps with all the hair first as I can't really afford treatments at the moment.

My current worry is that I get to be slim and the hair looks worse as it is all bunched together!!

crazyfluffysparkles said:

My current worry is that I get to be slim and the hair looks worse as it is all bunched together!!

Click to expand...

lol! I've never really thought about it like that! I hope thats not true!

I've been looking into electrolysis recently and if anyone lives in/near London, the London College of Beauty Therapy do 30 minute courses for £2.50!! It will be done by trainees but they are supervised. There must be colleges in other parts of the country that offer this too. Here's the link to the website: LCBT Home: LCBT Salon: Other Treatments

I haven't had it done yet but have an appointment booked. Even if I don't like it or it hurts, for £2.50 you can't go wrong, and better than forking out £90

Squiggle82 said:

I've been looking into electrolysis recently and if anyone lives in/near London, the London College of Beauty Therapy do 30 minute courses for £2.50!! It will be done by trainees but they are supervised. There must be colleges in other parts of the country that offer this too. Here's the link to the website: LCBT Home: LCBT Salon: Other Treatments

I haven't had it done yet but have an appointment booked. Even if I don't like it or it hurts, for £2.50 you can't go wrong, and better than forking out £90

Click to expand...

Thats interesting. Never thought about getting a trainee to do it. Def worth checking out. Good find!

I have phoned my local beauty college but they aren't taking on till November boo! X