Clue to my issues?

[DownAndDesperate]

I was diagnosed with PCOS in my early to mid 30’s - after I’d had my daughter (and symptoms of PCOS since I was 12).

I was thinking that my bad acne went away completely during pregnancy and returned far more mildly after having given birth. I also lost 2 stone in weight during the pregnancy without changing my habits at all.

I was wondering if these maybe gave clues as to what hormones may be imbalanced and what I need to do to find relief from symptoms? Doctors aren’t interested in helping unless it involves birth control. I’m also now struggling with secondary infertility and hirtuism started a year or two after pregnancy and has gotten progressively worse.

Thanks for any help or insight.

[QuietButBold]

Hello, sorry to hear you are battling skin hassles. For all things "skin", over the years, I have usually found a Pharmacist (the actual Pharmacist within a chemist shop) has been more helpful than a GP is able to offer.

That said, there are a couple of myth-busting web pages I found useful to help me challenge my default daily practices.

nhsinform.scot/illnesses-an...

changingfaces.org.uk/advice...

With a GP; it can (sometimes) help to print pages like this, tick / date / annotate the outcomes of trying the different self-help techniques ...then showing a GP as part of "what else might we try?".

Within my GP Practice; there is one GP who has more specialist interest in dermatology than does my designated GP. (Maybe you might notice someone like that within your Practice bio / introductions to the GP Team).

I do hope you might find some new strategies which may better suit your own skin's situation, or improve your experience of managing your skin's challenges.

My skin, boringly, is prone to whinging about a (tedious) list of things, plus I have an allergy and another fun skin complaint which can also give rise to visible skin differences too - often on my face (which can takes days to settle from flare-ups).

Unfortunately, I do not have an ally relative also dealing with these challenges ...and I get jolly fed up with relatives "helpfully" giving me random skincare product gifts (without prior discussion with me) ...thanks guys I did look in the mirror recently! I have tried to explain this to Family ...to no avail.

So, to do something more (hopefully) positive; I donate the unopened skincare products to a local women's refuge (in the hope they may be a treat in the "welcome" toiletries bags the refuge gives to new residents) and then ... instead, I consult my tame Pharmacist - of personal preference - if I actually want to try a new skincare regimen more applicable / safe for me.

Best wishes.

[DownAndDesperate in reply to QuietButBold]

Hi. Thanks for your reply. I’m sorry you struggle with your skin too - it can be very frustrating and more painful than people imagine, can’t it?

I was more interested in what my skin did during and after pregnancy may be telling me about what my body is doing so that I can potentially find answers to other, more debilitating symptoms like fatigue, pain and infertility though. I feel it suggests that my body favours and therefore works better with whatever extra hormones I got during pregnancy but I don’t really know enough to know what that might be.

Thanks again 😊