I have had long term hirsutism from puberty and found accidently, that by cutting out wheat and dairy it has almost stopped. It is probably a gluten, lactose intolerance! Hirsutism has been in my family for at least 3 generations, the genes came from Germany! I have been vegan for a month and have experienced weight loss around the stomach area which I could not previously shift. Lots of people have commented on my weight loss.

I noticed the change in facial hair in 3 or 4 days of not eating wheat and dairy! My hair has gotten thicker and I feel terrific.

Eliane

I have PCOS as well, and I still hold out hope that balancing my hormones will indeed eventually take care of my hirsutism naturally. I believe 100% in the body's natural ability to heal itself IF given the proper tools (eating proper food and abstaining from chemical exposure).

http://www.drdach.com/PCOS.html

Here's a web page you might be interested in. About half way down the page you'll see a section titled "Treatment of Non Classical CAH with Cortisol Restores Fertility", in this section the author claims it takes up to 30 months (2 and a half years!!) for proper hormone balance to correct hirsutism. Though it takes some time, this Dr says it DOES correct itself!

That page is about an adrenal issue as an underlying factor of PCOS, where she supplements a steroid in order to correct the problem, HOWEVER, my sister gave me a book titled "Adrenal Fatigue" wherein it talks about how all these different factors contribute to normal adrenal function, and when one little thing is out of whack, the whole system can go haywire.

The biggest thing is stress. Now I'm not talking about only emotional stress, I'm talking additional forms of stress also such as things like chemical exposure, physical or emotional trauma, FOOD ALLERGIES... just to name a few. Several years ago I went on a no-processed food diet for a month and a half. My periods came back (I was completely absent of periods for years but refused to go on the pill), I dropped 25 pounds in that time period, and I stopped having diarrhea every day. It was wonderful. Then I stopped and went back to eating the way I had, which was a lot of breads and dairy, and again, my periods stopped, the weight came back on (slowly, it took about 5 months to gain the weight back that I had lost in 6 weeks).

After years of doing research on my own, I've come to the conclusion that Paleo is the best thing for your body. I've already discovered I have big problems that come from me eating wheat (I tried a gluten free diet for 2 weeks and I deflated 12 pounds in 7 days!!!).. I've heard that when our bodies are in shock or in trauma (for example, eating something that is destructive to your whole body) it retains water (not sure if that's true), and when I stopped putting poison in my body, it released all that water weight.. So I've been 100% strict Paleo for a week now and I'm going to see if this is what it is going to take to get my body back to normal. I'm also going "GREEN" to stop any exposure to chemicals that might be contributing to my PCOS.

Hope this information helped! Good luck and don't give up!!! :)

I am so glad I found this place. I have a friend who has hirsutism - to be honest I don't think she has it all that bad but then again if I was in her position I would probably feel the same way she does. She is very beautiful but her confidence has taken a massive knock since her hirsutism started getting much worse. I will tell her to try and drink spearmint tea on a daily basis to see if it helps :) She wanted to go here but I am unsure about laser hair removal. Is it safe? Has anyone had it done before and got any experience?

I think it may depend how long you've had it. For me it did not reverse itself, but I had had it for several years already. I suspect that those who are seeing improvement may not have had the hormonal imbalance for very long.

Have adrenal hyperplasia rather than PCOS (though some of the metabolic symptoms are similar and paleo/primal helps with both). Spearmint tea helps some, but (barring pregnancy) Aldactone is most useful. Weight loss also helps re trouble spots on chest/back/stomach, but facial hair seems hardest to influence.

After 4 weeks, I've noticed slower hair growth.

Wow, I have PCOS too and haven't noticed less hair...my cycle is more regular and my blood pressure is more normal (used to be low) so that's promising but no luck in the hirsutism dept.

I have PCOS, and my main symptom is hirsutism. I've been following a paleo diet (90% of the time) for about a week, and the result is almost miraculous. The unwanted hair is no longer causing stubble on my chin and neck! I still have some plucking to do, but it's diminishing daily. If I find that some terminal (dark, coarse) hairs return or refuse to go away completely, I bet laser hair removal will help once my hormones are balanced through the diet. Paleo eating has fixed in mere days a problem I've been facing for many years. I'm amazed.

I do not have PCOS or hirstutism, but I did have hormonal issues before I went paleo that were treading close to what I would have needed be diagnosed as PCOS, IMO. One of the first 'side-effects' of this diet was that all my body hair got noticeably finer and sparser! Now my hormones have normalized and all other issues are resolved (took about a year).

You might see some big improvements re: the hairiness, if you can normalize your hormones with this diet. And there are always laser treatments for what is left!

A paleo-style diet also cured the bad acne I had from 15 to 23, which I'm sure had a lot to do with my hormone imbalances as well...

Once a hair follicle is set and produces hairs, you can't expect for it to disappear once you get your hormones back into balance because it doesn't work that way. Balanced hormones will help to prevent new hairs from sprouting but it's not perfect, and it really depends a lot on how bad it is to begin with.