Hormones on prednisone and side effects

[UnXmas]

I mentioned this briefly on my thread in the prednisone forum, but hope it's ok to start it here with its own topic as hormonal problems are also an OB/GYN issue.

So I guess we mostly all know that prednisone can cause excess hair growth and especially facial hair growth. I've only been on it a little while and already I can notice it.

I think I may be pre-disposed to this as I'd had high testosterone previously from Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. I take the pill (a brand with an added anti-androgen as well as eostrogen) and this has worked wonderfully and kept my PCOS symptoms non-existant, including the hair growth.

So I'm wondering whether hair growth from pred can be controlled via hormone medications in the same manner? Does it arise from the same mechanism - i.e. does pred cause your androgen levels to rise? And if so would taking a stronger anti-androgen counteract this? Or is the hair growth from pred due to some other cause entirely and so would not respond to anti-androgens?

I have looked this up online but everything just seems to assume hair growth is a side effect of pred - there is no mention about whether it's something that can be treated. If taking the pill helped with prednisone hair growth then surely doctors would mention that when they prescribe women pred? Then again, they don't always have the same concerns as patients, do they?

I know this is a superficial issue, and I gather it's also temporary and will go away when the prednisone is stopped. But having had a problem with hair growth before and got it under control, it's very annoying to see it coming back again! I know there are other methods of removing hair but my skin is sensitive so it's hard to find one that works, and it's just not the same to be regularly removing facial hair as it is to just not have it growing in the first place.

Thanks for listening.

 

[UnXmas]

No one else wonders about this? I know it shouldn't be such a big deal for me, but it is. I'd feel a bit stupid bringing it up with a doctor. It was bad enough discussing the PCOS symptoms in the first place, don't want to do it all again.

I just made do with tweezers today so at least I can't see the hair anymore for now.

 

[SarahBear]

If it bothers you, mention it to your doctor. No need to feel stupid. Besides, we have enough trouble keeping our self esteem up in the face of symptoms and side effects, anyway. In your situation, since it is just temporary, I'd probably try to wax it. I see no reason why you couldn't treat it, though. Are you still taking the pill that helped before?

I'm sorry I can't be very helpful. I didn't actually have that problem on Pred - or maybe I did, and the hallucinations it caused kept me from realizing it.

 

[UnXmas]

If it bothers you, mention it to your doctor. No need to feel stupid. Besides, we have enough trouble keeping our self esteem up in the face of symptoms and side effects, anyway. In your situation, since it is just temporary, I'd probably try to wax it. I see no reason why you couldn't treat it, though. Are you still taking the pill that helped before?

I'm sorry I can't be very helpful. I didn't actually have that problem on Pred - or maybe I did, and the hallucinations it caused kept me from realizing it.

Thanks for replying.

You had hallucinations from pred?! That must have been scary.

Yes I'm still taking the medication that had previously kept the hair growth under control. I was thinking that if a woman has no facial hair growth naturally, then if she experienced it when prescribed pred, doctors would prescribe the pill/an anti androgen to counteract it. And for someone like me who needs antiandrogens even without pred, a higher dose of antiandrogens could be prescribed to counteract the effect of pred.

But I've never seen this mentioned anywhere, so I'm assuming it's either not that simple and the effects of pred can't be treated that way, or, because it's temporary, it's not worth the risks that come from taking anti-androgens. (There aren't many risks, but they can cause blood clots and things in a few people if you're susceptible, and some people get side effects from the pill... so you could get into an even bigger mess of meds and side effects, though I've never had any problems taking the pill myself).

I may well bring it up at my next doctor's appointment. For now I'll just carry on tweezing and remember it's supposed to be worth it.

 

[UnXmas]

For the sake of being comprehensive, I thought I'd post an update, even if it just ends up being a symptom record for myself.

The hair growth doesn't seem to be increasing. I had freaked out because I had visions of going back to how I was when my endocrine problems were uncontrolled. But it's been minimal so far - noticable, but minimal. I'm still taking all my normal hormone medication. So I'm tentatively concluding that the hair growth caused by prednisone is, in my case, far less than that which was occured previously when my testosterone became too high due to my endocrine problems.

There's a possiblity this could change with longer-term use. It may be a side effect that increases the longer you're on prednisone, perhaps? I'll keep monitoring it. But for now I'm just tweezing a little, and it's perfectly manageable, so the lesson is I shouldn't stress too much and certainly not start stressing prematurely.