PCOS-related - how much unwanted hair is 'normal'?

[emeraldgirl1]

I'm just wondering, because I've never really considered it until now (waiting to go for some preliminary PCOS-testing) how much unwanted body hair might be a sign of the syndrome. I've never thought of myself as having an excess, because I have friends who are much hairier than me - and because, well, excess hair isn't something I freely discuss with any but my close friends!

But now that I'm slowly working myself up into a paranoid state that a) I DO have PCOS and b) I'm an idiot for not doing something about it sooner, I'm wondering if my upper lip has been displaying the signs for quite some time now.

To give a rough idea, I have my upper lip threaded once a month, and about 5-6 days after this, I need to start tweezing out the occasional dark stray that re-appears. Then gradually, for the next 2-3 weeks, more hairs emerge (mostly light and downy, a few dark) that I need to tweeze out on a roughly daily basis - probably just tweezing 3 or 4 hairs a day keeps me looking quite presentable!

This has been the case for about the last 7 or 8 years (am 32).

I never really thought this was a lot. I have no unwanted hair elsewhere on my face (the very occasional one on my chin - how nice) and none anywhere else on my body apart from the obvious places!

But IS this actually not quite normal, and could it be something PCOS or hormone related?

I know remote diagnosis is pointless, and I am going for blood test and internal ultrasound in roughly 1 month. But I'm doing what I do so well and working myself up that I've let this go on for too long. I also have irreg periods, which is the initial reason I went to GP to ask for tests, btw.

Thanks everyone

Hi emeraldgirl1 - Excess hair is a bit of a misnomer. I got told by gp at age 33 that I'm not the 'physical type' for PCOS when I raised it as possible reason for no success in TTC prior to blood tests etc; turned out that was exactly the problem as both my ovaries contain very few/crap eggs that won't fertilize if you drench 'em in tadpoles (yes, we've done IVF). Also compounded by endometriosis. But if it helps you focus your energies then go with the tweezers. My SIL practically has to shave and had both her kids with no problems. Irregular periods far more of a sign of PCOS but even then not necessarily. Good luck with the blood test & scan.