melasma, anyone?

littefish2018

Hi Guys,
Just went to the derm and turns out my patterned summer freckles and what I thought was vitiligo is melasma, or 'chloasma' or 'mask of pregnancy'. Does anyone else with PCOS here have this? I seem to have pregnant woman hormones surging through me without the pregnancy part (also have elevated prolactin/galactorhea). I don't have insurance right now so I can't get my pituitary scanned for a tumor, guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced either of these issues with PCOS? Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

KnitOrMiss

Just a quick look shows that it basically happens when your hormones are wacky. BCP, pregnancy, and assumingly PCOS can all trigger this, because I know my PCOS can be as unpredictable hormonally as those other two...

I don't think that I would be super concerned overall, but I would focus on getting your hormones balanced - dropping sugar (spikes insulin makes other hormones wacky), working out (balances out spikes), and supplementing (inositol or vitex or something to balance out hormones, etc.)... If that doesn't help, or if you have an outside concern, then I'd get checked out, insurance or not...

littefish2018

Thanks @KnitOrMiss for replying, I'm definitely on board with all you said. Hormones are pretty elusive and individual's systems are so complex and unique it seems like a lifetime journey to get to know your own!

KnitOrMiss

Wow, I just went back and looked at some pictures, @littlefish0128 - this is what I have on the sides of my face. I recently moved and spent a lot of time driving and moving about in the sun...and essentially the part of your face that on a man would be between the sideburns along the edge of the face towards the chin, where the beard would be, I developed this - melasma - in that area. If I'm not mistaken, this is what Brooke Burke suffers from as well. I never had this until August, but I've always had slight shadowing in areas where skin touches other skin, so under the breasts, armpits, neckline, inner elbows, etc. I forget what it is ... Acanthosis nigricans (AN). I thought it was that. But the jawline stuff I have DEFINITELY looks like Melasma far above the other options. And I know my hormones were all wacky during that time, because my insulin was out of whack, too, and they go together, and plus I started spotting from all the stress out of nowhere, and I take preventative continuous pills... So wow...

KnitOrMiss

top10homeremedies.com/home-remedies/home-remedies-melasma.html

"The main cause of melasma is excess melanin production in skin cells due to excessive sun exposure. However, other factors also contribute to this problem, including hormonal changes in the body, excessive stress, toxins, thyroid problems and use of birth control pills."

Seriously?? I have all of the above for the most part!!!

ACV as a toner was something I just looked up elsewhere on making my own facial serum...

Totally worth a watch: coconutsandkettlebells.com/coconut-video/

Edited to add: contentwithpictures.com/brooke-burkes-melasma-fight/

littefish2018

Thanks for the links, I definitely have the same thing going on on Brooke Burke's face, except my white patches are around my mouth like a clown, and the derm pointed out a few additional spots on my forehead I had previously been blissfully unaware of. I only really look like a clown in the summer and it's starting to fade now with less sun. I've totally been doing coconut oil and lemon juice in the last few days out of intuition after I learned it was melasma and not vitiligo. I'll let you know what I learn, I'm sure mine is hormonal and not sure why I have a need to associate everything wrong with me with the PCOS although my sneaking suspicion is most of my mystery ailments have some kind of connection. Thanks again for sharing!