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[kelliebean]

I've also had too much testosterone, I have no idea what my current hormonal state is because I haven't been tested for a couple of years. Last time I was tested, I was balancing out but still had a little more testosterone than most women. I'm lucky, I don't suffer much from it, perhaps the hair on my face and arms tends to slightly darker than I'd prefer, but there are also plenty of women out there with less T than me who have far far darker hair, so that's not really an issue. <-- Chiming in in solidarity, too.

Puberty. Ah, how fun. I was horrible.

I was filling a B cup at 10, C cup at 11, should have been in a D by 12 but I refused to wear a D for a few more years after that. I was tall (I've physically grown maybe 6" since I was 12, and I'm 5'11"), and I felt fat - I had no muscle definition. I think I've grown into my face a LOT, subtle bone structure shifts and I look far better now than I did then. I never had bad skin as a teen, but I do get breakouts now maybe once a month. It's very rare that I ever have completely clear skin.

Hormonally, I was dreadful. I went through puberty at exactly the same time my Mum went through menopause. You can imagine how much fun it was to be at my house. Add that to the fact that I had to change schools to be the token poor kid at a very rich private catholic all girls school... I didn't know anyone and I was miserable. I was 11 the first time I tried to kill myself, that continued until I was 17. I started drinking heavily when I was about 12, and was clinically depressed for a good 9 years before getting help. I acted up so badly.. I was on the verge of being sent to the other end of the country to live with relatives because my parents didn't want me in their house, but in the end they couldn't send me away. I'd threaten my family with knives if I didn't get my way.. I used to get into physical fights with my father, and broke a couple of his ribs in the process. It wasn't a fun time at all.

I think that growing up like that has made me into a better person, knowing how bad things can feel, makes me appreciate how great my life is now even more.

[doritojoe89]

eee...i don't have any horror stories, i was well educated through the internet and what-not, so i guess i was prepared plus i think it's naturally easier for guys..   

[gargantuan]

plus i think it's naturally easier for guys..   

I've thought this too. (im a guy). When your dick starts growing early in middle school, and youre the first one, its not thrown in everyone's face like a girl's breasts. Everyone can judge a girls breasts even when theyre fully clothed. No one knows how large/hairy/hairless your wang is unless you show them.

Not to mention periods.... ugh. You have to tell your mom one day "umm..can you buy me some ...tampons?" Or god forbid, your father. heh.
The most guys have to do is start stealing extra hand lotion and kleenex from the bathroom.

[lifeisnocabaret]

puberty was awful.
my boobs were/are bigger than EVERYONE else's (well, at least everyone that's my age).
it's incredibly annoying.
i am going to get a breast reduction when i'm older.

and periods...ughhhh...

[SinewandBones]

Puberty was an embarrassing time for me. Sickeningly shy and quiet the thought of it terrified me incase someone found out I was going through it. A little sad when you think about it.

I started it at the tender age of 12 and now at 24 I am still going through it.

When I was 15, the torture began.  I went to a dermatologist and received really severe topical treatments-- the game was "let's see how long I can go without screaming!"  The pain was so bad that I couldn't walk out of the office without leaning almost all my weight on my mother... it made me faint.  There were burning acid washes, and every inch of my face was poked and squeezed and stabbed with this sharp metal object.  Larger blemishes were sliced into, squeezed, and then filled with a stinging medication.


I'm nearly 22 now, I'm still on the birth control, I wash my face with Dove, I use the salicylic acid moisturizer every day, and I alternate the Tretinoin and Clindamycin every night.  My skin is still a source of insecurity for me... it's hard for me to realize, no, Katherine, you no longer look like a pizza,

Didnt your dermatologist not suggest a course of roacatane(sp??)? Its seems excessively harsh to put someone through that kind of treatment. I do understand the complusive need to go through with it incase missing a treatment causes it to get worse.

I find tea tree oil excellent at treating blemishes and mild acne. The thursday plantation makes wonderous products that arent harsh on your skin and work.

[scarletdulcinea]

We were recommended to this dermatologist by my pediatrician, whose specialty is also dermatology... we thought it was the best course of action.  To be fair, the first four months, though excruciating physically, did make huge positive changes in my skin.  I needed those acid washes and I needed that damned metal torture device... it cut back on the surface issues, it made my purple scars fade quickly, and there was pretty much literally no other way to get rid of the deep cysts.  The issue was the two extra months I went, after things had plateaued, and the dermatologist's unprofessional approach to the ending of our medical relationship.  This was all severe physically, but it had to be done, and I'm happy that I got so much of the intense stuff taken care of without having to take hardcore medication.  The pain was the price I had to pay for quick initial progress; my topical medications and the birth control have kept me healthy after that.  The only things I would change would be slicing out those unnecessary two extra months, and, I should have started the hormone regulation immediately.


I am lucky that my mother was attentive enough to get me to a doctor.  There are so many people who walk around with bad acne and never get themselves real help, they just shell out money for ProActive and over the counter gimmicky stuff, or, dip their faces in tea tree oil and hope for the best.    You wouldn't believe how horrific my skin was... and a year after I did the physical treatment and had been on the three medications/dove soap & salycilic acid moisturizer for a while, a woman in a department store actually complimented me on my skin.  Me!  Okay, I don't think it was for my skin's clarity... she probably admired my pale complexion, I was a thin little ghost back then, and she was pretty pale herself.  But still, no one would have ever, ever thought to say anything like that to me a year before that.  Yes, I went to go cry in the dressing room.

[Ronan]

.

[NefariousMaus]

Ahh Yes, puberty? I could go on and on about the horrors of hormonal hell and the taunting minions it brought with it, but it seems most people get the picture by now. I know we all had individual personal experience and some make for great comic relief if you're old enough to reflect on such things without great pain and contempt. Well I dunno, there are some things that will always be a sore spot, and even mentioning them is like picking at a scab, so instead i will just go with something on a more positive note....

In middle school when the first few girls realised they could start shaving their legs it of course began this huge movement and all the girls wanted to be in on it. Next to boobs, and menstruating it was a sure sign that you were mature and indeed a woman. I like so many of the others who thought it necessary to perform this rite of passage ritual went home and expressed to my mother that I thought it was time for her to teach me the ropes. She examined my smooth and virtually hairless extremeties and laughed. She said that I have nothing that needs shaving and should count my blessings that I don't need to start. I of course argued my point but to no avail, and was forbidden to attempt it. Now normally, since I suffer from (ODD) Oppositional, Defiance, Disorder *smirk...I would have done it anyway, but I didn't. Infact to make a long story short I never did. Once time marched on and it was no longer a social pressure I simply never bothered to think about it and my legs continued to produce no obvious hair.  So now, here I am at 28 and have never shaved my legs, and still don't need too! For once I actually did what I was told and could not be more pleased for listening to my Mom.

[Deer Marie]

i REALLY hate thinking about my high school years.
cause for me, puberty began lateeeee
i only got my period at 16 years old
i think it's because i was very thin. for the last 2 years of primary school, i suddently stopped growing up. so until 15 years old, i was the smallest and thiniest. From 12 to 15/16 years old, my weight was stuck at 83 lbs.
at 16, while all girls were having less pimples and were starting to look pretty much womenly, i suddently gained weight, had my period, my skin began to break out... i was used to being thin and small: i freaked out, and became depressed and suicidal and developed an eating disorder. the last 2 years of high school, even tough it's not really considered as puberty years, they were the saddest days of my life to this day.
everything was too much for me to handle: shaving, taking care of my skin, keeping an eye on what i eat... i managed to do all of this pretty well: in fact, i was pretty much obsessed with the way i looked back then.

growing up is so hard... until you realise that it just gets better with time: years had on, you only get more experience.

[SinewandBones]

Ah yes...I had forgotten the bad skin part of puberty, but that never really went away; I just have a better handle on it now. I have to be really careful with what I eat, lest I break out the next day, but my skin is relatively clear these days. For anyone with greasy-as-fuck skin, may I recommend Ketsugo--it's a lifesaver. It actually works; gently and effectively. I'm considering Roaccutane; apparently at a very low dose, the side effects are minimised, and I spend a fortune on skincare, so it's about time.

Also, for anyone wondering, excess testosterone in women is usually due to underactive aromatisation (basically, testosterone and oestrogen are very easily interconverted by an enzyme called an aromatase, and excess testosterone is usually converted into oestrogen pretty damn fast).. It messes with the female mind long before it starts to mess with the female body, but not necessarily in a "think-like-a-dude" way [and yeah, Katherine, it is pretty annoying when people oversimplify the relationship between biochemistry and gender identity]. The effect of hormones on male/female behaviour is quite interesting though; it's one of my favourite non-course-related science topics.

[Interestingly, and in the spirit of this thread, I [like many other males] had the opposite problem (overactive aromatisation) as a teenager, and grew small, grape-sized swellings 'round the nipple area, but thankfully they were gone before I could get self-conscious about them. Damn hormones!]

Would you consider diffinen? Its a topical treatment that has the same chemical that makes roaccutane work? Its just as effective and not as harsh for your body.