Hi

[pricklypear]

Hi everyone

I am a 24 year old female from South Africa, and I have been diagnosed with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The thing is, from looking up info on the net, I am not so sure that I have it, at least not, to the extent that others here do.

So I am not sure if this forum is the right place to post.

I am confused as to how I can CAH, but not have any genital abnormalities (as far as I know?!). My main problem is excesss hair growth (very dark hair on my legs, and arms) I know that, according to evaluations by my endochrinologist of my blood tests, I do not have a certain enzyme, and therefore my body cannot produce cortisol, so my body makes up for this by producing excess testosterone. Hence the hairiness. I would reraly like to know more about CAH, and the different ways it can affect people.

I am confused about this condition, and how I simply seem to have hairiness, while others have genital abnormalities. How far does this condition go? Could it eventually cause a genital abnormality in my case (ie- the vagina 'closing')?

As you probably all noticed, I am clueless about this all, so please help!

[zenditz]

Sadly I can't help to much,

These are questions better left to your endro. If you want to know for sure if you have C.A.H. then you could go to a gene Dr. and have your DNA tested I spose... but good luck, and welcome to Bodies Like Ours... maybe others here will have some other ideas too.

*Waves*,
Katie

[Betsy]

Hi PricklyPear,

If you were recently diagnosed with CAH, you probably have the variety of it called "Late Onset CAH". It's often just LOCAH. It's not nearly as severe and doesn't cause the issues regarding the genitals most times. However, it does cause the hairiness you write of.

The good thing is there are drugs you can take if you don't like all that hair and the CAH part is easily controlled.

[zenditz]

Thanks Betsy,

I've never heard of that variation of C.A.H., although I do no there seems to be no end to it's variants. Thanks for helping her, and teaching me.

Take care,
Katie

[pricklypear]

Hi Zenditz and Betsy

Thanks for the replies and info!

Zenditz: thatnk you so much for your advice to my other post where I enquired about user activation to that other forum- it turned out that you were exactly right- I checked my 'junk-e-mail' folder and there it was. I haven't gone back to that forum just yet. Also, you sound like such a cool person, so thanks again. I look forward to hearing more from you.

Betsy: Thanks a lot for the insight. Do you know what may trigger Late onset CAH, if anything, or is it just unavoidable if it's latent? I will discuss these issues a bit more with my enochrinologist. She has prescribed Decadron for me and I have been on it for a week so far.

:wave1:

[pricklypear]

Hi everyone. This question may seem a little odd, and I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, but here goes...

I was wondering if LOCAH might possbly result in painful sexual intercourse, due to some form of closing of the you know what?

I am not sexually active at the moment (nor have I been for 3,5 yrs!- ha ha, I am 24 yrs old now) but when I was sex was painful. This really irritated me. I put it down to thrush. It was also at the time that my 'pain problem' began that the hair growth began to become a problem.

And these days, 3+ yrs on, I find it practically impossible to insert a tampon becuase it's just too darn sore, it seems like the opening is getting smaller. Anyway, I have no idea, and I guess that i should ask my endo, but first of all I'm embarrassed, second of all, I only see her again in a long time and I want to know! Knowing that I have have CAH, even just late onset (and considering what it entails) might explain this little mystery!? It certainly explains the hair growth. I am just curious if it's possible, or am I putting 2 and 2 together and getting 8?

I suppose if it comes down to it I should see a gynae, except I really have no reason to get this problem sorted out at the moment as I have no boyfriend etc. no romantic/sex life. Prbably becuase I am too self-concious about the hair. My feminine wiles seem to really have become very contested!

[Curtis]

Hi Pricklypear,

Whether you are sexually active or not, I would recommend you see a doctor. The issues you mention could result is serious problems. You are quite young and the hormonal changes that occur can have very serious effects on your body, menstrual cycle and emotional well-being.

Welcome to Bodies Like Ours,
Curtis