Help please...possible hormonal/glandular problem

[Dypet Rod]

Hello, everyone. It’s been a while.

I feel a bit embarrassed to disclose the following, but that’s about something important. So here it goes.

To help with context and not create confusion, I am a male in my mid-twenties, so it’s nothing related to puberty.

I have three distinct problems which I believe to be interconnected and all caused by a common major issue somehow, though I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of it yet.

I’ll talk first about the one that has been troubling me the most, for a long time now: Excessive oil production.
My body, particularly my face and scalp, produce a lot of oil. This reflects in the following ways:
- I have acne on my upper back, near the shoulders, which never seems to go away.
- My scalp and my face quickly get greasy, even washing daily.
- I have dandruff even when washing my hair daily with anti-dandruff shampoos.
- Every part of my face where hair grows (beard and eyebrows) are also affected, as when I scratch my eyebrows for example, a thin stream of dandruff falls.
- It also itches a bit on everywhere I have hair, and if I scratch for too long, it burns somewhat.
- Even when I shave off my mustache, which is the thinnest patch of hair I have on my face, the little white dandruff-like things are left on the skin until I wash/scratch it off.
- After some hours of having taken a shower, particularly after sleep (say for example, I took a shower at 11pm and woke up at 9am), I already feel dirty/bothered because of the greasy sensation, feeling like the only thing that will solve the discomfort is another shower quickly.
All of this is also more easily triggered under warm/hot weather conditions.

This is probably also affecting the general health and aspect of my hair, as it has become not only brittle but also full of gray strands, like about 40 - 50% of it looks gray. At my age. It must be blocking my hair follicles in some way. Not to mention the threat of hair loss.

When looking into this, I read that it can be caused by an excess of masculine hormones. There are some things that seem to support that, such as my having a particularly low-pitch voice, particularly high sex drive, fast facial hair growth, and a thin line of hair that grows on the edges of both of my ears. I have also read that antiandrogens can treat this kind of problem in this case, and I have considered taking them, but I’m hesitant to the idea of messing with my natural hormonal set. I just don’t really know if I should.

I just know that all of this has been making me feel embarrassed of myself and unconfident.

After this first and most extensive problem, the two other ones I mentioned are more simple to describe:

- I sweat in excess when I go for a simple walk, even in mildly warm weather, and also when I stay inside the bathroom on a warm day for long periods (for anything other than taking a shower, of course). My face particularly gets quickly soaked in sweat under these conditions, even without much physical effort, and my pores become enlarged. My soles also sweat a lot and get soaked quickly, even if it’s not warm. Probably because my feet are the parts of my body which make the most physical effort all the time.

- My ears produce too much cerumen, particularly the right one. I may clean it daily, but on the next day, it’s almost like I haven’t cleaned it at all.

I am no expert in any of this, but because oil/sebum, sweat and cerumen are all produced by glands, I believe that this may be a major problem collectively affecting glands of similar types in my body. Sebaceous glands produce oil/sebum. And from what little I’ve recently researched, both ceruminous (which are modified apocrine glands) and sebaceous glands produce cerumen/earwax, while both apocrine and eccrine glands produce sweat.

With this small bunch of information, I feel like I’m halfway there. But again like I said, I still haven’t been able to get to the bottom of this. I wanna be sure of what’s causing all this, and most importantly, I wanna know how to get this dealt with and have a normal life.

I was never fond of going to the doctor, because of the whole vibe of illness and death that there is in these types of environment and because I try to deal with my weaknesses on my own first, so before considering a visit to the doctor/dermatologist, I’d like to at least see if there is anything I can try on my own. I am also considering a working to deal with this, once I know more specifically what this is about.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Eric13]

Have you ever heard of Maca powder? I’ve used it in the past and it’s been used for ages to help balance the body, particularly the adrenal system and hormones.

You can find it in most health stores or online. It’s a simple powder you put in a drink. It has an interesting flavor, you may or may not like. But it’s worked for me and many others. You need a small amount and it helps the body balance out.

 

[Ghost in the Machine]

----

Definitely sounds hormonal. Have you considered a blood-test to check your testosterone and estrogen levels?

Afraid of the doctor or not if you want to find a solution to your problem then you can't always just cut out the middle man. Spirituality can only go so far in healing if the problem is physically caused. A healing working isn't going to cleanse an infected physical wound on your body, you need to use material antiseptic for instance. Catch my meaning?

I'm sure there will be others who can discuss the matters of Yin and Yang deficiency too, which is not yet within my own understanding.

 

[Shael]

...

Okay so I know little to nothing about these things, but I can tell you one thing. I had a lot of similar issues to you, except for the dandruff.

I cant give huge advice here because I am not overly knowledgeable in these things, but for starters you could try cutting out all junk foods and highly processed foods, as well as avoiding dairy of all kinds (except butter), and eggs.
Replace those with bitter vegetables like onion, spinach, bitter melon, celery, asparagus.

In addition to that, try to do some exercise in the morning shortly after waking up, to get you sweating. The way I do it is I leave my pajamas on and put some more clothes over it (during cold weather), so when I come home sweaty I can take it all off and shower right away.

Those things should be healthy for you pretty much regardless what condition you really have, so give them a try for a few weeks and see what happens. If Blitzkreig or Centralforce reply to you here, then ignore my advice and listen to them instead as they know a lot more than me.

 

[Shael]

...

Have you ever heard of Maca powder?

Be careful with Maca powder when there is already a high sex drive. I used it in the past and it had quite bad effects for me. First balance through diet and lifestyle before trying to swallow some powder to fix all your problems.

 

[Ol argedco luciftias]

I think dandruff is caused by a Zinc deficiency. And some hormones are affected by a zinc deficiency. And might also be some amount of copper deficiency, because that sometimes works together with the zinc. But copper is not as necessary, only a very small amount of it is needed. Zinc is much more important.

 

[Eric13]

Be careful with Maca powder when there is already a high sex drive. I used it in the past and it had quite bad effects for me. First balance through diet and lifestyle before trying to swallow some powder to fix all your problems.

Why, what happened to you? And maca powder, it’s just flour made from the root vegetable. So it is a means of balancing through the diet. It’s a food.

I am curious as well, why he should avoid dairy and eggs and why butter gets the exception? It’s true some people have an intolerance to dairy, but usually those people know when they have an intolerance. Otherwise dairy is consumed by most others with no problems. That’s the best way to figure out if some diet advice is phony or not. When all these people say avoid dairy, yet most don’t avoid it and have no problems, then I hardly take it seriously. I’ve buried myself in the health and fitness scene for sooo many years and there’s always something you have to avoid to be healthy that for some reason many people aren’t avoiding and are just fine magically I guess. (Example: Gluten). I’ve gotten into argument with people about bread, pasta, etc. Most can eat these just fine.
Maca powder isn’t a supplement. It’s like drinking an herbal tea. It’s a natural food turned into flour.

 

[Wotanwarrior]

I would recommend that you avoid taking antiandrogens if is possible, this type drugs taken for a long time can permanently leave your hormonal system altered, even after stopping treatment and the long-term side effects are worse than the imbalance to be treated.

 

[Shael]

...

Maca powder is an aphrodisiac and can easily create or worsen imbalances in the body. For some people, it can also treat them but this depends on the specific condition. This goes more into TCM stuff so I cant explain this in detail as I lack the in-depth knowledge. All I can tell you is that, for me, it worsened an already existing imbalance and caused me a bunch of problems such as overly high arousal, never feeling satisfied, and subsequently also feeling very drained. It's not something you should recommend to everyone as some people can incur genuine damage from it.

As for avoiding dairy - this is again TCM related. The issue I had was excess phlegm, and it gave me the same issues that Dypet described here. Dairy-related things such as milk, yoghurt, and cheese cause phlegm to build up in the body, same as eggs, to my knowledge. That's why I recommended him to try avoiding it for a few weeks to see what effects it has for him.
I'm not saying here that dairy is bad as a whole, but rather that people with certain conditions may want to avoid it or atleast lessen their consumption of it to fix some imbalances.

 

[Centralforce666]

This syndrome picture is related to phlegm heat.

If you have access to Chinese herbs online or in your local community, you need to commence a course of Wen Dan Tang go clear the phlegm and heat as soon as practicable and combine this with the dietary advice already provided.

 

[Dypet Rod]

Many thanks to everyone who replied. I will consider all the pieces of advice given, and I’ll be trying at least some of them. I’ll post back here if I notice any significant changes and what helped.

But I strongly believe it’s a hormonal problem too. Something curious to add - and which I’ve noticed recently - is that I usually avoid milk and all types of dairy, but during periods when I happen to consume milk daily, the problem seems to subside somewhat, though not completely. My skin and scalp seem to get cleaner and less greasy, as well as the white strands of hair seem to get slightly darker.

When looking up information to see if there’s really any correlation between milk and hormones, I’ve found a significant amount of results suggesting that the fat present in milk can cause testosterone levels to drop. That’s at least something interesting to have in mind.

 

[Centralforce666]

This syndrome picture is related to phlegm heat.

If you have access to Chinese herbs online or in your local community, you need to commence a course of Wen Dan Tang go clear the phlegm and heat as soon as practicable and combine this with the dietary advice already provided.

 

[Blitzkreig [JG]]

Many thanks to everyone who replied. I will consider all the pieces of advice given, and I’ll be trying at least some of them. I’ll post back here if I notice any significant changes and what helped.

But I strongly believe it’s a hormonal problem too. Something curious to add - and which I’ve noticed recently - is that I usually avoid milk and all types of dairy, but during periods when I happen to consume milk daily, the problem seems to subside somewhat, though not completely. My skin and scalp seem to get cleaner and less greasy, as well as the white strands of hair seem to get slightly darker.

When looking up information to see if there’s really any correlation between milk and hormones, I’ve found a significant amount of results suggesting that the fat present in milk can cause testosterone levels to drop. That’s at least something interesting to have in mind.

You should pursue CentralForce's advice, because that would result in full symptom treatment, whereas pursuing singular ingredients of other solutions can often result in just 1 symptom treated, within unknown side effects as well.

 

[Dypet Rod]

You should pursue CentralForce's advice, because that would result in full symptom treatment, whereas pursuing singular ingredients of other solutions can often result in just 1 symptom treated, within unknown side effects as well.

Yes, I did not specify in my reply because I didn’t wanna sound like I’m disregarding everyone else’s advice, but what CentralForce suggested is the first thing I’m gonna try.

I was about to purchase a flask of Wen Dan Tang medication online earlier today after I read his reply, but then I noticed Mercury has currently gone retrograde. I wanna start as soon as possible, but if I’m to purchase it online, it’s probably safer to wait, or otherwise see if I can find a physical store to purchase it.

 

[Blitzkreig [JG]]

...

Also, you will want to continue doing the yoga, perhaps even 2x per day. This will go a long way at balancing your body. If you are already doing this, then I would guess something in your diet is overwhelmingly unbalancing your body.

As far as diet goes, stay away from damp producing foods like alcohol, sugar, dairy, white flour...basically everything processed. As far as the heat goes, you will want to avoid spicy foods and excessive meats. Opt for more veggies and fruits. It may be hard at first to go to 100% whole foods, but just try your best.

Additionally, switch shampoo, soap, and conditioner to light variants. Your shampoo and soap are likely very stripped and exacerbating the oiliness of your skin. Once your body realizes it is not loosing its entire natural skin barrier every day, it will decrease the amount of oil it puts onto the skin.

I even don't soap in the shower, just water and scrubbing, and I never feel greasy anymore. Additionally, after making dietary changes, I ceased having to wash my face 2x a day for acne, whereas before this was a necessity, otherwise I would break out like crazy. I can go to bed without doing anything to my face and not feel greasy or gross in the slightest the next day. This is because the skin is more a reflection of your internal state.

Follow up with what CentralForce said. You should see a TCM doctor or continue asking us for advice. If you make necessary lifestyle changes, this will clear up on its own. The herbal formulas suggested will speed this process or buy you more time to make the necessary lifestyle changes.

 

[Lunar Dance 666]

...

Also, you will want to continue doing the yoga, perhaps even 2x per day. This will go a long way at balancing your body. If you are already doing this, then I would guess something in your diet is overwhelmingly unbalancing your body.

As far as diet goes, stay away from damp producing foods like alcohol, sugar, dairy, white flour...basically everything processed. As far as the heat goes, you will want to avoid spicy foods and excessive meats. Opt for more veggies and fruits. It may be hard at first to go to 100% whole foods, but just try your best.

Additionally, switch shampoo, soap, and conditioner to light variants. Your shampoo and soap are likely very stripped and exacerbating the oiliness of your skin. Once your body realizes it is not loosing its entire natural skin barrier every day, it will decrease the amount of oil it puts onto the skin.

I even don't soap in the shower, just water and scrubbing, and I never feel greasy anymore. Additionally, after making dietary changes, I ceased having to wash my face 2x a day for acne, whereas before this was a necessity, otherwise I would break out like crazy. I can go to bed without doing anything to my face and not feel greasy or gross in the slightest the next day. This is because the skin is more a reflection of your internal state.

Follow up with what CentralForce said. You should see a TCM doctor or continue asking us for advice. If you make necessary lifestyle changes, this will clear up on its own. The herbal formulas suggested will speed this process or buy you more time to make the necessary lifestyle changes.

I agree on the shampoo thing. Also thinking that perhaps the shampoo is the thing that damages your hair so much to the point of losing its color. It would NOT be the first time that shampoos damage your hair. (In example, Divacurl, making people lose the curls in their hair over time - type it in a search engine).
Also hair that is stripped off oils looks lighter than hair that has some oils on them.

Also I was looking up into skin care and this person came up in the sidebar, pointing out some interesting things I didnt even know before.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2sYit3cZ2CuD_8FHYH7O_Q

Keep in mind that having a bit more greasier skin can also be a climate issue, not necessarily dietary, as well as the stripping of the oils of the skin would increase the production, however, it is also said that applying more oil on your face after cleaning it would at some point also help in reducing the amount of oil produced by the skin. (Perhaps look into 'oil cleansing' or cleaning in regards to facial care).

Also the dude in the channel I just pasted in this post said to buy several pillowcases and just swap them every night and put a clean one on your pillow, to stop acne breakouts because you wouldn't 'reinfect' the skin.

 

[Dypet Rod]

...

Also, you will want to continue doing the yoga, perhaps even 2x per day. This will go a long way at balancing your body. If you are already doing this, then I would guess something in your diet is overwhelmingly unbalancing your body.

As far as diet goes, stay away from damp producing foods like alcohol, sugar, dairy, white flour...basically everything processed. As far as the heat goes, you will want to avoid spicy foods and excessive meats. Opt for more veggies and fruits. It may be hard at first to go to 100% whole foods, but just try your best.

Additionally, switch shampoo, soap, and conditioner to light variants. Your shampoo and soap are likely very stripped and exacerbating the oiliness of your skin. Once your body realizes it is not loosing its entire natural skin barrier every day, it will decrease the amount of oil it puts onto the skin.

I even don't soap in the shower, just water and scrubbing, and I never feel greasy anymore. Additionally, after making dietary changes, I ceased having to wash my face 2x a day for acne, whereas before this was a necessity, otherwise I would break out like crazy. I can go to bed without doing anything to my face and not feel greasy or gross in the slightest the next day. This is because the skin is more a reflection of your internal state.

Follow up with what CentralForce said. You should see a TCM doctor or continue asking us for advice. If you make necessary lifestyle changes, this will clear up on its own. The herbal formulas suggested will speed this process or buy you more time to make the necessary lifestyle changes.

Okay, thank you for the extra advice.

Unfortunately, the only places I found that sell Wen Dan Tang medications will only sell it with a prescription. I will consider looking for a TCM doctor for an appointment. But for now, I'm seeking to do these adaptations to my eating habits.

I'm not a heavy junk-food eater, but I had certainly been lacking in fruits and vegetables, which I'm seeking to include now. And my yoga routine really needed a boost indeed. Sometimes I don't even manage to do yoga every single day, but I'll do my best not to miss it.

I don't soap my whole body when I shower either, just the parts that need more of it, but I shampoo my hair way too often because of the oiliness. I'll see what happens if I reduce it.

 

[Blitzkreig [JG]]

...

If you are having issues with dampness, don't eat fruits, except 1 piece during summer months. Fruit is cooling and sweet, and this can lead to more dampness. Follow the advice of Shael, as the dietary advice they listed will reduce dampness and phlegm. Be careful with heating foods, however, as this can inflame the heat aspect of your condition, as well as congeal any dampness into more phlegm.

This means no spicy foods, and only a mild intake of pungent, like onions. Some pungent will clear the phlegm, but too much will cause more heat. You should aim for half of your plate to be green veggies. Orange starches will also be good for the spleen, as the spleen is responsible for cleaning phlegm and dampness. Steam the veggies instead of more yang-style cooking methods to preserve their yin properties.

Avoid heavy meats, such as red meats, and instead opt for beans and fish. Heavier meats will produce heat as well as phlegm. Meat does not have to be eaten every day. Instead aim for 4 ounce portions, perhaps 4-5 meals of that per week. Anything more can be too heating or phlegm producing. Dampness and phlegm are signs of over-nourishment or improper digestion.

When you consumed the dairy in the past, it may have cleared some of the heat and restored some of the yin to the affected areas. Small amounts of dairy are ok. Prefer ghee over butter. Don't use cheese. If you drink milk, get organic or pasture-raised, make sure you heat it, and add something like ginger to it. This will reduce the amount of dampness that can result from it.

Exercise will also help with the phlegm and dampness over time, however you will see more benefits by fixing the cause of the excess heat and phlegm. Additionally, make sure you are in bed by 10, 11 max, and this will help the heat. This is the best time to recover yin and cool the body.

Try Activeherb for Wen Dan Tang, here is the link. No prescription required.

You could also try KC Herbs. I am not familiar with all the evergreen herb products, so I cannot easily find the Wen Dan Tang equivalent, but they have a telemedicine thing that could suggest that for you. They also do not need a prescription for ordering; I have done this before.

 

[Dypet Rod]

...

If you are having issues with dampness, don't eat fruits, except 1 piece during summer months. Fruit is cooling and sweet, and this can lead to more dampness. Follow the advice of Shael, as the dietary advice they listed will reduce dampness and phlegm. Be careful with heating foods, however, as this can inflame the heat aspect of your condition, as well as congeal any dampness into more phlegm.

This means no spicy foods, and only a mild intake of pungent, like onions. Some pungent will clear the phlegm, but too much will cause more heat. You should aim for half of your plate to be green veggies. Orange starches will also be good for the spleen, as the spleen is responsible for cleaning phlegm and dampness. Steam the veggies instead of more yang-style cooking methods to preserve their yin properties.

Avoid heavy meats, such as red meats, and instead opt for beans and fish. Heavier meats will produce heat as well as phlegm. Meat does not have to be eaten every day. Instead aim for 4 ounce portions, perhaps 4-5 meals of that per week. Anything more can be too heating or phlegm producing. Dampness and phlegm are signs of over-nourishment or improper digestion.

When you consumed the dairy in the past, it may have cleared some of the heat and restored some of the yin to the affected areas. Small amounts of dairy are ok. Prefer ghee over butter. Don't use cheese. If you drink milk, get organic or pasture-raised, make sure you heat it, and add something like ginger to it. This will reduce the amount of dampness that can result from it.

Exercise will also help with the phlegm and dampness over time, however you will see more benefits by fixing the cause of the excess heat and phlegm. Additionally, make sure you are in bed by 10, 11 max, and this will help the heat. This is the best time to recover yin and cool the body.

Try Activeherb for Wen Dan Tang, here is the link. No prescription required.

You could also try KC Herbs. I am not familiar with all the evergreen herb products, so I cannot easily find the Wen Dan Tang equivalent, but they have a telemedicine thing that could suggest that for you. They also do not need a prescription for ordering; I have done this before.

I appreciate the link suggestions, but I forgot to mention that I am from South America. But the good news is I’ve managed to find a pharmacy in my city that sells it without a prescription after all. I had it delivered to my place today and I just had my first dose of it.

Speaking of dose, I just followed the standard recommendation of taking between 20 and 30 drops of it to start with. Is that fine to go with, or is there a more recommended dosage?

 

[Blitzkreig [JG]]

But the good news is I’ve managed to find a pharmacy in my city that sells it without a prescription after all. I had it delivered to my place today and I just had my first dose of it.

Speaking of dose, I just followed the standard recommendation of taking between 20 and 30 drops of it to start with. Is that fine to go with, or is there a more recommended dosage?

Good! I would just stick to the recommended dose, unless you are particularly disturbed by your symptoms. The recommended should be about what the average person can safely ingest without imbalancing themselves the opposite way. Also, the concentration of the formula can vary: your formula can be somewhat different from the ones I linked, for example.

I would just go with their recommendations and vary it later. You can always play with the dose when the majority of your symptoms have subsided. If you correct none of the lifestyle behaviors that resulted in the imbalance, then you will need a higher dose, and likewise, a lower dose will be required if more or all of the source of the problem has been corrected.

Also, I do not see any contra-indications listed on a page for Wen Dan Tang. That is not to say you could never overdose on it, but it might be safer than most. You can read that page to familiarize yourself with it.