So it sounds like DHEA is behind excessive body hair, not testosterone, right? I've never fully understood RP' view on DHEA. Can it be high in PCOS to be protective against estrogen?
It is actually DHT, as DHEA gets converted easily into DHT in peripheral tissues like skin. This will not show up on blood tests, if anything is high it will be the DHEA but it is a pro-hormones for DHT and DHT (and maybe T but to a lesser degree) is what causes the surface androgen symptoms like acne and hairiness.