Surgery left me with 200/nl testosterone - trt caused massive gyno

[Chronotoker]

So I had two tumor removals about 4 years ago. I had pubertal gyno, very minor, but the trt caused a massive flare up that I have been unable to successfully treat with raloxifene and nolvadex. I tried letrozole, and it did bring them down to almost flat - but getting off the letrozole has been really hard and they' flare up bad as I try to taper down. I'm still on 1.25mg daily as I taper down. I should be off the letro within 14 days.

I currently take 80mg every 7 days of testosterone enanthate - but it's still causing gyno flare up with the letro and examestane (added to help with letro rebound).

So I plan to get the surgery when my 401k loan is paid off and I can borrow again to cover all costs. I have about 1 year 9 months until then.

How can I keep trt without gyno? My wife and I need our intimacy. I become depressed, lethargic, and extremely obese without it. In fact, I just went from 285 to 218 since July - because of trt.

The massive weight loss might've made the gyno mor visible - I don't know. But I'm almost suicidal over it. I bought a compression vest to wear until my surgery. My wife swears it's not as bad as I make it out to be, but I can cpu a small boob in each hand, it's repulsive to me.

If I get the surgery, is trt going to make it come back?

[hammer]

I'm not sure what you consider massive but I need a 46H bra to support the breast that I ended up with after the loss of my testicles!

I feel no less of a man, because it isn't the testicles that make you the man, nor having breast makes you less of a man! You are who you are, by what is in your heart and mind, not your body!

You do what you must do, be it surgery or as some of us do with acceptance, but please understand that just because your body goes through some changes does not change who you are no more then standing in a garage will turn you into a car!

Good luck!

[Chronotoker]

Thank you. My wife depends on me emotionally, physically, and financially. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't plan a few ways I could painlessly end everything. I went as far sneaking out while she was sleeping, but I couldn't jump. I feel so hopeless and lost.

I really needed to hear everything you said.

[Ventrue]

Well, in order to prevent recurrence post surgery, you'll have to keep your estradiol levels down; you could easily achieve that by using an aromatase inhibitor (indefinitely). For that purpose however, I'd avoid letrozole and only use exemestane due to its rather mild side-effect profile; it is way milder on the blood lipids. You'll need regular blood work to evaluate your optimal dosage. I'm currently using 875 mg Testosterone Enanthate per week and need to use 50 mg exemestane (2 x 25 mgs because of its rather short half-life in males) per day to keep my E2 within a normal range.

[Tonyp1]

TRT cause me to develop pretty significant gyno too.  It took me a while to get my estrogen under control, but I'm where I should be now and my growth has stabilized.  No more sensitivity or pain, but they're not getting any smaller.  I'm on 1mg of armidex per week and 100 mg's per week of test.  Clear your head of those suicidal thoughts bro, this is easy to get under control with a little bit of effort.  A year after your surgery you'll be laughing about it.