Help - Risperdal

[CarlosMendez1979]

Hi guys, I'm hoping someone can give me some advice. I've been on Risperdal and it's been working really really well for me but the physical side effects have been bad. I'm kind of at a loss for what to do - if I stop taking it and switch to something else will my chest go back to normal or is this permanent? If I keep using it will it keep getting worse?

Thank you
-Carlos

[giggsy]

Sue the company, get surgery

[HairyKnockers]

Well Carlos you do have gynecomastia, I don’t think anyone here is going to argue with you on that point.  Most of us on the site probably have somewhat smaller breasts than you, but some have substantially larger breasts.  So what do you want to do about it?  Let’s look at the whole picture here.

One of the less common side effects of the antipsychotic medication Risperdal is gynecomastia. The manufacturer of Risperdal, Johnson & Johnson, lists gynecomastia as a possible side effect, along with a host of other side effects that sound even far worse.  Risperdal ‘s dopamine-blocking action can substantially increase levels of prolactin which may possibly result in gynecomastia.

The FDA approved the drug as treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism spectrum disorders.  These are all pretty serious and debilitating disorders.  From everything I have read it is very effective and allows people with those disorders to live normal, productive lives.

All medications and procedures have side effects.  One person’s side effect can also be another person’s cure; as with treating Tourette Syndrome some drugs used are effective because of their side effects.  The manufacturer’s duty is to warn those taking the medication of possible side effects.  Other people on this site have gynecomastia caused by other medications or medical procedures.  That is simply the way life is.

Now for your case specifically; from what several doctors have stated on this site once you have breasts as developed as yours from taking a medication they are not likely to go away.  But you really should ask the physician that prescribed the Risperdal what his experience is with breast development.  Presumably he has other patients on the medication and has probably more experience with Risperdal than even the surgeons on this site.

You did say that Risperdal is working well for you.  Is your life better with the treatment and the breasts than without the treatment?  Only you can answer that question, no one else. Gynecomastia is a real annoyance but it is not debilitating unless you let it be.  Normally Gynecomastia can be treated with surgery if you so desire.  In that case I would strongly suggest that you contact one of the doctors on this site that is closest in location to you and have a consultation.

Good luck and let us know how you are progressing, yours is an interesting case.

[Alchemist]

Hi Carlos,
I'll be 68 shortly.  I had breasts since puberty.  I don''t worry at all about whether they will get bigger with a medication.  It happens and it happens a bit more with some drugs than others.  You couldn't pay me to get unnecessary surgery.  My health is unstable and any healing challenge makes my neurological problems worse including neuro-psychological including moods and cognitive and sleep etc.  I have a delicate balance of medications, no psych meds but plenty enough to go wrong in many ways. 

I know of no way to know when breasts are going to grow or stop growing.  It can run in families. They might get bigger or they may already of stopped growing.  They may stop and start and few times or with different causes.  The lawyers urging suing and surgery may not your best advice.  Even minor surgery can have terrible and even fatal results.  My father was almost killed with a parathyroid surgery done wrong.

If I were in your shoes I would stick with something that works and not do anything that might unbalance my very touchy balance it has taken decades to work out.  And even with the BEST of the surgeons, and I wouldn't suggest any but the male breast specialist, 10% or so won't be satisfied and some will wish they had never had the surgery and still had their original breasts. 

You are clearly not in middle school any more.  I would like to point out that 50% to 70% of men (according to autopsy studies) have mammary gland growth (definition of gynecomastia) by the time they die.  50% to 70% of the men you and I and everybody sees every day have gynecomastia.  How much of it do you see?  Do you ever really notice it or if you do how often has it mattered to you?
My suggestion is don't have malignant shame about growing these breasts.  Learning that can make your life miserable and surgery doesn't always change that.  At worst you have a "conversation piece".  Having the breasts is far better than having any significant medical problems.  You could have some seriously bad side effects.  Instead you have one that doesn't really matter in the scheme of things.  And the probability of having these breasts grow for some reason before the end of your life is 50% to 70% regardless of what meds you take, which have single digit percentages of increased probability of breasts including Risperdal.  Good luck.  Do what makes you happy.  Having surgery could turn it into a multi year ordeal of misery or some guys find that their surgery was a delivery from suffering.

[CarlosMendez1979]

Thanks so much for the input and advice. I think that it would take a lot for me to get surgery - that just scares me in general, so I don't think that's a solution for me.
If acceptance is a common thing, I'd love to hear more about how people find it. That's probably the road I need to take.

Thanks

[Paa_Paw]

I think I am the old man here.  I have had mine since about the age of 12.  That would have been in 1949.  I will be 80 this year in July.  When my Father died just short of 73 years old, he too had enlarged breasts. He was also the longest living male in family history..   I am now 6 years older than he was at the time of his death.  The reason we live so much longer is because of many factors, not the least of which would be the modern drugs.  Unfortunately, all those drugs come with side effects. 
I can remember in 1955 to 1964 when I was an Air Force Medic.   Military hospitals treated the dependents of service members too. one drug that was commonly used to halt a miscarriage was Diethylstilbesterol.   It really worked.  Fast forward about three or four decades.  A fair number of the babies whose lives were saved by Diethylstilbesterol  had grown to be lovely ladies and a very large number of them were unable to conceive.  These women were then suing the company that made the drug that kept them alive because they were infertile. 
Only here in the US can this sort of stupidity exist. 

[HairyKnockers]

Carlos you asked if acceptance is common and how you achieve it.  Both questions have the same answer; acceptance comes from within and it is often not very common in general because it must come from within.  You need to develop inner strength to have acceptance of yourself.  Actually at this site I think acceptance is pretty common especially for men a little older.  That is probably because we have come to understand that many things matter more than if we have developed breasts for some reason, which gives us that strength.

It is more difficult to have self acceptance when you are younger because you tend to look to other people for acceptance.  If you base your worth on other’s acceptance, for which you have no control, you will often be disappointed.  What you need to realize is that relaying upon others for acceptance is actually harder than developing it from within.  If your acceptance of any condition comes from you, you have the ultimate control of acceptance.

In your case you have already acknowledged that your health with the medication is more important than having the side effect of breast development.  Since you have established that priority of what is really most important to you, you can now accept that having breasts is just part of who you are.  If you can be ok with whom you are then you have accepted yourself, which is the basis of happiness.

We all live in the real world and I realize that differences sometimes make us feel uncomfortable but the more you practice acceptance the less those differences bother you.  This may include explaining to a sexual partner or loved one Gynecomastia.  Sometimes your sexual partner may even find your breasts interesting if you are cool with them.

Let everyone know how you are doing with acceptance of Gynecomastia.  The more people who talk about acceptance the easier it becomes for everyone else.