Need to take medication that is causing gynecomastia

[Doomed]

Hi everyone,

Well, I originally developed gynecomastia about 7 or so years ago after using a medication called Propecia for hair loss.  I ended up dropping the medication and had a successful surgery and I was home free.  I shaved down the noggin and forgot about hair loss and moved on.

Now, I have been quite ill for the past year and a half suffering from a terrible nerve pain disorder that is accompanied by terrible stress and anxiety.  I have been on 4 medications for the past couple of months that have helped me tremendously with the nerve pain in my face which was also accompanied by terrible, burning flushing (also in my hands and feet) and mouth ulcers/sores.  I have been told that I may have a form of Bechets syndrome.  Long story short, I have/had almost made a complete recovery and was just starting to feel "normal" again when that good ol' familiar pain in the nipples returned from years past.  I have ended up cutting down my medications for the past couple of weeks to try and stop the gynecomastia from happening again but being off some of the medications, the illness has begun to rear its ugly head...pain in the face, inflammation, inability to sleep, stress, anxiety and so on.

My doctor was not happy about me dropping the medications but said we can try different medications to see if they do no cause the gynecomastia, but that it will take time to try each one separately and then add others on top slowly so we are not stuck again trying to geuss which one is making it worse etc.  He also said that the medications may not work as well as the ones I was on. 

So my options are to stay off some of the medications/cut back until the gynecomastia subsides - deal with the pain returning, not sleeping, anxiety and stress etc. while we slowly try other substitute medications (which there is no guarantee that we will find one that will not give me gynecomastia or work as well for my illness) OR I stick it out, keep on with the medications and just deal with gynecomastia (which I am worried will cause me a lot of anxiety in itself).

Any advice or support is greatly appreciated.  I also have a few questions perhaps some of you can help me with too?

1. My main concern about just accepting the gynecomastia is the pain associated with it.  When it happened the first time, the pain was horrible and there for months even after I stopped the medication (although it lessened as time passed after stopping the medication).  Eventually the pain went away and I then had the surgery.  How do you deal with the pain of gynecomastia?  Are there ways to lessen the pain?  Does the pain stop or is it continual for as long as you are on medication (if the medication is causing it)?

2. If you are on medication, can the gynecomastia just stop developing after a while or will it continue to grow and worsen as long as you take the medication that are causing it?

3. Is low dose radiation safe for preventing gynecomastia associated with necessary medication?  I have read a little on this but not sure how often or safe or well it works...?

4. If I had gynecomastia already once and had successful surgery, will it come back as bad as the first time?  Worse?  Not as bad?

Thank you all for reading and taking time to answer my questions.  I hope I can gain some advice and insight on things. 

P.S. I am not gay (have a few close gay friends though) and am therefore also somewhat apprehensive due to the opposite sex situation that may present itself if and when I ever get back into the dating scene (hopefully some day).

[radic]

Dear Doomed,

My heart goes out to you, as I have had gynecomastia for the better part of the last 40 years.

The name you have chosen here suggests a state of mind that is probably not helpful for any of your medical problems.  A few sessions with a compassionate counselor might be in order, can also help with stress and anxiety.

As to the more concrete requests in your post there is no free lunch... we take medications to help conditions that are uncomfortable or threatening to our health, and for some there may be trade offs ie: side effects.  Working with your physician as to choice of meds and dosages can help here.

The side effects of any radiation treatment can be severe, and cause more problems than it would help.  I would avoid this at all costs.

I don't understand this association of gynecomastia with being gay.  There are gay men with and without gyne, there are straight men with and without.  And as far as dating and relations with women, altho I have harbored a bit of apprehension when dating, it has never ever been a hindrance.  In fact every woman I've been with either didn't care I had it or actually liked it. 

be well my friend

radic

[Doomed]

Hi there,

thanks so much for the reply.  I am realizing that it just may very well be a choice between the illness nerve pain/flushing/inflammation over the body OR gynecomastia.  When thinking about this, the gynecomastia seems like it would be a better quality of life for me as at least I would be able to function normally for the most part (sleep, work etc.). 

You are right regarding your comment on my name, I am normally not a negative person, but this dilemma really has me down as 2.5 weeks ago I thought everything was getting better, medications were working on the nerve pain and my condition and I was feeling back to normal again, then when I started developing gynecoamstia and my doctor told me it could be 3 of the 4 medications causing it, I felt like I hit a brick wall, especially since I went through the surgery and all that some 7 or 8 years ago and the whole ordeal was not a great experience.

Nonetheless, I am actually going to see a therapist in September and back to my Rheumatologist and GP next week so I will definitely discuss things with them, but the intial response was that they didn't think they should change anything...easy for them to say I suppose.

The other way I am looking at it is to think that what if I had HIV or Cancer or a life threatenting disease instead of a life altering/debilitating disease - if that were the case it would be to accept the gynecomastia or die.  Or if I was a scizo and had to take lithium (I think it is) or be in a mental hospital for the rest of my life.  I also thought about patients who have cancer and get chemo and lose all their hair and lose weight, things they endure to improve their health.

I suppose a way for me to look at is that gynecomastia is something that I need to endure in order to have a better quality of life due to my illness.  I am also trying to think more optimisitic in terms of if these medications work and I eventually get over this condition, perhaps I can stop them at some point and defeat my illness and then I can always have the surgery to correct things again.

Anyways, thanks for the words and the encouragement to have a more positive state of mind.