Hormonal imbalance or hypochondria

[zeramis]

I developed gynecomastia around the age of eleven, a period which also coincides with moderate weight gain despite no significant change in my lifestyle.
I am now twenty years old, i still suffer from gynecomastia, and through google was made aware of this site around a year ago.
Gynecomastia made my highschool life hell, i didn't get teased at all, at least to my face, but i had a certain crippling phobia i know many of you will relate to.
I have never had a serious relationship, girls have shown interest in the past, but i always end up shutting off contact because i know even one gynecomastia related rejection would completely crush whatever self esteem i have left.

Recently i began to research effects of hormonal imbalance on the male body, one of the symptoms of course being gynecomastia; as i ran down a symptom list i noticed myself placing an imaginary check to many of the listed ailments.
For a twenty year old male i have a high pitched voice, i also tend to store a LOT of fat around my waist and buttocks despite not being very overweight at all, my concentration is terrible, as is my short term memory and ability to learn, my co-ordination is sub-par at best and i suffer from enormous anxiety and lack of drive in general life.
My buttocks, lower back, and inner thighs are COVERED with stretch marks, and i seem to develop new cases without any noticeable rapid weight gain or loss; although this could be completely unrelated, i have read several sources which relate hormonal imbalance to stretch marks in men.

Recently i found a very small lump in my scrotum and i plan to visit the doctor within the week regarding. The lump itself was very hard to locate and i did so through activities you probably don't want to know about, needless to say another person was not involved.

Now, i'm fairly sure i have some kind of hormonal imbalance, but i would really like to read feedback as to what you guys think. I am unsure whether to bring it up with my GP lest he shrug it off as hypchondria, but thought this would be a good opportunity to bring it up as i have read testicular tumors can cause hormonal imbalances in young men.

One of my silly theories is that this little lump has been there for a while and has unknowingly ruined half of my life, although this could and likely will be washed away as hysteria.
In a way i would like this theory to be true, as then i would have some kind of closure as to why these things have befallen me, and of course i would hope this would make treatment much more viable.

On the flip side maybe i'm making a mountain out of a molehill, maybe i just developed gynecomastia for no reason at all, maybe i was genetically predisposed to a high pitched voice, stretch marks, anxiety, gynecomastia, emotional instability and feminine fat storage, and maybe this little lump in my scrotum is a harmless cyst that has no effect whatsoever on my hormonal balance.

Whatever your opinion i would really like to hear what you think, and thanks for reading the wall of nonsense that is my life, if you did.

[tttdone]

Theres actually a simple blood test you can have done to check your hormone levels. When you go to the doctor, just tell him your concerns and ask if you can have a blood test done.

[skyhawk]

Zeramis,

You should never feel bad about having a lump checked out. Better safe than sorry.

Its easy to have sex hormones checked to see if your testosterone is low or estrogens are high, or both. Also it would be a good idea to check thyroid hormones as these can have an impact on steroid hormones, which in turn, have impact on developing gynecomastia.

I see the human body as a stack of dominos. Knock one domino over and it takes several other dominos with it. You have to find the first domino that fell. Then fix it.

[skyhawk]

Hmmm,... after reveiwing your post again. Your first sentence says alot. "Unexplained weight gain with no lifestyle changes." And also you seemed concerened with being blamed for hypochindriac.

I would look seriously at thyroid function. Your TSH should be equal to or less than 3.00. If TSH exceeds this, I would recommend TPO lab to check for elevated thyroid antibodies as hashimotos thyroiditis could be the problem. Your Free T4 and Free T3 should also fall within the normal ranges. Just get a complete thyroid panel. TSH alone is not enough. Hyperthyroid patients can get gyno. About 10% of hyperthyroid people also gain weight. Just about all the hypothyroid people gain weight.

People with undiagnosed thyroid disease are usually labeled hypocondriacs by others. There are millions of undiagnosed people with this disorder. And still today, it gets overlooked.

[Grandpa Bambu]

I tend to store a LOT of fat around my waist and buttocks despite not being very overweight at all, my concentration is terrible, as is my short term memory and ability to learn, my co-ordination is sub-par at best and i suffer from enormous anxiety and lack of drive in general life.

Thanks for sharing! 

You are very similar to me dude... The short-term memory prob is very frustrating at times huh? 

I have: longish eyelashes, 'had' Gynecomastia, have very thin wrists, put on body fat easily on the buttocks, waist, and legs. Ability to learn is very slow, however co-ordination is average. Testicles are very small, almond sized. Def a hormonal prob! Never was tested though...

There is a list of traits of Klinefelter Disease on this site and I fit almost all of them...


GB

[rashdudes]

..as for those stretch marks...read-up on Cortisol levels. Hormonal science is relatively new and
complex. Almost 40% ppl suffer in some form or the other - the other 60% may not even know
that they have a problem

[Paa_Paw]

I could have written the same thing about 50 years ago.

Things normalized by the time I was in my 30's and I finally married at the age of 35.

Times have changed since then and there is no need for you to suffer in silence.

As noted above, a simple blood test will determine if you have hormonal problems. The catch is that you need to see a Doctor and get a proper evaluation of your symptoms.

You have everything to gain and nothing to lose, Make an appointment with a doctor and put this behind you.

As far as the girls are concerned, you have no need to avoid dating as the girls are more concerned about what is going on between your ears than a bit of surplus tissue on your chest.

Good Luck!

[zeramis]

Thanks for all your comments.

I'll be seeing a doctor within the week and this may have given me an impetus to ask a few more questions.

[Paa_Paw]

When a person has to see a doctor for something that emotionally charged, as this can be, it is easy to forget to ask important questions.

A good plan is to write the questions out and simply present the list of queations to the Doctor.

If the list is long, rewrite it over several times condensing as you go.

Try to get your list down to 4 Questions, none of them taking more than 2 lines.

Good luck!