My Boyfriend has gynecomastia :(

[angela83]

Hi Everyone,

I am a newbie to this website, but i'm really glad that I found it. I'm hoping to get some more information and some advice. My boyfriend Nick has gynecomastia. He is a healthy guy that is serious about working out and weight training. He's probably in the gym about 6 days a week and has never taken any steroids, just protien powder/shakes. His dr has taken blood numerous times and run so many tests. All of them including his hormone levels come back perfectly. The dr told him to get off any protien powder, vitamine or suppliment that he is taking to see if the lumps go away. Nick went off of them for two months and the lumps seemed to get worse and even more sensitive. The dr. can't seem to figure out what's causing this. It's frustrating for me cause I know that they hurt him, and believe it or not, it's effecting his moods. It just seems like there has to be a reason why he has this. His dr referred him to a another dr for a second opinion, and she put him on a medication called Tamoxifen. I found out that this is a medication for women with breast cancer, and she put him on the lowest dose. He said that sense he has been on it, nothing has changed.

I know that you guys won't have any answers. I was just wondering if you guys have heard of this situation, or know of anything that he could try. Is it true that he could have this for no reason? Any kind of advice or information would help greatly.

I'm sorry this is so long

Thank you in advance... Angela

[skyhawk]

Angela, Just curious. Were the protien shakes soy protien?

[RyanMace]

His hormone levels can have been imbalanced during his teens, but are stable now. Usually, there's just one option left to go with; surgery.

[CodySockeye]

Probably just another puberty-related case that never went away... Like Ryan said, surgery is probably the only option, especially if he's had this for over 2 or 3 years. You didn't mention y'alls ages, so it's hard to tell whether or not it could go away naturally.

[angela83]

Oh yeah I did forget to mention his age. He's 30 and this whole thing started about a year ago. By the way skyhawk, the shakes are whey protein.

[CodySockeye]

A year ago? Really? Well then rule out puberty. It has to have been induced by something he has taken (steroids possibly) or being overweight which doesn't seem to be the case... I know you said he doesn't juice but I highly doubt protein shakes would have anything to do with it. If his hormones remain stable then he can look into surgery but that is very odd that it came so late in his life. The normal age of onset is like 12 or 13.

[angela83]

maybe it had been there previously but didn't hurt. I think that he realized that the lumps were there because it started to hurt. But regardless, it looks like surgery is going to be the answer. I am just scared that it's going to come back because we don't know whats causing it.

[Grandpa Bambu]

Is it true that he could have this for no reason?

There's always a reason....  However, the 'reason' or 'cause' in many cases is idiopathic. Meaning that the cause is unknown...

Gynecomastia rarely returns after surgical removal...


Cody...  While it's true that many sufferers develop gynecomastia at a young age, I wouldn't call developing it later in life 'odd'. There are many men who get gynecomastia later in life.

GB

[johnnybot]

if he developed it that late definetly not going anywere. All you can do really because none of those pills or creams work is just stay by him, well he saves for the sugery depending on were you are from 2600-5000 is what ive heard about mine is going to cost 3100. and Im sure it will be worth every penny. About the protein I dought it inless one of his proteins had an anabolic formula which included methyl 5(thats the one I know)something like that is hormone based and if taken in excess may cause gyno
methoxy-pro waas the protein I took like that but I took normal dosses and I already had gyne

[angela83]

thank you all so much for your advice 

[skyhawk]

Angela, has Nick ever taken any cholesterol lowering drugs? They are widley prescribed and can cause Gynecomastia.

[Paa_Paw]

Angela,

Obviously your boyfriend, Nick, did a good job at funding such a compassionateand understanding girlfriend. Hopefully he will do equally well at finding a really good surgeon. In the meantime, he may want to get copies of the Lab results and consult with an Endocrinologist. Perhaps the Endo. will find something that the regular Dr. missed. This is not to say the regular Dr. is remiss in any way, but simply to say that it may be time to see a specialist.

[angela83]

Thank you paa_paw that was really sweet of you! That was actually going to be my next question, I didn't know what type of dr. specialized in that. Thank you so much for the advise.

[outertrial]

Mine came on in my late 20s, it grew quite rapidly and was tender for a while to the extent that walking down steps was sore. I was in Japan at the time so didnt see a doctor, by the time I got back to the UK it had finished growing and it was too late to guess what may have caused it as my hormones were all normal.

It just happens sometimes.

[Nick1977]

Hello. Its me Nick. Thank you everyone that has been replying to the posts. Very helpful. Anyway, thought I would fill in more of the story. As Angela has said I am very serious about weightlifting and have been for about 4 years now. I hit the gym 5 days a week. I rarely miss a day. About 18 months or so ago I noticed some tenderness in my left nipple. Thought nothing of it. It evolved into a hard lump under the nipple about the size of a pea, and recently got a little larger. It never bothered me until about 6-8 months ago when i noticed another lump growing under my right nipple. They both became pretty sensitive. Angela would go to hug me and accidentally press against them which would cause a pretty sharp pain. This became a concern to me because I have never done steroids. Now, I have taken a few things that might be the cause of the problem initially. Probably 2 years ago I took some NATURAL testosterone pills. Nothing major, just wanted to see if I could push myself a bit more in the gym. I think I took those for about a month. Few months went by, decided to try something a little stronger. I tried a product called AnEvol from Evolution Labs. I guess they consider that a "pro-hormone". Now that a think back, that is around the time that my left nipple (1st one with the problem) became a bit sensitive. It kinda freaked me out so I stopped taking it after about 3 weeks. I immediately took another NATURAL testosterone booster because I have been told that you must take a booster like that to raise your natural testosterone. Anyway, that was about 1 year ago and i haven't messed around with anything like that since. Went to the Dr. Had the lumps checked out. Mammogram and ultrasound. Came back negative for cancer but told me I had gyno. Ok, now to figure out what is causing it. Had my balls scanned...negative for testicular cancer. Had my pituitary gland checked out...ok, had my hormone levels checked...ok. Thyroid checked out...ok. Everything has been returned normal. My concern is even if I took a hardcore steroid (which i didn't) why or how could it be causing growth 1 year later?  The doctor put me on Tamoxifen (10mg). It seems to be helping a little bit. My right lump (2nd lump) has seemed to reduce in size by more than half and has no sensitivity. The right one (original lump) is still there, is less sensitive and has only reduced probably by 15-20%. I don't have large 'man boobs' but from certain angles I get freaked out. I hope I can get rid of those as well. Now with all that said.......any ideas?

Thanks for everyones help and I apologize for the long post.

Nick