19. Time to change

[frustrated1]

I never thought i'd find a site where I could say this lol. I'm Joe, from Australia..I was anorexic as a child and as i hit puberty around 12 I started getting a bit chubby and noticing man boobs. Never cared though, thought it was just fat. Never really got teased but I always saw peoples eyes wander curiously towards my chest. I had heaps of friends and was always comfortable around girls but i found the older I got the harder it got. Lost weight when i was 18 to about 70kg @ 184cm and still had man boobs. Theyre not really bad but it makes me feel pretty uncomfortable when i'm on top of a girl..thats when i started becoming a bit more self conscious about the whole thing. It messed up a relationship i had and as of lately I've found it almost doesnt let me be my complete self anymore. Have had a massive drop in self-esteem and suffered a bit of depression which i think deep down is due to that and it been a massive set-back to me.

I swam for 10 years, miss it terribly but feel uncomfortable going to the beach/pools. Done both boxing and kickboxing for a nearly 2 years but couldnt build a chest and was embarassed. I'm not an ugly guy, I dont have a problem getting with girls but it holds me back, I'm in the best shape of my life (almost) and yeah I wanna be able to say I lived my life to the fullest. Not being uncomfortable in summer, not pretending to act uninterested around girls i know, wear what I wanna wear, not feel paranoid and have the confidence i want to have. So I'm gonna pay a visit to Dr. Sue Thistletwaite and hopefully get surgery done about it by mid next year!

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

A touching and all-too-common story.  Good for you for taking the first step.

Dr Jacobs

[cecly]

The hardest part is making that initial realisation that you have gyne. Now that you are ready to change it only gets better from here on in.

Good luck with the road ahead, you will thank yourself for walking down it.

[Dave_8]

Good luck in trying to get surgery.