Just joined. My story.

[cwc79]

I'll try and explain my situation without writing a novel.   
To start off, i'm 31 and have been on hormone replacement therapy for 3 months.
I've visited the site several times over the past few months but refuse to post pictures and i'll tell you why.   I've seen pics on here of chests that look better than mine and everyone is quick to announce that it's gyno.  I've also seen pics on here of chests that look worse than mine and everyone claimed fat only.  Even more confusion about my chest is the last thing I need.

As a child I started getting fat in about the 3rd grade.   Maybe in 6th grade I experienced a comment about my 'moobs' but ignored it and went on.  To be honest I didn't obsess about my chest until the last few months, and it's all I think about.    I started to thin out my sophomore year in higschool and got pretty thin by the time I graduated.  Skinny/fat I would say.  I got big into working out after highschool.   I got up to 190lbs but wore size 31/32 jeans.   I remember having a big chest, but i DO NOT remember considering them to be 'moobs.' 

Now, fast forward 10 years.   By the age of 30 I hit 242lbs.   That was just over a year ago but can't remember a single thing about looking, or feeling of my chest being overly concerned with moobs.   Maybe I was in denial?  A gym opened up a mile from home and despite working 2 jobs I made the time to workout.  Again, still no moob issues that I can remember.   I quickly cut down to 229, then decided that I wanted to bulk.  I spent the rest of the year and beginning of this 'bulking.'  Looking back I know I did it all wrong,  but despite me having a massive chest I didn't notice, or have a concern for moobs.   At my highest weight of 252 my chest measured 48 5/8".   So i'm a big guy at 252 (still in my 36 jeans) that could probably hit 325 for 1 on bench press.
So I start to examine myself and the size I had gotten to and decided I gained too much weight while bulking and wanted to shead the extra pounds.   This is where the problems start.   I started losing weight slowly and within the first week I started to notice and overly obsess over my chest.  At my peak weight my chest was actually harder, and sat higher on my torsoe.  So despite it being 'hard' fat I didn't notice or remember feeling that I had an issue with moobs.  I just knew that I had been working out for a year and had gotten really big.  So a week or 2 into the 'cut' is when I was prescribed with hormone therapy.  My T had come back pretty low and the reason I was tested is b/c I was complaining to my Dr. about lack of energy, libido etc.  Despite feeling incredible the first 8-10 months at the gym I was falling fast.
So, since i'm trying to 'cut' I decided to start running.  After one of my first dates with the treadmill my nipples are on fire.  This was approx. 3 months ago.  When I get home both nipples are bleeding like hell.  I took a shower and went on.  This has happened to me many times over the years from playing sports, so I wasen't alarmed.   The problem is this.   Three months later and my nipples are still very sore and sensitive.   Now I just considered today that it's because i'm lifting 4 days a week, and I wear a 'wife beater' under my workout shirt.   HOWEVER, i've been wearing them for the past 15 months at the gym so why now?   So either, i haven't allowed my nipples to properly heal from the injury 12 weeks ago, by continuing to wear the shirts, and lift/sweat...OR i'm developing gyno from the hormone therapy.   We discovered a few weeks ago that at the end of 2 weeks, the day before I was due for an injection that my T had bottomed back out to 185, while the day after a shot it was 607.   Two months ago (1 month into replacement therapy) i had a blood test and this is when my T was 607, but my Estrodol was 75.  The normal range showed 0-50.   I told my Dr. (which is female) my concern and she told me to give the therapy more time, and the more weight I lose that the estrodol will decrease.
Onto present day.   Since my last blood test showed a major drop in T that she put me on weekly injections.  So i'm starting to feel ALOT better libido,energy, etc but I can't really enjoy this because of my damn sore nipples and the concern with gyno.   So i've lost roughly 15 lbs.  I'm back down to 235 and my 36 waist jeans and hanging off.  To make matters worse, it looks like my entire body went down 10% while my moobs went down 3% making them look even worse to me.  So i've lost 'hard' fat making them sag, and now my upper chest is hard as a rock my lower is starting to concern me, but on my left pec more so than the right.  When my chest is cold(but soft nips)  the side view of my left pic is concerning.  I DO NOT have puffy nipples but it looks as though i've lost fat off of the upper part of the moob, and a little off of the bottom , but the amount they stick out has not changed.   Try and picture what i'm saying.   Now, the last 2 months i'm constantly looking and feeling for a gland and what i'm feeling is this:

The second I put my thumb and index finger on the outside of my areola and press down to my chest wall I can feel to me what feels like globs of fat, but when I slide my fingers up the aerola to the back of my nipple there is NO round rubbery disc.  I can pinch my areola to the back of my nipple nearly flat.  It's probably 1/8" thick or less, same for both sides. These 'lumps' are not sensitive or painful at all, but I will say there feels like the texture of 1 strand of straw or hay behind both nipples, again not painful.  So i'm saying it feels like a really thin strand of muscle, or simply the back of my nipples.  Here's the weird part.  When I examine both 'moobs' there are several small and hard 'lumps' if you will, all over and around the aerola, and even further down in to and to the side area of my chest.  Don't missunderstand that i'm meaning lymphnode region.  This is all chest mass.   To me it feels like fatty balls , or just fatty spots in my chest area, but after all of the pictures i've seen and what i've read I do not believe I feel any glands.  I had my Dr. inspect my chest 4 weeks ago and she told me I had nothing to worry about that I just needed to lose weight.

I'll try and break down the variables.

1. obese childhood, do not believe I suffered from gyno at any point.
2. started being concerned with chest after bulking 23lbs.
3. shortly after 'cutting fat' started hormone replacement therapy.
3.5. chest feeling more flabby after weight loss.
4. injured nipples running, and are still sensitive approx. 3 months later.(still wear the 'beaters' while lifting)
5. can feel alot of semi hard fatty areas in entire chest, , can pinch nipples about as flat as the handle of a plastic knife.  (just considered that 'straw' is more dense then what i'm feeling)
6. Left 'moob' slightly protrudes, hopefully caused by weight loss. Right pec looks more 'defined.'  I am right handed.

I can't ask my wife to look or give an opinion anymore.  She just gets mad b/c i'm so obsessed and says, "I know what boobs look like because I have a set, and you DO NOT have breasts like a woman. You look like a big strong man."  blah blah yada yada I stop listening after the 'strong man' part b/c simply don't want to hear anything else after that.

Someone a month ago actually said "You look like you could bench press alot."  I smiled and said thank you but thought to myself "Thanks for noticing my moobs, by the way Dolly Parton called, she wants her boobs back!

Thank you all for taking the time to read my novel.   I would like your honest opinions however understand if you choose not to because I don't have pictures.  I am willing to text pictures to someone I feel is honest and concerned and who has a good idea of what they're looking at.

Failed to mention that after losing 15lbs my chest measurement went from 48 5/8" down to 46" despite actually looking bigger!

Oh, to add some background I'll offer a little family history.  Some of you may understand bodytypes.

Naturally thin people or hardgainers are called ectomorphs.
Medium sized with square shoulders, lose or gain easily are mesomorphs.
Over weight 'pear shaped' individuals are endomorphs.

My father was an ectomorph.  Thin as a rail his entire life until he stopped smoking in his early 30's.  Gained approx. 150lbs but it was all stomach. His chest was as flat as a wall.

Mom's side are all endomorphs.  I remember my mom's dad having 'moobs.'  This could be  genetic to where i naturally store excess fat in my chest, so actually lifting weights is merely pushing my chest fat out.

My brother is probably 45lbs heavier than me with really large 'moobs' but proportionally to my body size they appear the same or smaller than mine.

I consider my brother to be pure endo.  My sister to be ecto, and myself to be a combination of Endo/Meso.

Thank you all for taking the time to read.

[Raider Fan]

Welcome to gyne.org.

Not sure what kind of response you're wanting because I'm not sure what you're asking.  Are you not sure if you have gynecomastia, or are you wanting to know what to do about it?

One rule of thumb I've learned since reading this board for several months is......if someone THINKS they might have gyne, they almost always do.  If you're 31 and your nipples are sensitive and you think your breast(s) are too big, in all probability, you have gynecomastia.  And it is likely caused by the low T/high estrogen profile you have.  Also, I can't count the number of times I've heard of gyne coming on after weight training was started and/or increased.  Not sure why this happens, but some think it has something to do with testosterone becoming unbound by the weight training, and the resulting free testosterone turns into estrogen, which knocks your hormone balance out of whack.  I've never seen this explanation by doctors.....it's more something you read on body building message boards.  But there does seem to be a real correlation between gyne onset and weight training. I've just heard of it happening too many times for there not to be something to it.  My gyne came on after I had recently begun lifting weights, and shortly thereafter, I found that my testosterone/estrogen ratio was off.  This just seems to be a very common scenario.  

Most doctors will be able to diagnose gyne just by looking and feeling.  If you want more than a doctor's opinion just by looking and feeling, ask your doctor for a mammogram/sonogram.  That will give you a definite diagnosis, or not, and will hopefully allay any fears you might have about something more sinister going on within your chest.  

If you're wanting to try to do something about your boobs while this condition appears to be in a beginning or "active" phase, you probably need to ask to go to an endocrinologist.  They study this type of thing much more in depth than your primary doctor does, and they are going to be more aware of medicines that can be beneficial in the early stages of gyne.  Anti-estrogen aromatase inhibitors, like Femara and Arimidex, have been shown to be helpful with painful/early stage gyne.  But the most common med given for the pain associated with early onset gyne is probably Tamoxifen, which is sold under the trade name of Nolvadex.  It is particularly effective for the pain and tenderness associated with early gyne, and sometimes can reverse increased tissue if caught in the early stages.  These meds will likely only be prescribed by an endo, as GP's and family doctors won't prescribe them.  Be aware, however, that these meds are typically given to women with a history of breast cancer, and there can be side effects with them (some potentially big ones).  Also, they typically prove to be of no benefit once the gyne has stabilized.  

If you receive a formal diagnosis of gyne, you'll need to be sure it's stabilized and not actively growing tissue prior to having any surgery to correct it (if you ever decide to go that route).  

[Paa_Paw]

Several months ago, there was a discussion about the diagnosis of gynecomastia.  The general consensus was that the condition is essentially self diagnosed. Some of the Doctors were in agreement as well.

The term is believed to have originated with the Greek Physicain "Galen" and that he used it to refer to breasts that were contoured like those of a woman. contouring in that way would naturally require some fatty deposits but not necessarily any glandular tissue. there are now people who distinguish between what they call "True Gynecomastia" and "Pseudo-Gynecomastia" the former being glandular tissue and the latter being fatty tissue. The distinction is rather a moot point as most often there is both kinds of tissue present to some degree.

So far, I have probably been of no help at all beyond the information that the condition is usually self diagnosed.

There are some big gaps in your post, and you raise several questions. When you were trying to bulk up were you using steroids? If so what? Your waist measurement does not seem excessive considering your weight, Have you ever had a BMI study done? In a person with a lot of muscle the usual weight charts are not very reliable.

In the case of an obese person, there is a double whammy involved. First is that the breast area is a normal place for fatty deposits Second is the fact that the conversion of Testosterone to Estrogen occurs in the fat cells so the fat person becomes more or less Estrogenized over time..

[Grandpa Bambu]

Welcome to the club my man.... 

GB...

[cwc79]

Thanks for the reply paa paw.  I was NOT using steroids while bulking.  I've recently lost about 4% body fat only to make my chest feel more jiggly before, and as I mentioned the chest fat seems to be more of a problem after the weight loss.   I think my body fat peaked at 32% and BMI was low 30's.  After the weight loss it's 30 i think now.   Weight loss in the past has always 'cured' the moobs but I never got this heavy before either.
To be entirely honest with myself I can say that there MAY be some glandular tissue in my chest but mostly just have bad genetic luck for chest shape.   I asked a trainer at the gym about my problem.  He said to keep cutting the fat and from what he's seen I did way too much flat chest exercises.  Of course he's not a Dr. but understands how working out shapes your body.  I've began prioritizing upper chest movements to try and combat the issue.  My upper chest is very firm and actually has some definition but the lower chest is just awful.   I've looked at a few weight loss pictures that only cover 4-6 weeks but the shape of my chest seems to get more of a 'pointy' shape with the more weight i lose.  My chest has never looked like this before.  Just like a dude who works out with more chest fan than most.   Nipples still are not puffy.

[iwannabefree]

hey guys,

long story short, we live in a world where estrogen is everywhere - the food we eat, the stress of our lives, the milk we drink, the coffee, teas, achohol, the microwave bowls, everything -- can't really escape it.

over-estrogen is messing up the world -- breast cancer in women, impotence in men, stress, cancers, lower sperm count --- everything. the worst part is...we dont realize the over-estrogenic nature of modern society.

EVERYONE will have a certain amount of bitch breasts, or soft nips, its not a big deal. now when it comes down to self assesment of gynecomastia, i'll break it down into 2 aspects:

1. health: make sure you dont have a hormonal imbalance due to some messy disease, if you do get it sorted. life is most important.
2. appearance: if you are confident enough to take your shirt off in public, hit the beach, get girlfriends - you dont have gyne (a lil softness doesnt hurt)