Finally had enough...

[FedupinCA1]

I just came across this message board and have to say until now I thought I was alone.  Yet,  I think reading through the posts has caused me to have more questions then I originally had so since I'm new here I'll mention what I'm going through and would appreciate any responses to help educate me on gyn.

I'm 35yrs old and about 12 years ago I had testicular cancer.  As a result of the tumor I had one testicle removed.  I have had no recurrance since then and for years haven't even thought about it.  A few years ago I gained a considerable amount of weight, had alot of anxiety and my nipples were painful.  I went to a doctor that I was seeing at the time and he shrugged it all off as a result of the weight gain. Not knowing any better I let it go.  Over time my chest started to resemble breasts and that was when I began dieting to lose the weight.  Well, I lost the weight - over 40lbs but all the weight still remained in my chest.  Well,  I lived like this for a long time now and it really stopped me from dating.  Recently I decided to go to the doctor(a new one) and talk to him about it.  I mentioned just about everything I just said and he immediately suggested a blood test to check my testosterone level.  A few days later he called and said the levels were in fact low and because of my medical history it made sense.  He has started me on hormone shots which I get once a week.  Currently I just had my second shot.  The first week I didn't notice much of a difference in my mood, energy, etc.  But about a half hour my second shot I'm feeling like my old self, my mood is greatly improved and my energy level is significantly different.  So that aside my focus is now on the gyn,  I just had enough of trying to hide it and now that I just started dating someone it's really not helping my confidence.  

I guess what I'm curious about is this:  should I expect any reduction in my chest from the testosterone?  Is that just wishful thinking.  My doctor mentioned it should make a difference and if not then surgery would be the answer.  Has anyone had their chest flatten again from the therapy?

After reading through the posts I'm assuming I already know the answer so has anyone had experiences with surgeons in Los Angeles?  What are the approximate costs of the surgery? What should I expect?

Anyway, I have to say this was probably one of the hardest things to have to write about so thank you for taking the time to read this.

[nothingworse]

I think the testosterone will do a little bit in the reduction part. Possibly cure it but, that would be pretty unlikely. I just have not seen really many people posting on here that testosterone totally cured their gyne. I took testosterone for a more mild/moderate case and it didn't do a damn thing. I felt something going on but, nothing happened. I just wanted to get rid of my painful glands and shrink the puffy nipples. I am not saying you will have no luck but, what I am trying to say is it will probably help but, not cure it. If you want it gone and gone for good I would go with surgery. I would probably complete your testosterone tests first to see what happens and if it doesn't cure it see a local PS. Set up a consulatation. Many surgeons do free consultations and their definetely should be a few in the Los Angeles area. I am guessing the starting price for surgery would be $5000 to a maximum of $6000. You can negotiate a price by yourself by paying up front or with your insurance company by paying up-front. Being able to get as much as 50% off of surgery. It all depends on the surgeon though. Some will take all the business they can get others won't do this unless you do it through your insurance company. If you work with them you can get 50% off of that average $5000 price. Making it more like $2500-3000 up-front. But, if you have a medical case of gyne or in a rare case can get your insurance to pay for the gyne surgery try that. I will find out about my medical cases by tomorrow now if insurance has covered it. But, I would suggest if your paying up-front since you have had past medical problems to work with your insurance company to get a discount. It is usually 40-50%. My parents have already went down that road and my surgery came out to about $2400 if I had to pay up-front with the insurance company. My parents won't go down that road because I have a medical case, which totally affects my everyday life and insurance has to help me and pay for it. It is for a medical purpose. Puffy nipple correction is also medical. They don't list that as being cosmetic. They list correction of abnormally large breasts by lipoing the fat as being cosmetic. Nothing about puffy nipple reduction being cosmetic. You will have to pay that $5000-6000 if you don't use insurance to work with the surgeon. But, if you do and it will take some time you will get about 40-50% off on average. And it would be easier and faster working with the insurance to discount it if you had a medical case. But, still can if you don't. It is just a little harder and more time consuming. Good luck to you and hopefully something works out for you.

[ItsOK]

My opinion on your situation is that it's much like gyne onset during puberty caused by a higher than normal estrogen/testostrogen ratio.  With the ratio now more normal, it would seem that you have about the same chances of your breast development disappearing as would an adolescent male.  I would suggest waiting at least six months to see what happens.

[STILLgotIT]

FedupinCA1, congrats on beating the cancer  

As far as the gyne regressing, that's hard to say. It depends on what stage of development it is at. It may or may not.

Gyne is also a side-effect of testosterone therapy via aromatization. Ask your doctor if the test he is giving you might aromatize into estrogen. It would be terrible to compound the gyne with what is supposed to correct the situation. It's important to have the dose right, not too high.

Good luck.

[FedupinCA1]

Thanks for your replies I appreciate any info I can get right now. I'm definetly leaning towards looking into the surgery and looking for a good doctor.