Pitutiary Adenoma & Secondary testicular failure

[jrna]

Hello, I have just joined, had lots of problems over the last couple of years and been diagnosed with a Pituitary adenoma, secondary testicular failure,  Low bone density and Gynecomastia amongst other things.

I am just coming up to my second Nebido injection which has helped after a hellish period of Testosterone at about 1.8 nmol/L 46.1 ng/dl.

Not sure how it all started....but 2 years ago I had a prostate abscess which was treated with anti-biotics over many months (20 Days in hospital as I am allergic to quinolines) After I recovered I had ongoing orchitis and testicular pain and slowly the gyno appeared.

I had no idea my testosterone was dropping, my wife has also been ill and It just snuck up on me. Earlier this year my testes started to get very small and then they started looking. It has taken an age to get this far.

I have weird symptoms of sweating from the head and have a cold body. I get hyper active and don't sleep for days and then I become completely dormant , hot, cold energetic , lethargic, headaches, at least the hot flushes have gone now!

In this time most of my body hair has gone, my breast tissue has grown and they don't think the Pitutiary is affecting me and are opting to watch and wait. the adenoma is 4mm.

When they did my last hormone tests the Testosterone was  1.8 nmol/L 46.1 ng/dl and the LH & FSH were normal which worried them as they expected it to be elevated. ThEverything else including Prolactin were normal. This prompted an MRI and they found the adenoma and now they don't seem bothered!

I see an endocrinologist in February next year and in the meantime I have all these symptoms including tenders breasts

My wife has been amazing, we have known each other 30 years (I am 55).

The hardest thing to deal with is the breast growth and being self conscious about it. I wear a medical vest during working hours which gets very tedious.

Apparently the endocrinologist thinks that until my testosterone levels normalise after 3 or more injections they won't be able to tell if the Pitutiary is causing me problems!

From all I have read and what I am going through it seems a little odd.

I still get a lot of testicular pain, swelling and am constantly on anti-biotics, my last urine test was clear but the semen test showed 'mixed organism' not sure what this means as the urologist has moved my appointment twice and I don't get to ask him until the first week in October.

I also have a large painful 45MM cyst on my left kidney and am just getting over helico bacter infection in my stomach.

I have seen a geneticist and she is investigating my family for Lynch syndrome and Cowdens as apparently my head is bigger than average.

All the while my breast tissue continues to grow!

[Paa_Paw]

Welcome to the forum.

I personally have no words of wisdom for you as my Gynecomastia is the usual early puberty kind. That sounds like a rather odd thing to say since I am now 77 years old.  Be patient, we have a number of men with similar histories to yours and they should come in soon.

[jrna]

Thanks Grandpa Dan,

i had gynecomastia as a youngster, but it all cleared up. Not sure if that says anything about what is happening to me now.

[Alchemist]

Hello, I have just joined, had lots of problems over the last couple of years and been diagnosed with a Pituitary adenoma, secondary testicular failure,  Low bone density and Gynecomastia amongst other things.

I am just coming up to my second Nebido injection which has helped after a hellish period of Testosterone at about 1.8 nmol/L 46.1 ng/dl.

Not sure how it all started....but 2 years ago I had a prostate abscess which was treated with anti-biotics over many months (20 Days in hospital as I am allergic to quinolines) After I recovered I had ongoing orchitis and testicular pain and slowly the gyno appeared.

I had no idea my testosterone was dropping, my wife has also been ill and It just snuck up on me. Earlier this year my testes started to get very small and then they started looking. It has taken an age to get this far.

I have weird symptoms of sweating from the head and have a cold body. I get hyper active and don't sleep for days and then I become completely dormant , hot, cold energetic , lethargic, headaches, at least the hot flushes have gone now!

In this time most of my body hair has gone, my breast tissue has grown and they don't think the Pitutiary is affecting me and are opting to watch and wait. the adenoma is 4mm.

When they did my last hormone tests the Testosterone was  1.8 nmol/L 46.1 ng/dl and the LH & FSH were normal which worried them as they expected it to be elevated. ThEverything else including Prolactin were normal. This prompted an MRI and they found the adenoma and now they don't seem bothered!

I see an endocrinologist in February next year and in the meantime I have all these symptoms including tenders breasts

My wife has been amazing, we have known each other 30 years (I am 55).

The hardest thing to deal with is the breast growth and being self conscious about it. I wear a medical vest during working hours which gets very tedious.

Apparently the endocrinologist thinks that until my testosterone levels normalise after 3 or more injections they won't be able to tell if the Pitutiary is causing me problems!

From all I have read and what I am going through it seems a little odd.

I still get a lot of testicular pain, swelling and am constantly on anti-biotics, my last urine test was clear but the semen test showed 'mixed organism' not sure what this means as the urologist has moved my appointment twice and I don't get to ask him until the first week in October.

I also have a large painful 45MM cyst on my left kidney and am just getting over helico bacter infection in my stomach.

I have seen a geneticist and she is investigating my family for Lynch syndrome and Cowdens as apparently my head is bigger than average.

All the while my breast tissue continues to grow!

Hi Jrna,

2-4 grams of C a day got rid of a 2 year persistent prostate and urinary infection that the antibiotics, sulfas etc couldn't touch.  I have no idea about the rest.  It kept the infections away as long as I tried it with a trial withdrawal from C after a couple of months, a year and 5 years.  It always came back about 2 weeks after stopping vit C.  I have taken C (up TO 16 GRAMS A DAY). for the past 42 years.  Before C I had 6 streps a year, after C 1 each 20 years or so.  I found it important to enjoy something each day during decades of chronic illness.  Breasts, even outstanding D-DD became insignificant and meaningless in the whole scheme of things.  They are of no more significance now than the spare tire I used to carry.  You can always join a nudist club and be one of the normal 50% of men with breasts of one size or another.

In putting in a software proposal for a nudist club I told the manager that if I have to wear my 3 piece grey flannel suit it will cost extra.

Have fun and good health to you.

[jrna]

Hi Alchemist,

Thanks for your comments. I may be dumb! I have not got a clue what 'C' is?

J

[Alchemist]

Hi Alchemist,

Thanks for your comments. I may be dumb! I have not got a clue what 'C' is?

J

Sorry I wasn't clear, Vitamin C.

[hammer]

Jnra, welcome to the club that not many men want to be a member! There are a few men that want breast, but most of us get them without wanting them!

I'm 56, and had gynecomastia as a young man, but after having a vasectomy when my wife was pregnant with number 5 I had a ton of testicle pain and in the end I lost then due to them rotting. So I know the pain of breast growth all to well! Mine have grown to require a 46H bra to suppot them, and my family and friends are fine with that and my primary care doctor at the VA recommend that I go for a formal fitting, and I did. Best move I made.

I lost the testicles 94/95 and have dealt with growth and pain various times over the years until a year ago or so, including hot flashes until a few years ago! I used hormones for awhile, but didn't like the side effects that I was having so my wife and I decided that I would stop. Not long after that I had an unexplainable heart attack! Now with all the TV advertising about testosterone replacement causing heart problems I'm thinking that could have been the problem. That was in 1995, I was 37 years old so I'm fine now, other then a ton of other problems, mostly bad back and diabetes related, but not heart!

I wish you luck on figuring out what is going on, but in the mean time you have friends here that will be here to stand by you and understand.


Bob

[jdb]

Hello, I have just joined, had lots of problems over the last couple of years and been diagnosed with a Pituitary adenoma, secondary testicular failure,  Low bone density and Gynecomastia amongst other things.

Hi Jrna,
Although not exactly the same problems as you, my experience has been similar.  I had long standing urinary tract infection that finalized with a kidney infection and severe bilateral orchitis. This was incredibly painful as my testes swelled to the size of tennis balls.  That was finely fixed with loads of antibiotics but the testes were half the size they were before things went wrong.  My testosterone dropped to almost nothing while my LH went sky high.  And of course I grew breasts over the next few years.  This was despite taking testosterone regularly. It seems that taking testosterone does not stop the gyne. 

I have since found that my prolactin was high and probably always has been.  I don't have an adenoma and no one seems to know why it is high.  The end result after 15 years and 62 years old is large fully formed female like breasts (finely ending up as D to DD cups on a 38 inch chest) little body hair and a tendency to lactation. I have ended up wearing a front fastening compression type sports bra to make them less obvious (impossible to completely hide) and provide support.  My wife too has been amazing and accepts my condition "as one of those things".   I have now learnt to live with my breasts and they do not really bother me much any more although initially I was frantic in my efforts to hide them.

Best of luck.
JDB

[hammer]

After years of try to hide them I've come to a point that I'm not worried about that any more! Now im not going around trying to let people see them, I'm just not going to great lengths to hide them. I wear a tee shirt one size to big is all I do most of the time, and sometimes an open button down shirt over that. I've never had looks or comments.

Isn't the lactation an interesting experience? I have gone through that a couple different times during growth periods.

[jdb]

After years of try to hide them I've come to a point that I'm not worried about that any more! Now I'm not going around trying to let people see them, I'm just not going to great lengths to hide them. I wear a tee shirt one size to big is all I do most of the time, and sometimes an open button down shirt over that. I've never had looks or comments.

Isn't the lactation an interesting experience? I have gone through that a couple different times during growth periods.

Lactation doesn't bother me too much although it can make the breasts uncomfortable but I don't make much.  I have had the odd embarrassing moment, once I leant over a counter to reach something down the other side and leant on my chest to do so.  When I got up I had two wet patches over my nipples an inch across.  Luckily I realised before anyone noticed.
I don't really know what to do about lactating.  I am not supposed to empty my breasts as it is supposed to make them worse yet they sometimes get tight and very itchy which is only relieved by getting rid of some of the milk.
I don't know about interesting but it definitely seems weird even just writing about it, it is something that is so associated with females, even more so than having breasts that I would never have believed 20 years ago that I would be like this.

[hammer]

If nothing else it gives us a chance to experience what our wives went through years ago! Lol

I being retired/disabled was at home, but if someone was going to work or out in public I would think you would want to put a breast pad on to avoid having an embarrassing moment as you described.

[TomJones]

Every male in their 40s to 60s drops their testosterone level.
Some even go through an increase of estrogen whether it be internal (as in your case) or external because of environmental reasons. All in all, a huge percentage of us go through a period typical of teenage female puberty in which breast growth occurs.  Hence, here we are, adult males discussing our breasts somewhat like teenage girls.  
Welcome aboard.
Oh yea, I have 40Bs.
Tom

[hammer]

Tom, it almost like going through a male menopause! Females grow a mustache when they go through theirs, we grow breast when we have ours! LOL


Bob

[Alchemist]

How odd it all is, like a cosmic joke on us all.  Here I am 66 with breasts that grew and stayed during puberty and nothing else at all has affected them.  They grew out by 6th grade.  27 years later with some complicated nutritional deficiencies (genetically caused) and my testosterone dropped through the floor.  I felt awful and that was just one of the hundreds of symptoms and signs I developed.  Through the years I have taken literally dozens of drugs that might cause gynocomastia, and none made any difference.  I take testosterone as my OEM testosterone never recovered.  I have no particular side effects and it works well.

My body hair is blotchy.  I lost sections of it to neuropathies and RSD (CRPS). Some partially returned as some neuropathic areas recovered but that was mostly blond unlike other areas. Other areas appeared normally hairy.  Things could be lots worse.  During all this my breasts increased a little with edema and weight gain and lost a little going the other way, and varied in the range D to DD.   Basically at this point I try to be aware of any medical situation and ignore the rest.

My health balance is precarious at best and I try not to do anything that might upset it.  Good luck.

[jrna]

Hi Alchemist,

Thanks for your comments. I may be dumb! I have not got a clue what 'C' is?

J

Sorry I wasn't clear, Vitamin C.

I thought you meant Cocaine!