damn gyno..I have it...and now my son has it

[RoyLee]

New to the forum here. I am in my mid 40's and have had gyno since I was a pre-teen. It ruined much of my childhood and destroyed my self confidence. I probably don't need to tell most of you the toll it takes. I have learned to deal with it as an adult, but I have a son now who is 13, and he has it just as I did. He's had it for years, and he's not a heavy kid, so I don't think its fat (I was a skinny kid and had it), I think its just genetics. It's really never been seriously brought up to his doctor before, I think his Mom inquired about it at his last visit and the doc pretty much dismissed it as "its puberty, he'll grow out of it". Well I call bullshit, given I had it. I don't want him to go through what I did. I'm sure he gets teased at school, kids nowadays are more cruel then ever. He denies it, but I can tell and I know the signs that he's self conscious about it. In any case, he has his annual exam with the doctor coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm going to request to talk to him privately about the matter, not in front of my son. I'm more than ready to call bullshit if he wants to dismiss it, enough to tell him he needs to take it more serious or we'll find another doctor. What can I add to my argument to have the doc look closer? As a general practitioner, he probably doesn't know diddly squat about it, but he should care enough to look into it and perhaps refer him to a specialist. I was thinking of telling the doc I want some hormonal blood levels run, including testesterone, estradiol and prolactin. I know from my research if these are out of whack it can cause issues. I know myself personally, my levels are out of whack, low t, low estrogen, high prolactin,but I have no idea how long its been that way, I never had them checked when I was a kid, so I don't know if we are just prone to the gyno, or if possibly I've had abnormal levels all along. In any case, I'm more concerned about my son and I want to get the doc on board, what else can I do, is there anything else I should be insisting upon? lastly, I don't know if it would come to this as I dont' know if my son would be on board yet, but can they do the gyno surgery on someone that is only 13? thank you in advance

[Paa_Paw]

I am 79, the condition does not merely run in my family, it gallops.
That said, I never thought of myself as anything other than a normal male with a condition that occasionally caused some embarrassment.  All four of my sons have it to some degree and the grandchildren as well. 

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Welcome to the forum!  Here you will find many guys with similar problems and the ways they have dealt with it.  

There have been many discussions about how to deal with gyne manifesting in a young teen.  I have stated repeatedly that any gyne (and the diagnosis is made visually)   in a young teen, which doesn't change or improve within 2-3 years after it appears, will most likely remain.  On the other hand, many pediatricians pat the young man on the shoulder and tell them to wait it out because "it will disappear by the time you turn 18."  Honestly, I have never seen established gyne disappear overnight when the young man turns 18.

As for doing hormonal testing, understand that during puberty the hormones are surging and there may indeed be some abnormalities.  On the other hand, I once had a young man come to see me with his dad, who happened to be a pediatric endocrinologist -- the perfect person to be involved.  And guess what -- he studied his son's hormones and they remained totally normal despite his son's developing gyne.  That scenario, albeit just one person, convinced me that most teen gyne is mostly a matter of genetics, not gross hormone abnormalities.

As for treatment, I have successfully treated boys as young as 12 who had established gyne.  They did well with the surgery and never had a recurrence during their later teen years (another fallacy promulgated by pediatricians).

In sum,  I commend you for being a concerned parent.  Hopefully, the above has helped you so that your son need not live through his teen years dealing with the embarrassment of gyne.

Dr Jacobs  

[RoyLee]

thank you, doc, for that info. Interesting points on the hormonal levels, perhaps it would not shed much light if we ran some blood levels given his age and stage of growth being in puberty. But your comment on if the condition doesn't change within 2-3 years keeps me concerned, as he's had it for more than that. So perhaps we would be looking at surgery. Maybe a visit with an endo in the future is going to be necessary. thanks again for your input

[SmokeyNYY]

My dad has gyne I have gyne. My one older brother has slight gyne. And my other older brother has no gyne.  I would get him surgery as soon as you know its not going away. I wish my dad did it for me when I was a teen.

[Cristalis]

I have developed gyno in the years of puberty too, im 39 going on 40. First on the left side then weeks later on the right too. The left side is larger. 

When thye developed they have hurt me and the look of them bothered me since then. 

I was very skinny and my areolas looked soft, enlarged and puffy, i was like a little girl who slowly develops breast, so very embarrassed of them! I always pinched them so they to be erect and not enlarged and soft.

For me there was no problem talking to my parents, especially my mother. I told them that something hurts me and growed under my areolas. My mother took me to doctors, i even had mammography but they told us it will go away. They never did go away, they are here and they destroyed my life!

I later in the mid 20's i learned about meds that blocks or inhibits estrogen. There are meds that can block estrogen in chest/breast are and there are meds that stops the aromatisation of testosteron into estrogen. 

I wish some doc prescribed me back then some Nolvadex/Tamoxifen to block my high levels of estrogen or to block the receptors of the estrogen in the chest.

As said, some kids have balanced levels of hormones but they still develop gyno and my thoughts on why is that is because they have more estrogen receptors and or high affinity receptors to estrogen.

In early stages gynaecomastia is reversible and thats a fact seen with my eyes. I have seen in person people developing gynaecomastia from steroid use and seen how gyno/breast tissue can retract and be gone with the aid of this meds so called estrogen antagonists(see Tamoxifen)

I wish someone at that time i developed my gyno knew about this meds and prescribe them to mee before it was to late, gynaecomastia if its there for more than a years is there for good. so just in the early stages can be attacked without surgery.

Maybe you can talk with your sons doctors about this. Best of luck with your son!