I went to the doctor I need some advice

[Hatemychest]

Posted in right catagory

They are sending me to an endicrinologist right away! My doc told me its not normal for me to form breasts at my age, (18 and not be taking any medications or anything. They took a blood test and are going to check my hormones, and they are doing a friggin MRI on my pituitary gland!!!!  

How should I go about bringing up surgery options? I am on a medical card since I still live with my parents while I go to college. They hurt bad and are tender so I'm seeing if the medical card should cover it because of the pain involved. Im trying to weasel my way out of forking out 3000 bucks.  Undecided Any advice would be veyr helpful. Im waiting anxiously for the call from my doc

[Hatemychest]

The pain is not SEVERE. Its just tender breast.

The doctor told me that if the blood test come back bad they might have to do a pituitary gland MRI scan because I had surgery on my thyroid two years ago. It might be connected.

[Hatemychest]

Thank you, but oh yes. I want the surgery. My breasts are GROWING! I have no idea how large they are going to get but I want the surgery ASAP before I find out.
Im just trying to find a way to get rid of it through my medical card. The tenderness is because it is growing. I have been on and off of these boards now for 6 months, and I am tired of waiting. I want the surgery now, and I have finally made the first step by talking to my doctor. Since I am on Government funded money, I need to know who I can talk to to see if this will be covered, and if the pain will help me in the financial aspect of this. Since I still have to go through my parents for any thing medical, I don't want to cause the family any more grief by having to fork out the extra money. Since I am going on 19 years old I am going to be very much involved in this ENTIRE process and I have done my research to a certain degree. Who do I call?

[Hatemychest]

  Thank you.
I will do that.
I remember my doc kept asking me over and over if I had been taking any medications. I kept repeating, "No . . . no . . . no . . . no . . " lol.

Thanks alot guys.

[olderguy]

I have to disagree with some of what Dallas26 has said.  I am not a physician, but I have access through my library to Medline, which is an online database of virtually every article published in the medical journals during the past forty years or so.

I have read many articles on gynecomastia during the past few months, ever since I developed tenderness under my nipples on both sides about six months ago.  Such tenderness is very frequently associated with gynecomastia-- especially gynecomastia of recent onset.

The cause is an imbalance of hormones, and one wants to treat the underlying cause, if possible, before proceeding to surgery.

In my case, my doctor examined my breasts and found some "puffiness" under the nipple, especially on the right side.  He ordered blood tests to check hormone levels.  Those tests showed normal thyroid, but testosterone was in the very low normal range, and LH (Luteinizing hormone) was higher than normal.  Although it is rare, high LH with normal testosterone can be a sign of a pituitary tumor.  Therefore, my doctor ordered an MRI of the pituitary to rule out that possibility.  The MRI showed no abnormalities in the pituitary gland.  My doctor also sent me to a general surgeon for his opinion on whether the lumps under my nipples might be malignant.  The surgeon said he thought not, but that he could remove the lumps if I wished.

I decided to wait and watch.  The lumps are not growing, and the tenderness is less severe than it was a few months ago.  I am a lot older than you are (64), and my hormonal changes are probably associated with aging.

I agree with your doctor that it is not normal at your age to develop tenderness and growth of tissue in your breasts.   Hyperthyroidism can be a cause.  Be patient and let your doctors try to identify the cause.  If it is possible to treat the underlying cause, that is a much better option than surgery.

Perhaps the best general article on the subject is "Evaluation and Treatment of Gynecomastia," by Janis F. Newman, in the journal American Family Physician, Volume 55, number 5, April 1997.  If you do not have access to Medline, you could go to a university library and probably get access on one of their computers, or you could go the library at a medical school and find a print copy of the journal.

Good luck to you, and keep us posted on what you learn!

[Time_to_fix_it]

I agree with Olderguy above.  It’s so easy for us to panic when we discover what is happening to us.  But you have to take these things in the right order or you could end up having surgery more than once.

The first thing your doc is trying to do is find out why your breasts are growing.  The causes are many; some very simple and some quite serious.  It would be foolish to try to guess what the cause could be so I would advise you to let them run all the tests they like.  If they can find the cause and correct it, then surgery is an option for you.

Some people have rushed into surgery only to find that the breasts re-grow because the underlying cause was never discovered and corrected.  Others have panicked and self medicated with drugs trying to fix it themselves, only to find that it has made matters worse and actually set back or confused clinical investigations.  I say again, let them investigate possible causes, there really is no need to panic.

As for breasts tenderness .. I would say that it is very common as the breasts are growing.  I have it and I have read many posts on here by others who also describe it.  Like you I am undergoing a lot of clinical tests but I’m happy that they are taking it seriously.

Good luck and keep us posted as to how you get on.