This is me

[Jadzia]

i have high estrogen and my larger breast is now a small B. i have not gained weight, but my paints and briefs were tight so i asked. Does my butt look big.... She said yup it does, I think it's time for boyshort "Grany panties".

[WPW717]

The healthcare industry suffers from too much gov’t interference. That also contributed to my lengthy incontinence  from OAB. Had to go through 2 cholinergic drug trials before we could advance to the Botox detrusor injections. That is the definitive fix for the problem. The drug trials were very expensive $ 7000 for one Rx.
Doing well now with minimal leakage, and savings on pads& pants.

As far as developing breasts I won’t rehash the endocrine problems of MEN syndrome but I think the cause of a lot of our developing problem is an enzyme called aromatase. It converts T to E. If it tinkers with the T/E ratio just a little then poof, instant breasticles. Mine from first awareness to C D cups took only about 8 months.
The aromatase after a certain age seems to be more active in some versus others. A metabolic change with age ? who knows. As far as T therapy goes it is fuel to the estrogen fires. At a certain age (65) it’s not really recommended as a treatment for primary hypogonadism.
I will add as an adolescent I has the you need a bra teasing in junior high school. Probably an indication that I would have future issues with gynecomastia.

[Justagirl💃]

I told my NP who is new for me and is a woman in her early 40s I had gynecomastia and was one of a few issues I wanted a full panel ran for my hormones and she only ordered total T which came back normal I ordered my own panel for a full work up and when she got those she told me I have hypogonadism and my levels are very much off balance I was like y’all need to begin listening to the patient rather than the textbook cause it feels you’re just getting us in and oht without hearing us out.

It took me a couple years before my doctor would finally order the tests required to find out the extent of my being intersex. It's the "if it's not broke don't fix it mentality."
But after a year of horrible hot flashes twice a day that you could set your watch to, he finally agreed that my symptoms were not idiopathic. That something must be going on.

My diagnosis was premenopause, and now menopause. 

I never did get the BC pills knows to alleviate symptoms from him, but my hot flashes have calmed down to just about once a month. 

It seems the doctors have a standard "rule of thumb" process of diagnosis, and when something unusual pops up they are caught off guard. 

[Johndoe1]

The aromatase after a certain age seems to be more active in some versus others. A metabolic change with age ? who knows. As far as T therapy goes it is fuel to the estrogen fires.

About 10 years ago I talked to my doctor about testosterone HRT and she insisted that I not do that. Since I was already sensitive to aromatase even with estrogen blockers, she suspected additional breast growth of one to two cups.

[Dudewithboobs]

Yeah it’s a shame Birdie that something out of the textbook is the only way for them to get out of their textbooks and take an honest loook at what is going on. 

John I was told by my NP I could try testosterone but it would need to be taken for the long haul to better my labs. I’m asking if there’s any downsides to it she noted some people who are sensitive to hormonal changes may find issues with fertility due to it not being natural testosterone and the body quitting or minimizing it’s natural testosterone. But it is rare. Then my urologist told me bout the aromatase inhibitor he wanted me to go on that it is very strong and works very fast and may experience symptoms similar to menopause or andto pause for a few weeks. And when I asked when I quit taking it will my hormones just go sideways again, his answer, it is likely you will experience a drop in your testosterone especially if you’re estrogen sensitive. 

Needless to say I dismissed taking either or. I’d rather experience my body doing what it’s doing and work to naturally better my hormones than risk infertility or feeling good just to go off medication and be worse off 

[blad]

I think just going bra shopping is easier than all the medical investigations that in the end change nothing.

[Justagirl💃]

Went in for some tests a year latter because I was going to have hip surgery. Nurse giving me my EKG told me I have breasts..

Years ago when I was still in boy-mode I had chest pains whilst they CNA was here at my residence. She called EMTs, and the ambulance soon arrived. In the meantime she helped me out of my bra. 

She started telling them my medical history referring to me as "him". 

One EMT then lifted my shirt to hook up the EKG leads, and all three switched from calling me "him" to "her."

The CNA kept correcting them. 

I was not transferred as my EKG looked more or less okay, and I opted to take my nitro pill and wait it out. 

[JJ_Gyne]

I think just going bra shopping is easier than all the medical investigations that in the end change nothing.

Yeah could put together one heck of a wardrobe with the money dumped into go no where "health care".

and all three switched from calling me "him" to "her."

Bout as close as I got to something like this was on the results of one of my mammograms. The radiologist penned a note saying that "yadda yadda detailed explanation.", "
Some one should reach out to her and explain this in laymen's terms." 

Good to know my breasts represent so much as a woman's that even the radiologist forgot they were looking at a man.

[WPW717]

I jumped all the medical hoops to find out why … it proved beneficial as we discovered a cranial tumor and a mutant gene that has a propensity to cause breast cancer 20-44% of the time in women ( not studied men).
Chemo resolved the cranial tumor and the mammograms and labs showed all is being held at bay. This was all on Medicare’s dime too. 
I do understand the attitude towards the healthcare industry. It boils down to how well you know your body and what you are comfortable with doing health wise. Best outcome for all is my hope for us all.

[bendo]

In the case of aromatase, its effectiveness increases with weight, age and other specific features such as Klinefelter's syndrome. However, there is non-aromatase testosterone. I think it's dht. On the other hand, if your estradiol is already very high then even if you increase testosterone, and therefore the T/E2 ratio, it won't make any difference to gynaecomastia.

I tried a fertility treatment a few years ago which boosted testosterone production. I reached a very high level but also 68 pg/mL in E2. The T/E2 ratio was very much in favour of testosterone and yet over the course of the treatment (7 months) gynaecomastia appeared and then fortunately disappeared. This was a temporary treatment.

There are aromatase inhibitors but you have to be very careful with them and it's not certain that you can take them for life. In short, if you have an elevated E2 without treatment, there aren't too many solutions.

As far as fertility is concerned, the problem is that if you take exogenous testosterone, your body will reduce the production of LH and FSH because you'll have enough testosterone. But it's FSH that enables spermatozoa to be generated. And if you take it for too long, it's irreversible. So you'll have to take testosterone for life. In general, spermatozoa are frozen before these treatments.

[WPW717]

Originally the E 2 was normal. The T level didn’t decrease at the 1% /year level as expected. It went to zero in a few months flipping the T/E ratio 

Very unexpected but got shoulder shrugs, turned out to be Phenotypic Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia. Took tears to figure it all out. 

Stay on it Bendo, your heading in the right direction.

[bendo]

Which direction? All I wanted to do here was provide a few details about how aromatase works. On the other subject, I'm describing my personal case.

[Johndoe1]

There are aromatase inhibitors but you have to be very careful with them and it's not certain that you can take them for life. In short, if you have an elevated E2 without treatment, there aren't too many solutions.

I had talked to my doctor about testosterone and she said having elevated estrogen that had caused gynecomastia even with an inhibitor, I could expect possibly one to two cup breast size increase since I am estrogen sensitive so that didn't happen. That would have put me in heavy G cups. 

[Puna]

I would bet that if you asked women how you look in a bra, some (not all, cause some is still stuck in the past) will tell you that it looks good wearing a bra. 

I've asked hand full of women how I look wearing a bra, and they tell me really positive remarks! And these are just random women in the world. For example: convenience stores, at the beach, etc and including female friends. 

[Sophie]

You are sooo right!

If any of you have taken the opportunity to have a formal fitting, the fitter will most times ask if she can check the fit. She may adjust the straps for you or make other minor adjustments. A good fitter will tell you that it's a good fit and it looks much better. She will also say "I'll be right back with a couple other bras for you to try." If the bra is not working for you. 

❤️Sophie❤️