My life so far, and it's many calamities

[Porcupine_tree]

I am a 16 year old. When I was about 11 or 12, I started having unusually large nipples. My mother at the time brushed it off, and thought it was because I had lost a significant amount of weight. I saw a doctor in my preteen years and he concluded that i was going through puberty and that it was normal and would go away in a couple months. Alas, it did not.

I don't know if I indeed have Gyne because my breasts don't resemble that of a woman's. Namely, it is my nipples. They are puffy, stick out, and are large in size and tender. It is really embarassing. I cannot go swimming with my friends at parties, cannot go to the beach and have fun, and I am dreadfully scared of removing my shirt in the locker room with other guys around. I once had a guy spot me and he said "hey you got big titties." Man, that killed me. I can't really describe the feeling of pain and mental anguish I get when someone makes a comment about it. They don't understand how it is, and how years of my life have been spent in fear and sadness.

I am sick and tired of these things. I went to the doctor not long ago and she fed me stuff like "oh everyone is different" Yea, well you try living like this. Even my mom told me a long time ago that I couldn't live like this for the rest of my life, but now they forgot about the whole issue. I am just tired of hiding and not having fun, watching everyone else have fun. I'm so sick of seeing guys at school with toned bodies showing off and taking their shrits off. It kills me inside. I have to stand on the sidelines, while my friends and peers enjoy themselves, and make up lame excuses for why I'm not swimming or why I don't take my shirt off. My close friends know about this, while some don't make fun of me for it, some do. They say stuff like "so did you get your breasts fixed yet?" They don't understand how it is and how much it kills me.

So for anyone out there that feels like me, please help me on this. I have pissed away my youth hiding, fearing, and being sad because of this. Should I consider the surgery? And since I am 16, going on 17 this summer, will insurance pay for it, or is the cost going to go to my parents? I desperatly want to rid myself of this and live a normal life.

[Spleen]

I know you are uncomfortable with your appearance, but it might be a good idea to step back for a second and reconsider your situation.  You're pretty young and your youth hasn't really been wasted yet.  While having a funny looking chest isn't great news, it doesn't have to control your life and your head if you can decide not to let it.  

Because of your age there might be a few years yet before you can get the issue resolved surgically, assuming there's nothing chronically hormonal going on.  If that's the case, you can suffer or you can decide to suck it up and decide it's really not all that important.  That's what I did 20 years ago when I was your age and I've had lots of good times in that span.  At the end of the day it ain't really gonna matter all that much and all the sh1t you imagine people saying or thinking about you is a) mostly imaginary, and b) doesn't really matter anyway.  Remember that no one can make you feel inferior without your permission.

[headheldhigh01]

since you've had it this long, it probably won't remit.  check that your hormones are normal and stable before an op, but yes, you can fix this and head back for normal.