My Gynecomastia Struggle Throughout My Whole Life (Need Help)

[bigredjjp4]

Hello All, I am a new member, and this is my first post, so here we go.
 
  I have been struggling with gynecomastia basically my whole life. It started in 6th grade when I gained about 35 pounds and still continues till this day(20 years old turning 21 in a couple of months). From 6th to 7th grade, I was a pretty heavy boy but still active in sports. This is when my male  breasts started to affect me. I would get teased in school constantly, especially in the showers and locker room. This is when I decided to change. From 7th to 8th grade, I lost the 35 pounds I had gained, and was living very healthy, BUT still couldn't get rid of my gyne problem. I was feeling alot better though.

 Then came high school! My football coaches wanted me to gain weight to play, so instead of gaining it the right way, I just ate and ate and ate. My weight ballooned from 145 to 195 in a period of about 4 months. So it was all FAT. This is when most of my torture started. I went through 4 years of high school basically being teased and harrassed for my gyne problem, and felt very depressed through much of high school. By the middle of my senior year I topped out at 215 and looked my worst. Eventually after all my sports had ended after high school, I decided to make a change and work out. So I just started to run and run and run. I ran 6 miles and day, and my weight came off very fast, maybe TOO FAST. The summer after my senior year my weight went from 210 to 160 in about three years. I lost most of my fat. Till this day, I weigh about 160 and have kept my weight off for 3 years, but still have a bad gyne problem!

 As of this day, I am a junior in college, going into my senior year next year, and I really can't cope with this gyne problem anymore. I suffer from it, I feel it hurts my chances with many women(if not all), especially when they see me in t-shirts, but most important is my self esteem is pretty low!  I exercise everyday(lift weights and run) and try to eat as healthy as possible, but I still never see any change!

 As of the last couple of weeks, I have seriously been considering surgery as my route to go. I have already consulted with a doctor in my area. I've tried andractim(didn't work and was a huge waste of money!), and also flaxseed(didn't work). I have a couple of questions for all of you members. Any response would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!:

1. How bad do you think my gyne is?(pictures posted below) (scale 1-10)
2. How risky is surgery, how much do u think it'll cost for my case, and would you reccommend it for me?
3. And finally, I am from the akron, ohio area and was going to go to a dr. cervino? If anyone has heard of his work or has actually had a surgery, would you reccommend him, and if not, who would you recommend in my area?

I have been looking at these forums for many many years!!! and never had the guts to post for some reason, but am ready for a change in my life, so once again, any help is appreciated, and sorry for the length!

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/piratesfan2007/?action=view&current=DSCF0324.jpg

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/piratesfan2007/?action=view&current=DSCF0322.jpg

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/piratesfan2007/?action=view&current=DSCF0321.jpg

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/piratesfan2007/?action=view&current=DSCF0318.jpg

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/piratesfan2007/?action=view&current=DSCF0303.jpg

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/piratesfan2007/?action=view&current=DSCF0297.jpg

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/piratesfan2007/?action=view&current=DSCF0292.jpg

http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/piratesfan2007/?action=view&current=DSCF0291.jpg

[Hux]

Looks like you have a 4 or so..

Do you have puffy nipples? if so then it would probably go up a notch or 2..

[bigredjjp4]

not puffy, but i guess you could say "soft", they are normal when it's cold outside or if  i'm in cold water, they harden up.

[Hux]

yea then it's probably slightly puffy then?
My nipples are very puffy but when cold they get hard..

[bigredjjp4]

yeah, i guess so.

[subuwrx]

It's obviously gyne but I dont think its a severe case or anything. Who cares though, my opinion and anyone elses is irrelevent. If you are feeling the emotinal scaring from gyne then do something. My story is pretty much the same as yours, the more I got into lifting the worse it appeared though. I recently turned 21 and right after my birthday I decided it was time to stop wanting to get surgery and finally GET surgery. I wanted to be able to go into my senior year of college gyne free. I also wanted to go out to the bars and have a good time instead of being insecure about my chest.

My main advice to you is, THINK about what your doing before you get it done. SOO many people get surgery from local surgeons and end up with horror stories(although not all). Look into the "big name" doctors that are listed on this site. The top 3 names that are used here the most are "Dr. Bermant, Dr. "*******", and Dr. Delgado. I personally went to Dr. Bermant and am very happy!

[bigredjjp4]

thanks, yeah i'm definitely in the same boat as you were. the doctor who i'm goin to see for a consultation only does about 6 procedures a year, so it did kind of make me weary about going to him.......

How much did it cost you to go with Dr. Bermant, and how did u pay for the procedure, if you don't mind me asking?(i'm pretty cash strapped being in college and I may get out a loan)
 
How much do you think it would cost me in total, and where is he located?

Thanks!

[headheldhigh01]

i'd call it a 3, but i always say anything over 2 is bad enough to make you unhappy.  the question is are your hormones at your age stable enough to minimize chance of recurrence.  once an endo answers that, a doc would be willing to talk op with you.  it all boils down to can you live with it, my gut says you're not happy, and i would sympathize. 

[bigredjjp4]

after hearing bdj148's story, i feel in his exact same position in life! i also have a very very similar body type as him. it's been about a week since i made my first post, so here I go again:

after reading bdj148's story, i decided to take a BIG step in my life and take action. i just got off the phone with my mother and told her my whole situation. i basically told her how i have suffered my whole life with gynecomastia, how i've been made fun of, been too afraid to approach women, and my self-esteem has been low pretty much since the 6th grade. she was completely caring and understanding. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! it felt like such a load off of my chest!(figuratively speaking ) she's the first person i've ever talked with about my gyne problem. she wondered what took me soo long to bring it up, and i pretty much told her i was just ashamed and embarrased of it. so to sum it up though, she told me she was going to call our health insurance policy, and see if the surgery can be covered. she also said we will get it figured out, and FIXED! i actually feel like i have help now, and am not going into this thing alone. thanks to everyone here for me finally getting the guts to bring it up to my mother and a special thanks to bdj148!

[bigredjjp4]

i talked to a local surgeon yesterday. my fee would be $3500 for the surgery, but that doesn't include the cost for anasthesia, the vest, and the facility fee. this is in the akron, ohio area.  i'm actually going to get a consultation with an endocrinologist at the popular cleveland clinic before getting surgery, just to make sure my hormone levels are okay and there's no chance of reoccurence after surgery. i hope that my health insurance will cover the surgery, but if it doesn't, i may use something called care credit and get out a loan to pay for it. i need this fixed!

[bigredjjp4]

well, i've been eating great the last couple of weeks and working out, and I feel much better, BUT there's still no change in my chest! i got my bodyfat percentage checked the other day at the gym, and it's 11%, which I don't think is all that bad! the thing is, i was soooo embarrased to take my shirt off, it was a shame! i have a consultation on monday with a ps, so I guess I'll see what he says.