Tracking the fight against Gyne

[Jamie30]

First of all, hello everyone.  I've actually briefly visited this site about 4 times over as many years.  This time it's different and after reaching the age of 30 I'm actually doing something about my Gyne.

I've decided to tackle it as follows:

1. Lose weight and get fit.  I actually started this 2 months ago and have a target set for 100 days from now.  More on that later.
2. If there's no significant improvement when I reach my target, see at least 2 endocrinologists with expertise in this area.
3. If the endocrinologists find nothing wrong get op.
4. If the endocrinolgists find a problem, tackle as prescribed
5. If that doesn't fix it within 6 months, get an op.

Having this plan in place means no matter what, I know my Gyne will be gone between 3-9 months, regardless of how it actually gets fixed.  That makes me feel good already! 

Something that worries me about this forum is most responses simply say "Get an op - it's the only cure".  But then I read much of the scientific info out there and it says the vast majority of Gynecomastia is acutally Pseudo-Gynecomastia caused by fat.   Hmmm 

I had the onset of Gyne round about the age of puberty.  At that time I had sensitive glands under my nipples (obvious hard sensitive lumps).  After purberty the lumps disappeared, but not the puffy nipples.  My 'moobs' have gradually increased over time in line with my weight.  I can only feel the slightest trace of gland under my right nipple, but it's so slight it could just be a vein or something

I started losing weight near the end of May.  My weight has very gradually been increasing for the last 6-7 years.  My weight when I started was 92 kg (180cm height).  I figured that given my diet over the last ten years has been pretty awful and portions bigger than I need, it wouldn't take much to reverse the process simply by eating healthily.  I now eat slightly smaller portions and stick to relatively healthy food.  I have reduced my alcohol consumption down to no more than 1 pint beer a week.  No more fast food.  I don't count calories, but my best estimates from 'back of envelope' calculations are that my daily calorie consumption has reduced by a little over 1,000 calories a day.  I've found the best way of maintaining this is simply to ensure I don't ever get bored.  That's always a sure way to wander over to the fridge and start eating or drinking when I really don't need it.

3 weeks ago I started regular exercise.  I now do the following 6 days a week:

45 mins walking
1 hours cycling
If I have time 1 hour boxing on the Nintendo Wii
(All in the one day)

Every Mon, Wed, Fri I do 3 sets of sit-ups and press-ups until I can't do any more.

My weight now is 84kg (92kg late May).  The weight's coming off quicker since I started the exercising and I think I'm now losing a little over 1kg per week.  I've started charting the results, so I'll get a clearer picture.  My body fat is currently esitmated at 23%.  I didn't get it measured when I started a couple of months back, but so long as I've not lost muscle too, it had to be around 28%.  My target is 10% in 100 days.  Sounds difficult, but if I carry on as I am, I'm on track to beat the target.  I just need to increase my exercising intensity to compensate for the reduction in weight I'm carrying.

I wish I took some photos before I started.  I can't see a significant improvement, but when you look at something everyday, it's very hard to tell.  It does seem my nipples are less evident through a t-shirt though, but that may be because the t-shirt is now a looser fit due to weight loss.  I've also had to replace most of my trousers because they were to big round the waist.     The first time I did the bike ride 3 weeks ago it took me 75 mins.  I can now do the same route in 55 mins.

I'm astonished at the rate at which the weight is coming off and really wish I'd tried this years ago.  I've had several failed attempts with various diets, going to the Gym etc.  It seems, for me at least, that the best fix is simply healthy eating and regular exercise.

Current photos to follow this evening.

I hope to use this thread as a place to track my results.

Wish me luck 

Jamie

[Jamie30]

I've just taken some photos and after looking at them for a while, I do think there is a considerable improvement than 2 months ago.

Please let me know what you think.

Here's a picture from the front:


Here's a picture from an angle:


And here's what they look like after one hour's exercise in cold weather:


Please let me know what you think about how bad this is

Cheers
Jamie

[Jamie30]

I thought if I had gland I should be able to feel it?  I know what it feels like because I had gland during puberty.  There's definitely no gland under the left nipple and just possibly something very tiny under the right nipple.



 

[Jamie30]

Thanks for the advice and info maywest.

I agree it doesn't look like there's a huge amount more fat to lose, but I am still 23% fat, while means there's still 11kg fat to come off if I can get down to 10% BF.  That's about 11.5 litres in volume, so quite a lot I think.

I can feel the areas where fat is when I've been exercising in the cold.  Where muscles are near the surface my skin is very warm, but on my breast areas, stomach and buttocks the skin is very cold.  I guess the fat is doing it's job insulating me.

I will continue with the weight loss as you suggest, since it's having plenty of positive side effects.  Maybe I'll get lucky and find it cures the Gyne too.  Time will tell...

[Jamie30]

I can't see any point waiting until I've lost more weight before seeing an endocrinologist.  I might as well tackle this from all directions as soon as possible.  I'm seeing a Doctor this afternoon and have an appointment pencilled with an Endocrinologist for tomorrow morning, so long as I can persuade the doctor to give me a referral this afternoon.  Will let you know how it goes.

I will ask the doctor this afternoon if he thinks any gland in present.

Still kicking myself for not doing someting about this years ago     It really doesn't seem difficult to get things moving once you put some effort into it.

[Jamie30]

Just seen the Doctor and he seemed to think it is not glandular and that if I lose some more weight and put some muscle on I'll have a good looking chest.  He didn't think it particularly necessary to see an endocrinologist, but agreed to refer me anyway.

Endocrinologist appointment confirmed for tomorrow morning.

[Jamie30]

Just seen the endocrinologist and it seems like I chose a good one.  He was extremely knowledgeable about gynecomastia and spent some time explaining the processes and possible underlying causes and environmental factors, which match much of the discussion on here.

He confirmed I'm doing the right thing by losing weight, since increased fat causes increased estrogen.

I was given a blood test for the following:

- Estradiol
- Testosterone
- FSH (Folicle(?) Stimulating Hormone)
- LH (Lutenizing Hormone)
- Prolactin
- SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin)
- TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone)

Free Testosterone will be estimated through calculation based on other factors.  He said this was more accurate than measuring.

Some other items will also be tested to check general health / organ function etc.  I can't remember what these are, but I'll post them when I get the results next weekend.

He also spoke about surgery for cases where no underlying cause can be found and described the current techniques as if they're no big deal to get done.

[Jamie30]

Cracked 52 mins on the usual route for the bike ride today.  Looking at extending route to get back to 75 mins.

[Jamie30]

Endocrinology results are as follows:

FHS 5.67
LH 2.48
Prolactin 110 (0-500)
Oestradiol 92 (50-220)
Testosterone 19.4 (12.0-31.9)
SHBG 29 (12-57)
Free Testrosterone 428 (260-740)

Thryoid Virtual:
Free T4 11.4 (9-19)
Free T3 4.5 (2.6-6.0)
TSH 0.45 (0.3-5.0)

A whole suite of standard tests were run to check things like liver function and general health and so on; they were all fine.