Well, I was conflicted on whether or not to make this thread. Ultimately, I decided making it would hopefully be therapeutic for me and helpful for others. Next month, I will be having surgery to remove bi-lateral gynecomastia that is the result of a prolactinoma (small tumor on my pituitary gland that elevated my prolactin levels out of range prior to being treated with cabergoline).
This is typically a subject that isn't discussed out in the open very often due to stigmas and just one being generally uncomfortable with it. I won't lie and say I'm completely comfortable with everything, but it also is what it is and I would rather talk with those who have questions or those who have been in a similar position. The biggest thing is just having breast tissue (and not just the fat tissue, but actual mass behind the nipple on each side) as a man is not something that's easy to mentally deal with; particularly when you are someone who takes great efforts to stay in shape. Next is the fact that 99% of people who notice it will immediately jump to the conclusion of steroid-use because of my body. So that adds another layer of wanting to basically hide it from the world as much as possible. It's bad enough that I don't want to wear a lot of the shirts that you have because the way they rest, you can see it. Top that off with if you DO happen to wear that shirt, everyone is like "yeah, that guys uses steroids." And to be clear, I have no issue with steroid-use at all and think it should be legalized. I've ran a couple PH cycles in the past (epi), but that's been years. So A.) this never came from that and B.) even if I did cycle, I'd be smart enough to use the appropriate supports lol.
Anyway, I've never had elevated E2 levels; this is purely PRL driven. When it first popped up, I had tried to combat the little lump with letro and since several years ago when this first showed up, it's grown noticeably. The caber absolutely squashed the PRL levels, but the problem was the time it took my doc to prescribe it and I was trying to go proper channels on everything and do it by the book; hence not acquiring anything by other means.
After it was evident that it was beyond the point of reversal via medicine and surgery was the only option, I just waited on it for a good long while. I just wanted to put it off and I guess partially thought ignoring that would make it less real (irrational, but I can at least recognize it). At the beginning of the year, I met with my GP and had full panels of blood work done and everything was normal and in order (including PRL). I went ahead and discussed the option with him knowing that surgery was pretty much the next step but wanted his advice. He referred me to a surgeon (actually the same guy who had done my colonoscopy about 3 years ago). This doc is a nice guy and works at my gym of all things. So I met with him and our meeting lasted all of about 5 minutes. He told me that he could do the surgery, but that it wasn't an area of specialty for him -- "I can remove the mass; that's not a problem. But I can't guarantee you what it will look like after the fact -- and I don't want to mess that up with how much work you've put into your body." I appreciated the honesty and was thinking it may have gone this way anyhow, but was hoping it wouldn't so that I could ride it out with insurance. So he tells me he knows two plastic surgeons that he would recommend. I asked if he had a preference of one over the other (one was about twice as far away from us). He said if he had to trust his family member with one, it would be the guy who was twice as far away -- and I said that's who i wanted. They booked the initial consult and it was a 3 month wait. I just finally met with him.
So I'll be paying out of pocket, but I have to say I felt pretty comfortable with everything after talking with the doctor and his main nurse. It was one of those things where in all of the random little details and talking to people, I just had an inner sense of knowing that's where I was supposed to be (his main nurse actually met the doctor through his wife at bible study after the nurse had stopped doing nursing for a few years to attend Seminary -- I liked that). He ended up talking with me about the possible options and what we'll be doing (per his recommendation) is an incision underneath the chest and then a "pull-through" method to remove the mass along with lipo-suction to remove the fat around the mass. It should take about an hour.
So, as it stands, the procedure will be a few weeks away and I'll update this throughout the process. I know you see a lot of threads on the forums about gyno via PH/AAS usage. This isn't that, but regardless, the outcome is still the same. Hopefully this can serve as a resource when it comes to surgery.
This is typically a subject that isn't discussed out in the open very often due to stigmas and just one being generally uncomfortable with it. I won't lie and say I'm completely comfortable with everything, but it also is what it is and I would rather talk with those who have questions or those who have been in a similar position. The biggest thing is just having breast tissue (and not just the fat tissue, but actual mass behind the nipple on each side) as a man is not something that's easy to mentally deal with; particularly when you are someone who takes great efforts to stay in shape. Next is the fact that 99% of people who notice it will immediately jump to the conclusion of steroid-use because of my body. So that adds another layer of wanting to basically hide it from the world as much as possible. It's bad enough that I don't want to wear a lot of the shirts that you have because the way they rest, you can see it. Top that off with if you DO happen to wear that shirt, everyone is like "yeah, that guys uses steroids." And to be clear, I have no issue with steroid-use at all and think it should be legalized. I've ran a couple PH cycles in the past (epi), but that's been years. So A.) this never came from that and B.) even if I did cycle, I'd be smart enough to use the appropriate supports lol.
Anyway, I've never had elevated E2 levels; this is purely PRL driven. When it first popped up, I had tried to combat the little lump with letro and since several years ago when this first showed up, it's grown noticeably. The caber absolutely squashed the PRL levels, but the problem was the time it took my doc to prescribe it and I was trying to go proper channels on everything and do it by the book; hence not acquiring anything by other means.
After it was evident that it was beyond the point of reversal via medicine and surgery was the only option, I just waited on it for a good long while. I just wanted to put it off and I guess partially thought ignoring that would make it less real (irrational, but I can at least recognize it). At the beginning of the year, I met with my GP and had full panels of blood work done and everything was normal and in order (including PRL). I went ahead and discussed the option with him knowing that surgery was pretty much the next step but wanted his advice. He referred me to a surgeon (actually the same guy who had done my colonoscopy about 3 years ago). This doc is a nice guy and works at my gym of all things. So I met with him and our meeting lasted all of about 5 minutes. He told me that he could do the surgery, but that it wasn't an area of specialty for him -- "I can remove the mass; that's not a problem. But I can't guarantee you what it will look like after the fact -- and I don't want to mess that up with how much work you've put into your body." I appreciated the honesty and was thinking it may have gone this way anyhow, but was hoping it wouldn't so that I could ride it out with insurance. So he tells me he knows two plastic surgeons that he would recommend. I asked if he had a preference of one over the other (one was about twice as far away from us). He said if he had to trust his family member with one, it would be the guy who was twice as far away -- and I said that's who i wanted. They booked the initial consult and it was a 3 month wait. I just finally met with him.
So I'll be paying out of pocket, but I have to say I felt pretty comfortable with everything after talking with the doctor and his main nurse. It was one of those things where in all of the random little details and talking to people, I just had an inner sense of knowing that's where I was supposed to be (his main nurse actually met the doctor through his wife at bible study after the nurse had stopped doing nursing for a few years to attend Seminary -- I liked that). He ended up talking with me about the possible options and what we'll be doing (per his recommendation) is an incision underneath the chest and then a "pull-through" method to remove the mass along with lipo-suction to remove the fat around the mass. It should take about an hour.
So, as it stands, the procedure will be a few weeks away and I'll update this throughout the process. I know you see a lot of threads on the forums about gyno via PH/AAS usage. This isn't that, but regardless, the outcome is still the same. Hopefully this can serve as a resource when it comes to surgery.