----------------------------------------------------------- New Message on Pituitary Chat
----------------------------------------------------------- From: bioresearcher Message 7 in Discussion This turned out long - but I battled prolactin symptoms for 20 years before I got a proper diagnosis and treatment so I went ahead and posted it for any new readers still struggling for answers and maybe dealing with arrogant doctors......... I had normal periods from age 10-14. I don't know if its related at all - maybe the stress involved had an affect - but at age 14 I had a spinal fusion and was on the operating table under anesthesia for 13 1/2 hours followed by 3 months flat on my back in bed in a full torso brace, then another 8 months of physical therapy also wearing a full torso brace. Within a few months of this surgery my periods went haywire, and I started having periods only one every 3 or 4 months. At age 16, I was diagnosed with PCOS by ultrasound but the doctor never ordered blood work. I was in and out of doctor's office for years (and never heard that diagnosis again). I went a year and a half with no period at all followed by 1 1/2 year of spotting every single day - and both were accompanied by leaky breasts. I was in and out of the doctor's offices and after vaginal exams (no blood work) I was always told everything was fine. I didn't really care about the period or leaky breasts but they were real symptoms I could point to and say "SOMETHING is wrong". My other symptoms were frequent migraines, frequent sinus infections and UTI infections, easy bruising and slow wound healing, chronic fatigue, always cold even when everyone else was hot, acne, slow gradual weight gain despite being very active sports wise. The worst symptoms for me was mood swings and outbursts of anger that I couldn't control. In 1992 when I was 22, I saw an OB GYN who thought it was pituitary and several prolactin tests came back slightly elevated between 43 and 55. He ordered a CT scan which said I had a 5 mm prolactinoma. So he sent me to an endo who ordered another prolactin test and an MRI. The prolactin test came back at 13 (normal) and the MRI was questionable so this endo told me to stop obsessing about my missing periods and he said the leaky breasts weren't abnormal even though I wasn't pregnant or breast feeding. He said as long as I wasn't trying to get pregnant the missing periods weren't a big deal. So I lived with sympotms for years - close to 20 YEARS!!! and many doctors just treated me like a hypochondriac. It was very frustrating and I developed a real dislike for doctors in general. I even completely stopped going to them for years. When I was 33 I hadn't had a real period in years and I finally went into full blown menopause symptoms complete with hot flashes and insomnia (I was lucky to get 2 hours of sleep a night) and completely unable to concentrate. I went to a new OB GYN in the bay area, who took a complete history and I reluctantly told her about the pituitary history. She told me it was NOT ok to leave elevated prolactin untreated because it could cause osteoporosis, as well as obesity and diabetes. She tested my prolactin which came back at 63. She sent me to an endo who ordered a whole battery of tests and an MRI. The MRI was normal as was all the blood tests (including FSH and LH, so no PCOS)..............except the prolactin, which was 58. I finally started on Dostinex which immediately dropped my prolactin to 0.8. I had a normal period start after the 3rd dose of dostinex and I've had them exactly 28 days apart since. Oh, and no more leaky breasts, acne, sinus or UTI infections etc :-) Anyway through all this I've learned that doctors don't always know the answers and sometimes when you KNOW something is wrong you have to stand up to them and MAKE them listen. And if they are too arrogant to listen to you, then find another one. ----------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this e-mail, or change how often it arrives, go to your E-mail Settings. http://groups.msn.com/PituitaryChat/_emailsettings.msnw Need help? If you've forgotten your password, please go to Passport Member Services. http://groups.msn.com/_passportredir.msnw?ppmprop=help For other questions or feedback, go to our Contact Us page. http://groups.msn.com/contact If you do not want to receive future e-mail from this MSN group, or if you received this message by mistake, please click the "Remove" link below. On the pre-addressed e-mail message that opens, simply click "Send". Your e-mail address will be deleted from this group's mailing list. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
