Elevated prolactin

firstly thank you so much for replying

second, im sorry to hear that, did they give you medication?

i have regular period, it may be a few days to a week early or late but i've always been like that however i have noticed my last few cycles my period only lasts 3 days which is unusual for me as for as long as i can remember they lasted 6-7days. again, not sure if that is related.

i'm new to all this.

it's 3.49am and i cant sleep, i have trouble with sleep, i have a horrible headache on my right side which never seems to leave, its causing my jaws/gum/teeth to hurt. also its sort of like a sinus headache? feeling pain around my nose but i dont have a cold or anything. occasionally i feel a really really fast thumping in my right ear usually whilst lying down. its driving me mad

i will try getting an appointment today morning, fingers crossed.

thank you for just even listening. x

It doesn't really sound like a pituitary tumour, which tends to affect peripheral vision if they get very big, not hearing. But if it is then (a) pituitary tumours are almost never malignant (b) easy to get at if they need surgery [but prolactinoma is usually treated with medication] (c) not brain tumours.

You really need to see your doctor and get a referral to a specialist, probably an endo, possibly a neurologist. So you will just have to make a nuisance of yourself until it happens.

thanks for getting back to me roddy999

praying its nothing like that, my last blood result showed prolactin levels at 885. first being 710.

maybe its raised due to stress, trying really hard not to think about it but its hard with the pain constantly there.

my eyesight is fine, thankfully but i do get some pain behind my eyeballs if that makes sense. that comes and goes.

the gp has referred me to an endo, how long has it taken for you guys to hear back from them?

i'm hoping its soon, i cant live with the head pain 😦 its inbetween my temple and ear, slightly above my before/above my ear. sometimes laying down hurts more

did anyone else get these symptoms?

thanks

also merry xmas

x

The normal prolactin range for a woman is 60 to 620 mU/L (with the note that medication and 'venepuncture' (blood test!) can raise it. I guess you would have said if you are lactating. So your figures are not stupidly high but certainly a cause for concern. Prolactin (and egg-release and load of other things) is activated by your pituitary gland, which is between and behind your eyes: it is in your skull but outside your brain. It works like a thermostat does, turning on when supply is low and off when supply is too high: looks like yours is too slow to turn off. The nerve pathways in your skull are complicated so the place(s) where you feel the problem to be could actually mean the problem is somewhere else! A pain between the eyes is a symptom that other people have reported.

If the pain gets too much (so that you are risking other complications such as you might overdose on paracetamol etc if you don't do something else) , you will have to go to A&E. With a bit of luck, they will refer you to the on-call endo, if not they will just send you home with a stronger pain killer. So try not choose a Friday night after the pubs close! Best time is about six AM Tuesday to Friday. I believe that your symptoms and your blood test will be enough for them to take you seriously, but what do I know? But they will only deal with the critical condition, which may not have anything to do with your reason to see the GP in the first place (doesn't stop you asking of course!)

Finally and most importantly, you have to take everything you read on here with a kilo or two of salt. We all tend to see the symptoms that match what we have (had) and ignore the rest. Some of us tend to assume the worst rather than the best, we are all a bit Daily Wail sometimes. At least you've gotten over the first big hurdle, which is that your GP is big enough to accept that you need referring to a consultant. Some of us have had to wait literally years for that.

How long you have to wait for a normal appointment with an endo depends on where you live, it varies according to supply (of doctors) and demand (mainly people with diabetes).

hi again.

im not lactating and my period is regular. i dont have any of the major symptoms ive read about, thankfully but just to update you ..

i have been referred to see an endocrinologist, he put me down as urgent. waiting list for that is 8 weeks.

since then, this constant pain in my head doesnt want to leave and definitely feeling pressure in my right eye more often now. also sinus-like pains in my face without any kind of cold.

sometimes my teeth/jaw hurt so ive booked an appointment to see my dentist.

my migraine tablets have run out and the nurofen i was taking, i really want to see the gp again but i feel like im just going to be bothering him. its just a waiting game now 😕

It is lucky you aren't actually dying if 8 weeks is urgent! 😦

I suspect that if your GP considered it really serious they'd have fast-tracked you straight to hospital, so that is some consolation.

When you see the dentist, ask if there is any indication of acromegaly (bones starting to grow again in adulthood). This is really unlikely but dentists are usually* the first to spot it. (* 'Usually' as in maybe once in a career if they are lucky (it is that rare!), but they studied it at dental school). My guess is that it is "referred pain".

Did you see the message I sent you about getting an eye test?

btw, nurofen is just ibuprufen in a fancy packet for ten times the price. Be careful of taking migraine tablets for too long as they often contain codeine as well, which comes with its own issues.

If you need more pain relief than the maximum permitted number of times a day, there is a legitimate workaround. Take ibuprufen then paracetamol next, then aspirin after that ; and then round again. So much less risk of overdose but clearly not something you could do for very long before you end up with a new set of problems but a lot less than you would have by exceeding the permitted dose for one drug only.

i think its been 2 weeks since he referred me. dont think i'll be getting a letter just yet.

if theres no tumor, what are the reasons for elevated prolactin?

yes, i had an eye examination just before my problems started, i have very good eyesight.

just starting to feel my right eye feeling bruised and pressure around my eyeball. its annoying.

im not a tablet person, i have a very high pain tolerance level. tablets is always a last resort.

At your eye test, did you have a "field test" (look into a half-sphere and spot the flashes)? If you did, then I recommend that you pop in and ask for a hard copy to take to the endo. (If you didn't, they were being naughty because you should have it routinely in any case).

No tumour (which really is by far the most likely) but still elevated prolactin suggests (to me, but what do I know?) "pituitary disease" and you have just scraped the bottom of the barrel of my knowledge as to what exactly that means. But other people on here say that there is a good medication for it.

i think a field test was done, if what i remember is correct.

in general, my sight seems fine. i dont see any difference.

its just this pressure in my right eye that comes and goes. fingers crossed i have just scraped the barrel then.

hi did you ever get to the bottom of this? I've been told my prolactin is high and I'm having a second blood test. thanks