High prolactin levels and treatment?

Give me any suggestion

And how much time it takes to normal ???

Can i get pregnant??

hello,

i am wondering what mental symptoms you all had before diagnosis and during both medicines cabergoline and bromocriptine. i have a Prolactinoma 6 mm. pituitary secretes both progestin and growth hormone. i have had both medicines Cabergoline first crying all the time lump in throat and GERD. i discovered on this site low estrogen causes some of that. i am menopausal so increased estrogen throat and GERD symptoms went away. i wanted to go back and try weekly Cabergoline, but Endo says to wait and stay on Bromocriptine. Mentally i have felt worse. i was on Cabergoline since Jan 1, then changed to Bromocriptine middle March. So 4 months combiation both. Anybody have the coping issues? How long mental issues might last and if they had to use a mood stabilizor medicine.. A major side note I have Cushing's with adrenal removed so low cortisol now and steroids for over a year and hypothyroid. Hormonally a mess. Any advice.

I went 6 years without a diagnosis and I was terribly distressed with my head and face constantly streaming with sweat. Any depression, etc I would have put down to being so distressed. But as my oestrogen therapy was made ineffective by the excess prolactin, being in a constant menopausal state. On top of that my gp just was not doing too much about it other than testing my thyroid a couple of times the results of which were normal.

I got to the stage of thinking either I will jump off a cliff or pay heaps for botox to stop the sweating. First visit to the botox dr (a real gp) she sent me off to an endocrinologist - why could not my regular gp do that!!!! Blood tests, mri, then cabergoline. No botox was necessary. My blood tests did reveal my growth hormone was a little high. They say that usually two hormones are effected by a pit gland tumour. However, the endo said my growth hormone was not sufficiently high enough to treat.

The Cabergoline was like a miracle - reduced the prolactin almost immediately, my estrogen therapy was working again, and I immediately stopped sweating. It had been like non-stop hot flashes.

Your mood issues, lump in throat and GERD issues would be caused by insufficient or ineffective oestrogen. You mention the prolactinoma caused excess progestin?? Not something that I have read that happens. A prolactinoma causes excess prolactin, unless your tumour affected 3 hormones?

I was on Cabergoline 2 x .5 per week. Recently my prolactin has rocketed again and endo put me onto 3 x .5 per week. No reduction in last 3 months. No increase in pit gland - still a mystery why it has gone up to 2740. I feel that I am borderline menopausal with the prolactin butting up against my oestrogen.

Bromocriptine is supposed to do the same job as Cabergoline, plus also treat diabetes 2 and other issues. So check this out to see if there is a reason why your doc changed you to Bromo. Ask her why, because you felt better on Cab. The Cab might have been making your oestrogen more effective.

I have always found that when my oestrogen has run out or become ineffective for some reason, a correction of oestrogen (a renewal of implanted pellet or extra patch) has made me able to cope and be happy again. This is most effective for me.

My endo always says as a message to my dr to treat the symptoms, not the bloods. It does not matter how high my oestrogen bloods are, it is the symptoms that count and should be treated. Therefore, when I am feeling the symptoms of menopause coming on, I need my oestradiol pellet replaced.

Because I have felt for a long time that my dr is not listening to me and brushing me off, prior to last visit I wrote down all the symptoms I am having with a 'current' issue that I have been having problems with for more than a year, so that she could get an overall picture and really think about the problem. I suggest you do the same. Really spell it out in writing. Not long paragraphs, but make spaced out statements.

Then you have further complications with Cushings. Are you being monitored by an endocrinologist? If not, ask for a referral. I don't think gps are knowledgeable enough for all these hormonal issues. Again write your own notes, because your gp will give him her version, which may not be the same as yours.

I wish you the best of luck.

thank you for answering yes i do see an endocrinologist a PA. i am going to see another one for a second opinion. The Cabergoline was fine at first except for some nausea, dizzy, and stuffy nose at night, and then I started getting all the stomach issues. So they said prilosec and change meds. Endoscope normal. then i found this site about low estrogen causing problems. i had started to decrease from 1 mg to 1/2 mg in december. February had the stomach symptoms and latest blood test estrogen 14. i was always dominant. she said low but didnt have me increase or correlate stomach to that. I increased to 1 mg then 1-1/2 now. Symptoms gone. By this time started the daily Bromocriptine so will never know if Cabergoline was a problem. It did lower Prolactin. Have read similar symptoms about bromocriptine but more people affected and depressed with that medicine. i have also been tapering steroids so there are withdrawal symptoms from that. But its been 2 months since last taper thought maybe i would stabilize for a break. By the way i meant progesterone in earlier post. i take at night to help sleep. i have no uterus but it does help, since my sleep patterns/circadian rhythm all messed up. but you have to have right balance with that or will mess up stomach. Been waiting it out for a year and a half. almost ready to go on mood stabilizers but who knows another set of side affects and symptoms and trial and error.Going to seek counseling also because PTSD very common after rare Cushing's syndrome.

I can only speak from experience. I had no problems with Cabergoline - just its amazing benefit. That was back mid 2008. I have still taken the same dose since as my oestrogen is finely balanced and any drop, I really feel it. However, the last year or so, prolactin has increased considerably as well as my blood oestrogen. Last oestrogen measure 2650. My endo says not to worry about that level (could be in circulating blood but not getting to tissues that need it), he also says that females need a lot of oestrogen. I do not fear breast cancer, as I use transderamal oestradiol in the form of pellets, patches, gel (not all at once).

I, too, don't have a uterus (nor ovaries) and my gp insisted at one stage to take progestogen"for balance". Well it totally unbalanced me, and I have not got back to how good I felt before that. Progestogen is an antagonist to oestrogen, so I told her that I am not taking it anymore.

The last couple of years I have had distended belly problems, not bloat, not visceral fat, not constipation, maybe fluid but the rest of my body is getting thinner. My endo has not addressed it because he (foreign) thinks I am worried about having a high oestrogen, so he keeps assuring me it is ok. I finally got my gp to address it last appointment by writing out all the symptoms as described earlier. Her answer was to put me on a rather strong treatment of constipation which I know is not the problem. However, I am playing her game for now as she says she will refer me to "wave therapy" which strengthens my pelvic region afterwards. It involves sitting on a seat which provides impulses through the pelvic region to repair abdominal pelvic disorder. Sounds quacky, but it is provided by a gp. It replaces having to do a thousand pelvic squeezes a day.

I think this is more on the mark as I have read up on it and read a case study of a 15 year old gymnast, very thin and muscular, who suddenly developed abdominal distension. A few years ago, I had to have a prolapse repair and this can be caused by insufficient oestrogen which causes collagen and ligament weakness. For me, my body does need a lot of oestrogen, and gp interference has caused problems.

I have also had a few doses of Helicobacter Pylori which causes ulcers, distension, reflux, etc. which my dr has not addressed this time but should do so. I should change drs but who to? I don't have the time nor money to dr shop, and you don't find out how useless they are till after a while.

I also wonder about insulin resistence and cortisol, both of which can appear during menopause when oestrogen levels are too low or ineffective, but my gp has brushed that off - geez, it only takes a blood test to eliminate it. I will bring it up again if nothing else works.

I believe in finding the source of the problem and treating it rather than masking it with mood stabilizers, which is just a lazy way by drs. I experience joy and sleep well when my oestrogen is working properly.

BTW, I also have an aggressive form of haemochromatosis which threw in its own complications. Among other things, it is a hormone thief and caused my pit gland tumour. It affects the hypothalamus too where our automatic intestine movements are controlled, among other things. Maybe you should have an Iron Studies blood test to eliminate that. I have to teach drs about it. Iron loading hit me like a ton of bricks after my hysterectomy as I was no longer menstruating (bleeding reduces iron buildup).

So I hope you can find something out of my experiences that can help you.

Best of luck

Give me any suggestion

And how much time it takes to normal ???

Can i get pregnant??

Give me any suggestion

And how much time it takes to normal ???

Can i get pregnant??

Give me any suggestion

And how much time it takes to normal ???

Can i get pregnant??