[Hugo-B]

Right...

I know a little about HRT, I do not know much about enlarged prostate treatment though, so I will share what I do know...

Firstly, as above, he will need surgery to remove the breast tissue. Removing it will be futile if measures are not taken to prevent it re occurring.

I THINK the optimal range for E2/estriadol/estrogen in a man in 25. E2 needs to be kept within a very specific range, the doctors SHOULD have been monitoring his E2 throughout the time he was on medication aiming to keep it within optimal range. Arimidex will stop E2 increasing (aromatase inhibitor) whilst tamoxifen/nolvadex will just stop aromatization (breast tissue growing) whilst letting E2 increase - so even if there was a medical requirement for E2 to become elevated they had no excuse for letting this happen to him, many doctor's have a relaxed approach to this kind of thing and I would consider it negligence.

Low testosterone will explain the erectile problems. Extra testosterone administered for HRT can cause the elevated E2, but high E2 alone will not lower test levels. As you can see above test on a HRT basis can b administered with E2 being controlled.

Have to go to work now, please feel free to ask any more questions, if I can help I will. Your husbands doctor has some explaining to do...

[Hugo-B]

Hi, i thought the same, but why the ******** would he be taking female hormones ???? if he is taking them then maybe its because of his medical problems and he was scared to tell me, god i just dont know. Does anyone know the tell tale signs of him taking female hormones, i mean he has big breasts and i mean he must be a D cup, he has hips and over all he is quite chubby, he never use to be, i know he is lighter in weight which i don't get. How can i confront him and get the truth i deserve ??

Roaxanne

Hi, my first reply was this morning, I hadn't had a chance to read your posts as thoroughly as I would liked to have before I replied. Irrespective of how much male hormone he has in him the breasts will stay and will need to be surgically removed. Without seeing the medication it is hard to comment exactly on what and shouldn't be happening to him.

Have you seen any evidence of HRT? Testosterone patches or anything? I would like you to have a look at the labels of whatever medication he is taking.
Do you know when the last time he went to the doctors was?

I know one form of treatment for an enlarged prostate is 'proscar' a 5 alpha reductase inhibitor, not, as far as I know, HRT.

I know one side effect of proscar is lowered test, which shouldn't send E2 into the DD cup range or feminine hip zone (high E2, if left unmanaged can, but your husband's case sounds extreme).

I THINK TRT may be used if test is sent into the low, low range and can't be recovered naturally. As I mentioned , elevated E2 is very manageable, and HRT may be the only option if test levels are permanently lowered.

As far as I am aware, regardless of where his E2 level is, if he has enough Test in him his libido should be functioning normally i.e., he should be able to get an erection etc. This does not seem to be the case now. It sounds like if the doctor WAS giving him HRT, which is questionable, he has stopped administering it.

It sounds like the question is how and why he let his E2 levels get this high, and WHY he didn't go straight to the doctor when he first noticed the physical side effects of elevated E2. The first sign of aromatization from high E2 as a side effect of HRT is sore/itchy nipples and lumps under the nipples. Most men would be kicking the doctors door down at this point.

It sounds like your husband may even have been taking BC pills, the HRT thing sounds like misinformation or a lie, since he sounds like he has ALL the symptoms of low test, and is displaying all of the symptoms of high E2.

If he was given the medication he has postulated to have been given he may have started to enjoy the very mild feminine side effects he got and abandoned his treatment in favor of them, and maybe even deliberately taken something to encourage them and developed gender identity issues as a result. I don't believe, if this was all a consequence of treatment for an enlarged prostate he has done any of this under medical supervision either, or if he was at the early stages he has now stopped. Surely the doctor would have been loath to continue administering treatment which would have effected such serious side effects and no doubt not actually serving their original purpose (to treat an enlarged prostate).

Please try and get a look at what he is taking x

[Hugo-B]

Thanks for your help and advice, what you have both said is kind of what i suspected and feared, and he has lost a lot of his body hair, he is emotional and now i think of it his voice is changing slightly and has been for a while. But he does have really large breasts, and if you look at them and nothing else you would think it was a womans chest, even his nipples and areola have enlarged, he covers up a lot but i have seen them when he gets out of bed sometimes and gets changed. I will try i do some digging before i comfront him, this must be so hard for him. Thanks again

Roxanne

He's lucky to have someone so supportive, good luck.

[CHANDLERS WISH]

Just reading what you wrote, my immediate thought was, he is in denial and I think you know what I mean.

So, I agree please try to research what exactly he is taking..

Only a strong person can cope with such a huge change and accept it in love. If you find this is the case, you will have to make a choice..

Don't jump to any conclusions until your inner thoughts are answered.

CW

[SoundWatcher]

Roxanne, Possibly by now your questions have been answered and I hope all is well! However, I must say, I have some first hand knowledge in regards to this subject. My wife has been very supportive throughout my desire to have breasts. It is not something easily explained but your husband should have been forthright with you from day one! To acquire female breasts such as you described and as I have obtained then he has been hiding something! HRT is really the one sure way to accomplish this. Finding bras is a pretty giant red flag. My wife and I have been together quite some time and I was open and honest with her before any steps were taken! I ma self employed as she is and we discussed this over a period of about seven months. In that time period she researched everything about such an endeavor which includes the negative medical consequences involved in a male throwing female hormones in his system! Very dangerous if not treated with close medical supervision and long term psychological evaluation! The latter is so important due to emotional changes within the individual and what impact this will have on him when the changes become so obvious that publicly he will be noticed quite dramatically! This is nothing to be taken lightly by any means of the imagination! He did a troublesome disservice to you, someone he dedicated his love for! If my wife under any circumstances would have said a plain and simple "NO!" it would have been dropped! Granted I may have fantasized about it with her and played with it but that is a far cry from doing it outright! I hope you have discovered the truth and have found a way to work it out favorably!

[sarastone88]

It is hism meds sweeti

Hi all, im new to the forums so please bare with me why i get use to how it all works

Where do i start, well i have been married to my husband for 4 years now, we where together for 4 years before that, i love him with all my heart but there is a problem and i am getting very worried. About 2 year ago my husband had some health problems and was put on medication long term, all i know was that the medication was some kind HRT for men. Now all was fine for the next 8 months then i started to notice some changes in him, he was gaining weight, getting very emotional and he had lost his sex drive, i also started to notice he was getting breasts, my husband is only 35 so he is not old by any terms. We spoke about it and he assured me everything was ok and that it was side effects of his medication. Time passed and things got worse, he started to grow really large breasts and i mean real female breasts not just man boobs. He has changed so much since and i feel i have lost my husband he still insists its because of his medication but i have had a sneaky look around and i have found bras and there not mine, underwear and all sorts, im at a loss, i just dont know what is happening or what to do. I really think my husband wants to have breasts, if that is the case then why, and why would he not talk to me about it. At the minute he has bigger breasts than me and hardly goes out the house, he has hips now and he has lost all his sexy muscles that i loved. Can anyone help me with this please.

Roxanne

A number of medical conditions may also result in gynecomastia:

Malnutrition and re-feeding (recovery from malnutrition) have both been shown to create a hormonal environment that may lead to gynecomastia. Similarly, cirrhosis of the liver alters normal hormone metabolism and may lead to gynecomastia.
Disorders of the male sex organs (testes) can result in decreased testosterone production and relatively high estrogen levels, leading to gynecomastia. These disorders may be genetic, such as Klinefelter's syndrome, or acquired due to trauma, infection, reduced blood flow, or aging. Testicular cancers may also secrete hormones that cause gynecomastia.
Other conditions that are associated with an altered hormonal environment in the body and may be associated with gynecomastia are chronic renal failure and hyperthyroidism. Rarely, cancers other than testicular tumors may produce hormones that can cause gynecomastia.

Gynecomastia can also be a side effect of a number of medications. Examples of drugs that can be associated with gynecomastia are listed be

spironolactone (Aldactone), a diuretic that has anti-androgenic activity;
Calcium channel blockers used to treat hypertension (such as nifedipine [Procardia and others]);
ACE inhibitor drugs for hypertension (captopril [Capoten], enalapril [Vasotec]);
some antibiotics (for example, isoniazid, ketoconazole [Nizoral, Extina, Xolegel, Kuric], and metronidazole [Flagyl]);
anti-ulcer drugs (such as ranitidine [Zantac], cimetidine [Tagamet], and omeprazole [Prilosec]);
anti-androgen or estrogen therapies for prostate cancer;
methyldopa (Aldomet);
highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV disease, which may cause fat redistribution leading to pseudogynecomastia or, in some cases, true gynecomastia;
digitoxin;
diazepam (Valium);
drugs of abuse (for example, alcohol, marijuana, heroin); and
lavender oil and tea tree oil, when used in skin-care products, have been associated with gynecomastia.

Reviewed by David Perlstein, MD, MBA, FAAP on 9/12/2012

[sarastone88]

It is his meds sweetie

Hi all, im new to the forums so please bare with me why i get use to how it all works

Where do i start, well i have been married to my husband for 4 years now, we where together for 4 years before that, i love him with all my heart but there is a problem and i am getting very worried. About 2 year ago my husband had some health problems and was put on medication long term, all i know was that the medication was some kind HRT for men. Now all was fine for the next 8 months then i started to notice some changes in him, he was gaining weight, getting very emotional and he had lost his sex drive, i also started to notice he was getting breasts, my husband is only 35 so he is not old by any terms. We spoke about it and he assured me everything was ok and that it was side effects of his medication. Time passed and things got worse, he started to grow really large breasts and i mean real female breasts not just man boobs. He has changed so much since and i feel i have lost my husband he still insists its because of his medication but i have had a sneaky look around and i have found bras and there not mine, underwear and all sorts, im at a loss, i just dont know what is happening or what to do. I really think my husband wants to have breasts, if that is the case then why, and why would he not talk to me about it. At the minute he has bigger breasts than me and hardly goes out the house, he has hips now and he has lost all his sexy muscles that i loved. Can anyone help me with this please.

Roxanne

A number of medical conditions may also result in gynecomastia:

Malnutrition and re-feeding (recovery from malnutrition) have both been shown to create a hormonal environment that may lead to gynecomastia. Similarly, cirrhosis of the liver alters normal hormone metabolism and may lead to gynecomastia.
Disorders of the male sex organs (testes) can result in decreased testosterone production and relatively high estrogen levels, leading to gynecomastia. These disorders may be genetic, such as Klinefelter's syndrome, or acquired due to trauma, infection, reduced blood flow, or aging. Testicular cancers may also secrete hormones that cause gynecomastia.
Other conditions that are associated with an altered hormonal environment in the body and may be associated with gynecomastia are chronic renal failure and hyperthyroidism. Rarely, cancers other than testicular tumors may produce hormones that can cause gynecomastia.

Gynecomastia can also be a side effect of a number of medications. Examples of drugs that can be associated with gynecomastia are listed be

spironolactone (Aldactone), a diuretic that has anti-androgenic activity;
Calcium channel blockers used to treat hypertension (such as nifedipine [Procardia and others]);
ACE inhibitor drugs for hypertension (captopril [Capoten], enalapril [Vasotec]);
some antibiotics (for example, isoniazid, ketoconazole [Nizoral, Extina, Xolegel, Kuric], and metronidazole [Flagyl]);
anti-ulcer drugs (such as ranitidine [Zantac], cimetidine [Tagamet], and omeprazole [Prilosec]);
anti-androgen or estrogen therapies for prostate cancer;
methyldopa (Aldomet);
highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV disease, which may cause fat redistribution leading to pseudogynecomastia or, in some cases, true gynecomastia;
digitoxin;
diazepam (Valium);
drugs of abuse (for example, alcohol, marijuana, heroin); and
lavender oil and tea tree oil, when used in skin-care products, have been associated with gynecomastia.

Reviewed by David Perlstein, MD, MBA, FAAP on 9/12/2012

Also I would assume he is wearing the bras for the same reason we do. He needs the support, and I think he also may be trying to hide his breasts and prevent nipple show. The surgery to reduce his breasts is very painful and they will return from the residual effects of the meds over the years. Just be happy his prostate is under control.