Do I have gyno?

[Z-Man]

Here's my story:

I took Avodart for 1.5 years and had to quit due to an allergic reaction (dizzyness, rapid heartbeat, loss of libido and stinging at head of penis). I quit for 3 months, all side effects ceased, so I decided to give it another try, only this time one pill every other day. After the second pill, I got all those side effects again but with a terrible pain in my testicles and prostate. About a week later the testicle and prostate pain faded away.

About a week and a half later, I felt a sort of burning sensation around my nipples, primarily my right. It went away for a few days, then returned and has been persistent, but on and off. The pain kind of comes and goes. I don't have any puffyness and don't feel a hard lump directly under my nipple.

I'm wondering if this burning sensation might be due to my working my pecs again at the gym, yet I don't recall feeling this sensation before. Any thoughts? What are the immediate signs of gyno? It's been 2 weeks since my last Avo pill.

 

[HairlossTalk]

Get an estrogen test and immediately save yourself from assumption and possible paranoia. This will either confirm or deny that you are experiencing side effects from the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors you are taking. There is nothing we can tell you that will contribute more facts to your situation than an estrogen test will right now.

Let us know the results.

HairLossTalk.com

 

[Z-Man]

Well, 5ar's that I WAS taking. You better believe that after those side effects I stopped all hair loss drugs. Thanks for the reply.

 

[JJ Gittes]

I think it's fairly normal to feel a little tightness, or other strange feeling in the chest, the first week or two of dutasteride use.

There's no way you're getting gyno after a week and a half on dutasteride.

If you read the forums, you'd surmise that 50% of users taking 5ar inhibitors get gyno, yet the incidence noted in the trials was something like ~1%.

The fact of the matter is, many cases of reported gyno are not gyno.

 

[Z-Man]

So here's an update...

It's been about a month and 3 weeks since I stopped Avo (due to a strong alergic/hypersensitive reaction) and about a month since I had gyno symptoms. Well, the gyno symptoms have all but vanished (thankfully), but I devoped epidydimitis which is an infection of the epidydimis. I can only atribute it to Avo because a lot of people report testicular pain when on DHT inhibitors. I saw a Doctor and he prescribed me an antibiotic. The testicle pain has all but vanished now too.

I can't believe I'm like the only person in the world who experinced these side effects but it happend, and I'm glad I'm recovering. My sex drive is great and I feel so much better than when I was on dutasteride, not to mention my nipples don't feel like I rubbed them with Icy-Hot. Avo did awesome things for my hair, but did terrible things to my system. In a few months I will probably jump on the finasteride bandwagon once I get this scag out of my system. I will enlist the help of an endocrinologist and do things the right way next time around.

The only other thing I was taking with dutasteride was Nizoral 1%.

 

[HairlossTalk]

I devoped epidydimitis which is an infection of the epidydimis.

Technically its not always an infection. Its an inflammation related problem. I had it myself for several months. Some people seem to get it after allowing the testicle pain to go on for prolonged periods of time. My doctor told me that its a very sensitive organ and can get easily enflamed by agitation in the area.

HairLossTalk.com

 

[triton2]

Get an estrogen test and immediately save yourself from assumption and possible paranoia. This will either confirm or deny that you are experiencing side effects from the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors you are taking.

No, it won't, even if his E levels were in the normal range, his E/(T+DHT) ratio is not; that by itself is enough to promote gyno.

1: J Clin Invest. 1984 Dec;74(6):2272-8.
Antiestrogenic action of dihydrotestosterone in mouse breast. Competition with estradiol for binding to the estrogen receptor.

2:Attenuation of Estrogenic Effects by Dihydrotestosterone in the Pig Uterus Is Associated with Downregulation of the Estrogen Receptors1
Horacio Cárdenas2 and William F. Pope

3:Testosterone inhibits estrogen-induced mammary epithelial proliferation and suppresses estrogen receptor expression
JIAN ZHOU, SIU NG, O. ADESANYA-FAMUIYA, KRISTIN ANDERSON and CAROLYN A. BONDY1

4:Gynecomastia: effect of prolonged treatment with dihydrotestosterone by the percutaneous route

 

[Z-Man]

Can you translate that into English please?