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I've been taking oral DHT blockers for 2.5 years. Finasteride for the first 6 months, and then switched to dutasteride for the past 2 years, both at the regular dosage. Unfortunately in the past few months I've noticed the development of gynecomastia. I wasn't sure at first, but it has now become pretty obvious, grade 1 gyno with a lump under the areola (along with slight nipple sensitivity/more visibility through shirts). It seems to be getting worse at an increasing speed as well, especially over the past few weeks. It amazes me that it took this long (2 years) to actually notice it developing, but I guess the effect has been cumulative.
Before anyone asks, I'm in good shape, lean and muscular (6 ft 190 lbs), and have been going to the gym almost daily for the past 8 months (slow clean bulk up from 175 lbs + creatine).
I'm at a loss for what to do. Hair is very important to me, so I need to be on some form of DHT blocking treatment. I could potentially try topicals, but they're a pain in the ***. I'm also not sure whether switching to topicals/getting off the orals would do anything to reverse the gyno, so I haven't been in a rush to get off. I know there are things like SERMs as well but I have a hard time believing it could do anything now that the tissue has already developed. I'd be fine with just getting surgery, but I'm worried that the gyno would grow back, or that if they remove too much of the gland that I may end up with a "caved in" appearance.
I did see a physician about this and they ordered some hormonal blood tests, here are the results if anyone is interested. Seems like estrogen/estradiol/SHBG are on the higher end of the reference range. I'll be seeing the Doctor tomorrow to discuss the results, and hopefully get a referral to a specialist.
Would appreciate any input, especially from those with a similar experience.
Before anyone asks, I'm in good shape, lean and muscular (6 ft 190 lbs), and have been going to the gym almost daily for the past 8 months (slow clean bulk up from 175 lbs + creatine).
I'm at a loss for what to do. Hair is very important to me, so I need to be on some form of DHT blocking treatment. I could potentially try topicals, but they're a pain in the ***. I'm also not sure whether switching to topicals/getting off the orals would do anything to reverse the gyno, so I haven't been in a rush to get off. I know there are things like SERMs as well but I have a hard time believing it could do anything now that the tissue has already developed. I'd be fine with just getting surgery, but I'm worried that the gyno would grow back, or that if they remove too much of the gland that I may end up with a "caved in" appearance.
I did see a physician about this and they ordered some hormonal blood tests, here are the results if anyone is interested. Seems like estrogen/estradiol/SHBG are on the higher end of the reference range. I'll be seeing the Doctor tomorrow to discuss the results, and hopefully get a referral to a specialist.
Test | Result | Reference range |
ESTROGEN, TOTAL, SERUM | 173.5 pg/mL | 60 - 190 pg/mL |
PROLACTIN | 8.6 ng/mL | 2.0 - 18.0 ng/mL |
ESTRADIOL | 36 pg/mL | < OR = 39 pg/mL |
ALBUMIN | 4.4 g/dL | 3.6 - 5.1 g/dL |
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULIN | 43 nmol/L | 10 - 50 nmol/L |
TESTOSTERONE, FREE | 84.2 pg/mL | 46.0 - 224.0 pg/mL |
TESTOSTERONE, BIOAVAILABLE | 169.5 ng/dL | 110.0 - 575.0 ng/dL |
TESTOSTERONE, TOTAL, MS | 730 ng/dL | 250 - 1100 ng/dL |
Would appreciate any input, especially from those with a similar experience.