Pituitary Tumor - HCG Script Questions (Dosage, Gyno)

Hey there,

I’m just joining, but I probably should have a long time ago. I’m not going to go too in-depth, but you can skip to TLDR for my main question. I’m 29, and suffered from a pituitary tumor that went undiagnosed for five years. During that time, I went from being an active and healthy male to “wtf is that?” Doctors misdiagnosed me, I lost my fiancé, my career, my home, everything. A year ago, I finally met a doctor that saw how awful I’d become, and he ordered some tests. My testosterone was around 40, and cortisol was under 2 (morning levels). A follow-up MRI found a pituitary macroadenoma that has been treated by Neurosurgeons and Endocrinologists for a few years now. However, I am nowhere near where I was seven years ago, despite returning to the same weight (180, 6’) and taking cortisol. I was initially given a script of high-dose T injections to take every two weeks, and this caused some moderate gyno over a year or so. To combat infertility/gyno, my endocrinologist switched me to Clomid in January, and it caused vision issues due to the tumor. Yesterday, he just prescribed HCG, but it looks like a ridiculous dose from what I’ve read - 2,000 units 3x weekly. HCG is known to CAUSE gyno, but he said not to worry about it… He shrugged when I asked about other options.

TLDR: Is 2,000 units of HCG 3x a week dangerous? Is it going to make my gyno issue worse? Should I ignore my endocrinologist and seek out other treatments? Is there some forum knowledge that can help restore the “me” that existed prior to pituitary tumor?

Thanks for any helpful feedback! Cheers to any fellow pituitary victims or low-T folks.

Hi gaunt_ghost, your story sounds pretty similar to mine. Check out my thread here:

Was your adenoma prolactin emitting also?

I can’t really offer advice but I can offer support as someone else that has had a similar issue. I had a micro prolactinoma that I would estimate I had for at least 5 years. My prolactin was as high as 54. My total T was as low as 122. I started cabergoline in March 2016 and now my total T is up to 483 and free T 92 naturally. Unfortunately it has taken its toll though. I’ve developed osteopenia, joint issues, and still have issues with anxiety, depression, concentration, brain fog.

I’ve also decided to take the jump into TRT to try to further resolve my issues. My primary care doctor is willing to let me self inject test cypionate. She wants me to do it once every two weeks like you had been doing. I’m hoping I can convince her of a once per week or twice per week schedule. This all seems to be a difficult road getting your doctors on board with what you want to do.

Anyways, I wish you all the best.

Hey, thanks for the reply!

I’m not sure, my prolactin was ~40 two years ago, but that was apparently borderline. The endo tested it again a week later and it was down to 20 or so, so they didn’t treat it. I begged for cab because I thought it would solve my problems, but they don’t treat unless the labs match.

I’m kind of an atypical case, so far my only diagnosis are adenoma (11mm), hypogonadism, and secondary adrenal failure. The hCG scares me, I’m supposed to start today, but 2,000 mg seems like way too much for 3x a week. I really don’t want to get the perma-boobs I’ve read about!

I know how you feel about the 2x a week, most doctors don’t seem to know that can cause estrogen issues. I don’t know much about it, but maybe you could ask your pharmacy for more needles for your T? That way you could do smaller doses more of it more often like I’ve seen reccomended. Good luck with the cab, I hope you’re one of the ones who has the prolactinoma complete resolve on it!

-Cheers

Thanks, keep your thread updated so everyone on this forum can see how it goes. Honestly, the caber has been great. I don’t know where I would be today without it. It dropped my prolactin from 54 to the 4 to 5 range. If your levels were up to 40, that is definitely not normal. A man’s prolactin levels should not exceed 13 to 15.

Did you have your tumor surgically removed?

I had an initial MRI to confirm that I had a pituitary tumor and a follow up MRI after about 6 months. After 6 months on caber, my tumor could not even be detected on the follow up MRI.

I think you are right about your HCG dosage. It seems pretty high. The experts on this forum recommend 250iu EOD which would be about 1000iu per week. See this sticky here:

Thanks for the advice on the TRT, too

Hi Guys,

I am in in similar position. Went for a annual medical and T came back at 48 ng/ml so I went to see an endocringologist, lost some weight and T went up to 74ng / ml! Prolactin was measured at 107ng / ml and an MRI scan followed and discovered a microprolactinoma. Got prescribed 5mg Bromocriptine a day and after a month Prolactin is down to 3.5ng / ml and T @ 255 ng/ml. Better but still low. How long did it take for T to increase? Is a month too quick?

Hi khunmat, I don’t want to hijack gaunt_ghost’s thread but I will say that you should checkout my thread that I posted a link to above. I posted all of my blood tests from the time I started caber when I was diagnosed with my prolactinoma to now. That should give you an idea of how my T progressed. You may be different though so keep that in mind. Mine seems to have leveled off now in the low normal range. I’ve just started test cyp 100mg/per week. I put that information in the thread too.

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