Lady friend/prolactin issue

[SecondAct]

I have a close friend. She is a small girl, fitness type size 0 normally. Over the past 6 months she has gained maybe 30-35 lbs not commensurate with a change in diet. She is definately not pregnant. She started getting some nipple discharge, mild, more watery than milky, in addition to the weight gain which is similar to water weight in apperance.

I thought her issue was likely high prolactin, low t-3/low thyroid but told her she had to rule out any more serious issue. Her doctor ruled out any breast tumors/abnormalities. Her bloodwork did show elevated prolactin and what he termed, " borderline low thyroid", but he has failed to address it despite slightly higher numbers over the course of a few tests. She's getting pissed as she works out very hard, runner, martial arts, etc. and I think she would benefit from adding t-3, but I don't want to screw her up with my uneducated opionion on this matter. She has cleared all the medical issues that I told her to clear in regards to more serious issues.

Would I be wrong to recommend t-3 for her? if not, what dose to start for a girl normally 5'2. 100lbs, now 134 lbs as of today.? Her doctor seems reluctant to prescribe it, and she doesn't want to gain 60 lbs before he eventually puts her on it anyways. He may have a reason, but I think he simply is a bit of a quack and won't even give her a referral to an endo, which is mandatory on her insurance plan.

Thanks for any feedback. I understand any opinions are simply that and theoretical in nature

 

[RESTLESS1]

would it be wrong to suggest she see a different doctor......get a second opinion

 

[hotnuts]

What is she on? See a different doctor! If it's still an issue post up a vid of her discharging and we can help her out further.

 

[SecondAct]

would it be wrong to suggest she see a different doctor......get a second opinion

Not wrong. She is in rural Pennsylvania and her network is very restrictive. After the last visit, she attempted to get a second opinion, and not one of the local approx 25 doctors are accepting new patients. Very underserved area, very elderly population, thus no doctors are taking anyone on. We called into Pittsburgh, and she actually has an appointment, but it's 10 weeks off. I think the answer is pretty apparent, but while rolling the dice on occasion with my own health, I'm unwilling to do it with someone else's. She obv. has a borderline low thyroid, I guess the question is if there are reprucussions to a small t-3 dose in a late 20's girl with no other problems who has already tested on multiple occasions as borderline low.

 

[RESTLESS1]

well gaining weight at that rate its would seem there is a problem......i personally would not reccomend her self medicating......wait for the second opinion......better safe than sorry.....jmo

 

[chris250]

Is this her regular doctor or a endo doctor ?

 

[SecondAct]

It's her regular doctor Chris. Her Dr. won't get her an endo referral. I'm not going to give her any T-3 I guess. He seems to want to wait a damn year before he considers it referral worthy. I just thought it would be relatively benign at a small dose when she has already tested borderline low multiple times. I wasnt trying to make a diagnosis to the cause, simply help her until she gets into another doctor. She has eaten a ton of soy in the past. I've heard that could elevate prolactin, but not from reliable sources, and I figured I'd ask the experts before giving her t-3. I have used it periodically through the years with no severe sides, I assumed it wouldn't be an issue in someone already testing low. I was just going to have her try it for a few weeks and see the results and then get off so it wouldn't skew her actual results when she is tested by an endo. Probably best to wait.

 

[fr8lnr01]

She may have a pituitary adenoma which may be increasing in size slowly. If she is currently above normal and does have a pituitary tumor it may continue to progress. A tumor on the pituitary could also result in her having a low thyroid level due to low tsh output. The doctor could request that she have her tsh values checked to rule out a thyroid issue and thus conclude it is of pituitary in origin.

She must see an Endo.

 

[maldorf]

She may have a pituitary adenoma which may be increasing in size slowly. If she is currently above normal and does have a pituitary tumor it may continue to progress. A tumor on the pituitary could also result in her having a low thyroid level due to low tsh output. The doctor could request that she have her tsh values checked to rule out a thyroid issue and thus conclude it is of pituitary in origin.

She must see an Endo.

First thing that came to my mind also. I wouldnt sit around and wait. She needs attention now.

 

[Steve123]

She may have a pituitary adenoma which may be increasing in size slowly. If she is currently above normal and does have a pituitary tumor it may continue to progress. A tumor on the pituitary could also result in her having a low thyroid level due to low tsh output. The doctor could request that she have her tsh values checked to rule out a thyroid issue and thus conclude it is of pituitary in origin.

She must see an Endo.

a friend of mine had to have the pituitary removed because of this. They should be able to test for it pretty easily.

 

[BigMatt]

Test

1.TSH
2.FREE T3
3.FREE T4
4.REVERSE T3

Then comeback and post results.

 

[SecondAct]

I guess I was a little unclear. Her sister actually had thyroid cancer, so they ruled out more serious issues, i.e breast cancer, thyroid cancer through ct,blood work, other scans, etc. Her doctor is confident that those aren't the underlying conditions and was thorough in eliminating them.

As I said in OP, I wouldn't consider anything until a doc had ruled out more serious conditions. I'm not in the office, so I wasn't privy to exact comments, but I know he isn't worried about things of that nature. She didn't ask questions that i would have asked, like , what do you think it is? what's your planned protocol? He seems to just not think it's that serious, and seems to have a wait and see attitude. One thing I forgot to mention is that he thinks she has early Hashimoto's, which to my understanding is the leading cause of increasing hypo-thyroidism, in which case the protocol will eventually lead to thyroid hormone anyways. I think the weight gain can be totally attributed to that. The leakage I don't understand. I have read here in the past that high prolactin can lead to a t-3 deficient state, I was wondering if the opposite was also true? Can low T-3 lead to elevated prolactin? If so, it seems a likely culprit.

I'm pro-medicine, so he may very well have his reasons. From the discussions she has had with him, it simply seems inevitable that this is the direction it was going anyways and he is just a busy doctor and a bit slow to act. Like anyone, if that is the direction it's heading, why gain another 40 lbs before he starts what you could have started earlier? That was the root of my question. She, like many girls, puts a lot of importance on being fit and thin. I'm never one to experiment on girls with harsh chemicals, I just thought the answer might be obv. to someone here, possibly a woman member. This is why I asked the question first, rather than say " hey i gave a gf t-3, now what?" Myself, I told her to relax, but when girls start jumping sizes every 3 weeks they start freaking out.

 

[SecondAct]

Test

1.TSH
2.FREE T3
3.FREE T4
4.REVERSE T3

Then comeback and post results.

These have been tested. I'll see if she has results in her possesion. As said in earlier post, he said he thinks it's early "hashimotos", so I assume she was borderline of low/low normal. I'll post back when I can be more exact.