Acromegaly Support Group

my endocrinologist has been trying to help me get to the bottom of what has happened to me. yesterday she mentioned it could be acromegaly. she was thrown off track initially because my growth hormone level came back normal. she's testing again. i've had changes in my feet, starting about 5 years ago, and getting more and more pronounced. widening, and a painful bony mass on the tops of both feet. my toes have become wider, and crooked. my hands have become wider, and the fingers stout. they look as if i'm retaining water. i've just been diagnosed with scoliosis at age 40. i'm going for x-rays, and will find out how bad the curve is. i have almost constant back and neck pain. it feels as if my ribcage has become wider and bras especially fit differently than they did five years ago. i'm unable to sit up straight or sit in a chair without feeling as if part of my spine is protruding. i've had dental issues the last year. my once straight teeth have completely changed position; i had a wisdom tooth crack off in my hand. my lips have become very small; nose more prominent--longer, eyes and forehead furrowed and angry looking. the most prominent symptom on my face are my cheekbones. in a years' time, i've gone from thinking i was attractive to looking like someone in the advanced stages of illness. it looks as if i've lost all the fat in my face and my cheekbones jut out so far on the sides, i look deformed. i went to a plastic surgeon who said it was tremendous loss of volume in the face, but i'm starting to think it's actually bone growth. i had an x-ray done on my jaw. there was no tmj, or degenerative changes, so they told me it was the natural result of aging. please, does any of this sound familiar? if my endo repeats the growth hormone test and it comes back normal again, are there other tests that should be done to rule in/out acromegaly? i'm so scared. thank you for any guidance anyone could offer me.
Posted on 10/30/09, 11:10 am