What is Prolactinoma
A prolactinoma is a benign tumor of the pituitary gland that produces a hormone called prolactin. It is the most common type of pituitary tumor. Symptoms of prolactinoma are caused...
Join Now
|
Cabergoline.. depression and mood changes..
|
Watch this |
| View More Posts Ignore |
I am new to this site, so I am not sure where to start. I am desperately seeking answers, support, and help. So here is our story:
In 2004 my husband had a very traumatic motocycle accident. Many broken bone, and 4 days in ICU. After the accident his moods began changing..We originally attributed this to the pain from his injury, the recent birth of our daughter, and the several moves we had made. Years passed, however, and more symptoms began to appear i.e. inability to make a decision, weight gain, muscle loss, extreme highs and lows with moods.. etc. I finally convinced him to have some blood tests run mainly to check thyroid and testosterone. His thyroid is fine, however his testosterone was 226 and he had very high cholesterol. The GP prescribed testosterone cream, which seemed to help. One month later we had all of the levels rechecked. His testosterone actually went down after being on the cream. Thats when the GP tested the prolactin. He was at 186. We had the MRI done, and no tumor was found. We were then referred to an endocrinologist. He believes the lab missed the tumor, and prescribed .5mg of cabergoline twice a week. Since being on the cabergoline his sex strive has returned, however, he is starting to show signs of mood changes maybe even depression. He goes from very angry (screaming and cussing) to very sad (crying) in a split second. He has always battled some anxiety but this also seems much worse than normal. He is also much more tired than usual. He tells me that he feels like everything in his head is chaos, and he can't organize his thoughts. Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this due to thier prolactinoma or the cabergoline? Please help... Posted on 07/27/09, 02:07 pm |
| 5 Replies | Add Your Reply |
| View More Posts Ignore |
Depression is very normal with prolactinoma. You may want to look back at some of the earlier posting that topic has come up often.
Antidepressants I have had three different times that I went on them to get over the hump. The thing with a prolactinoma is it take your quality of life so you have to be more discipline then most people. Healthy diet , exercise and a good night sleep are a must. You will not see much result on the scale but it does play a big part in the brain and how much you can handle. How long has he been on the cabergoline? We have a number of men that are member if your husband would like to contact them I know they would talk it out with him. Hope that helps. 
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
He has only been on the cabergoline for a month. Before that he was using the 2% testosterone cream for 5 months. The endo stopped the testosterone cream to see if the reduction in the prolactin would cause his testosterone to increase naturally.
So basically at this point I am not sure if the drop in testosterone or the cabergoline is causing the erratic mood swings. He works shift work, so the sleep thing is always an issue. In his accident he broke his back, femur, and ankle which make it difficult for him to exercise, since he is a former Marine this also causes issues. But i keep him on a strict diet for his cholesterol problems. Can you tell me what type of antidepressants you have taken? Did you take them while taking cabergoline or dostinex? I have asked him to join the support groups, but he has no interest. Just getting him to go to the doctor was an amazing feat. Thanks for the reply. Any information I can get helps.
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
I have been on caberogline well into 6 months now. I must say that what your describing sounds like me in a nut shell. My family dr says it all goes with the territory of what is being dealt with and disrupted by the prolactinoma. I definitely agree that a good sleep is key in how you feel.I find that if I haven't had a good nights sleep that my body and mood swings are worseHealthy diet is key as well. The exercise may be limited for your husband but how about a low impact workout or even a daily walk will help. I know it will take time to get things stable, my Dr told me I was in for a long ride but It will get better. It's hard but be patient, but sooner or later things will balnce out and he will start to feel normal. He does Have to realize it will not happen overnight. I was diagnosed in Nov08. I have to say at least you got him to the Dr. Hang in there : )
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
My daughter has been on the cabergoline for about 5 weeks now, her complaints are tremendous headaches, which she had prior to the meds, but the cabergoline seems to intensify them, and she does say to me once in a while that she feels sad out of the blue for no reason, I think she may be experiencing some depression on the meds but doesn't exactly know how to voice it since she's never had any thing to be depressed about. It would be great for your husband to join this site for the support, however, if he wont this is a great site for you, advice, venting, ranting, whatever. I have found more support and information here than anywhere else. try to stay positive and blow off steam hear if you need to.
|
|
|
|
||
| View More Posts Ignore |
I definitley agree that a healthy lifestyle is a must. Sleep, diet and exercise. Exercise is so important. They've done studies that doing 3 hours a week can mimic the good effects of anti depressants! It has worked for me for sure as well as stress reducing activities..Taking the time out to relax..Meditation as well. Good luck and hang in there!
|
|
|
|
||
| Add Your Reply |
