Prolactinoma Support Group
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 by too much prolactin in the blood or by pressure of the tumor on surrounding tissues. Prolactin stimulates the breast to produce milk during pregnancy. After delivery of the baby, a mother's...
Does anyone experience chronic nausea and feeling just generally ill all the time with their prolactinoma?????
I know I do. For the past few days I can hardly get out of bed and when I do, I feel like Im gonna die most of the day.
Im not taking bromo or caber either because I cant tolerate them.....
I know I do. For the past few days I can hardly get out of bed and when I do, I feel like Im gonna die most of the day.
Im not taking bromo or caber either because I cant tolerate them.....
I can relate to how your feeling. Before (& after) I was diagnosed I would experience what I called head nausea. Right now my head just plain feels bad! What size is your tumor & how long have you been off the meds? Is your dr concerned that it'll grow, just curious. A lot of people have been telling me to drink Essiac Tea, that it's cured people with tumors & cancers. I asked a Holistic dr about this & he said part of the problem with our tumor is that it's located mostly inside the blood brain barrier and not everything can cross that (the Cabergoline sure as hell can - ha, ha). Tigertales, do you know anything about this? Hope you don't mind me asking.
Yes, the Blood Brain Barrier is a change (mimicking a barrier) in the structure of the vascular system within the brain.
If you had the same stuff floating around in the brain, like you do in your body, the brain would quickly stroke out...clog up, if you will...were it not for the relative sense of filtration provided by this mechanism. The cellular structure of the brain is very dense...largely made up of "Glial" type cells with neurons peppered in there as well.
There are slightly different mechanisms for exchanging nutrients, oxygen, and hormones within the brain. The cellular structure is highly integrated so that leaks and bleeds are less likely because these kinds of problems are big, big problems when you have such a high concentration of functioning structures in such a close and closed in area of the body. It's not as though you have an abdominal or chest wall that can expand and contract to provide a change in additional space based upon changes in the atmosphere, physical contact with other objects and so on.
The brain is definitely a world of it's own.
As a result, there is a challenge as to how to get certain medications to the most interior portion of the brain. Tiny molecules must be engineered so that they can effect changes in the individual portions interior to the brain.
The blood brain barrier is both protective and restrictive.
Beautiful design, no??
Now, I've been accused of having my head a lot lower, but we'll save that discussion for another time...lol!
Consider a bruise on your arm. It may disappear in a matter of days, but a bruise or in the brain, may take months if it clears at all.
Most strokes occur in the vascular structures leading to and from the brain and not actually in the brain itself. There are a lot of challenges to treating things like true brain tumors because nothing happens fast inside the brain.
I've been accused of being slow witted, so I guess this proves this theory to be true...lol.
I was diagnosed with a 4mm prolactinoma back in June and I tried 1/4 of cabergoline once a week for about two months. I had bad irritability and ager on it as well as increased deoression and increased nausea.
I also ended up in the ER twice due to the severe constipation that I got from it.
I am due in Seattle at the Swedish Pituitary Center to see a neurosurgeon named Marc Mayberg on Nov.12th. I dont really have any other options because I cant handle feeling like this anymore, and Im only 29. I cant live the rest of my life like this.....
Crystals83, I hope the people at Swedish can do something for you.
The feelings are very hard to deal with. My symptoms go back to your age and even beyond. I diagnosed myself at age 47, with the help of Google, by the way.
I dont know the size of my tumor nor does my doctor apparently, i have asked him so many times and he just says its micro and under 1cm, i find it so frustrating that he can not tell me the size! I seem to be the only one that does not know the size of their tumour.
I hope you dont mind me asking, as you say you are not on any meds, is your endo not concerned your tumour may grow? My endo did tell me most tumours do not grow and it took me 10 years for a diagnosis and it is still micro so i'm guessing this is your endo's opinion also?
I know how you feel when you say you cant live the rest of your life like this at only 29 i feel exactley the same.
K2012hi i hope you dont mind me asking but was it your cousin who was cured of prolactinoma? sorry if not i know it was someone on here, just cant remember who!
If you've had an MRI, your dr should definitely be able to tell you the size of your tumor. It should be in your MRI report, which I got a copy of from my Endo. You need to know the size so that when you have your next MRI you can compare and see how much it's shrunk.
I can really relate to both you & crystals83. I have said many times that I don't want to live like this. I've been super healthy & strong all of my life, or so I thought, until the last 3-4 years. I'm practicing patience, but of course I want to feel healthy, strong & well again, as we all do!!
crystals83, please let us know what Dr. Mayberg says when you go on the 12th. Good Luck!