hypothyroid symptoms and pituitary microadenoma

[lopez29]

About 2 and half years ago i was in a motor vehicle accident and had a tbi. about 8 months after that, i had an mri to see if i had any brain swelling and they found a pituitary microadenoma which was 4 mm. at that time, i was not having any symptoms so they decided to just monitor it.  recently (last month) i had another follow up mri, and the tumor grew 1 mm.  my doctor felt that the growth was minimal and decided not to do anything about it.  i have been having many hypothyroid symptoms such as memory loss, weight gain, stiff joints, and many others.  

I suppose most of my symptoms started really about 2 years ago.  i slowly started putting on weight (that was really the only thing that i noticed) despite a reduction in my caloric intake and exercise.  then at the end of this summer my knees started to bother me.  they would get stiff.  at first it would just happen for a brief moment when i would run, then it would happen when i was just walking around.  i had attributed it to the running so i stopped running for a few weeks and the stiffness still persisted.  then a few weeks ago i started to get this numb (almost like it was falling asleep) in my right hand while i was running so i told my doctor and he prescribed Metrol (an anti-inflamatory) because i developed allergies to naproxen and ibuprofen this past year.  

my doctor did test my tsh levels and they came back normal.  i am suspecting that i may have secondary hypo and he did not test the free t4.  i guess what i am asking is, should i be worried or am i just going crazy?  i feel like no one believes me.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

I would test TSH along with Free T4.  But the 5mm microadenoma is likely not effecting the pituitary function.  I speculate the weight gain was due to decreased resting metabolic rate after muslce loss post accident combined with decreased exercise.  Would also test Prolactin to make sure this is not a prolactin secreting micro-adenoma.

[lopez29]

also, my doctor faxed the results of the mri to an endocrinologist to see if it should be investigated further.  i have an appointment with an endo in a couple of weeks.  he ordered tests for prolactin and acth.  i think that he is testing prolactin levels possibly to see if i have a prolactinoma, but i have none of those symptoms.  acth has something to do with stress, right?  i have to look that up.  but i am going to request to test free t4 and have my doctor fax the results to the endo that i am going to see.  

is it wise to do this? i feel like i am making so much out of this.  the doctors will probably be annoyed with me.  i am not presuming to know that much, only i know (or at least, i hope i know) that something is wrong with me.

[lopez29]

i suppose i will not know until i go see the endocrinologist on whether my prolactin levels are elevated.  i did discover however that symptoms for prolactinoma contain some of the hypothyroid symptoms plus the increased thirst/urination which i could never explain.  thank you--Rosana Lopez

[amythist2779]

If I didnt know better I would say you were describing me. I have been going through the same thing for awhile now. I recently saw an endocrinologist and they did a saliva cortisol test. Thinking maybe I have cushings disease. My levels were elevated. The normal range is .17 and mine were  .59, .36, and.28. I find out tomorrow weather it is cushings for sure or not.

This may be something you want to look into. FYI I also have a pituitary adenoma, mine is 14mm, and they say that its nothing to be concerned about. My question is...how freakin big does a tumor have to be before having it removed? Cancerous or not, its still a tumor and I want it gone!

[lopez29]

i take a blood test on thursday to test my prolactin levels.  the endocrinologist also ordered a test for ACTH.  your tumor seems way too big.  i am not a doctor but the pituitary itself is fairly small (only a few cm) so i would think any mass would affect the pituitary's function. to me that's a no brainer.  there is possibly another message board that you could visit it is at pituitary.org.  just go to the message board and you can find other people going through similar situations with Cushing's

[phooyman]

A related discussion, Can a person have a microadenoma for years or most of their life unchanged? was started.