Pituitary Adenoma

[khurtado]

I am fairly certain that I have a pituitary tumor. I have a couple questions. First I will list my symptoms that are present (and have been for the past year or so):
Vision changes/ disturbances
Ovarian cysts
Irregular periods (sometimes 5 weeks between, sometimes every two weeks)
Headaches (almost daily, migraine medications so not help)
I get hot very easily (without fever, to the point that I feel sick to my stomache)
Mood swings--mainly irritability
No libido, or sexual arousal. (My husband is unhappy! Ha)
I have had a sezure before but I haven't since and EEG didn't show grand mal activity afterward
I am nauseous all the time, not just from certain foods
I am NOT pregnant
I have fallen down the stairs twice. For reasons unknown.

I have recently gotten an MRI, and they said there wasn't anything. BUT it was just a regular head scan. Do they have to zoom or take special slices to see the adenoma, especially if it is a microadenoma or will it just show up on a regular MRI?

I'm really getting frustrated. My doctor is telling me it is just stress, but I have been 10x more stressed in my life than I am right now. I don't know how to approach my doctor or bring the subject up without him just laughing in my face or denying me.

[rumpled]

Find a neuro-opthomologist and get good visual field tests done. Get your GP or someone to run more detailed tests (not the usual thyroid panel which is useless) but thyroid antibodies, FH, LH, DHEA, estrodial, bioavailable testosterone, test out the adrenals for metaphrines, cortisol, renin, aldosterone, sodium, potassium... There are a lot of tests that can be done - just be careful to know that they are being done correctly, at the right time of day, if fasting or not, and if the lab tech is handling them correctly. Lab error was really something that held me back.

Really, an MRI is something if it shows up but... 40% of tumors of do not. Labs are the real thing. Lots and lots of blood and pee.

The docs like to blame the stress, not realizing that the stress is coming from the inside. I had cushing's and high cortisol. I felt like I was crawling out of my skin all the time - but rather than look for a cause, I was just blamed for eating and given tests for sleeping and pills for diets.

[enzymelover]

   Stress can make everything worse, but it does not cause all the symptoms you are having. If they did not specifically target the pituitary for MRI exam, you are right that they could have missed something. It sounds like it's time for you to find another doctor, and you need to be seen by an endocrinologist. It's your life. Don't feel bad about seeing another doctor. There are doctors out there ( though very few, it seems ) who are more determined to get to the bottom of things, and help you.

If nothing was found on the brain MRI, you might ask about imaging the adrenals directly. This is how my mom's adrenal lesion was found. She was (and still is) having terrible blood pressure problems, but she is 86, and it took a lot of time and doctors to discover the cause, because,  hey, old people have blood pressure problems. (that was their attitude).