Normal (high-range) Testosterone AND Gynecomastia?

I currently have gynecomastia in the form of painful swollen nipples. I recently had blood work done and my testosterone came out in the high range of normal. My TSH was also relatively low: 1.2 i think. Anyone have any ideas about why I have gyno?

When the gyno started, I was on a Ray Peat style, high sugar (OJ) diet, and high dairy (Whole milk) diet. Though, to be fair, I'm not positive the diet induced my gyno. I stopped dairy a couple of months ago and didn't see much improvement. Recently, I've stopped drinking orange juice, and think the painfulness of my nipples has decreased.

Any thoughts?

The level of a single hormone is an important factor, obviously low T can be a severe problem. But more important than this is often the ratio in context to other hormones. The ratio of testosterone to estrogen is more important than testosterone by itself. Have you had your estrogen measured also? Cortisol is another one I'd be interested to know. How sure are you that you are dealing with true gyno and not pseudo gyno? Are you experiencing fat deposition on the stomach and chest? How about the upper back near the hump region?

id beware of eating high quantities of any single food daily for long periods of time.

strike a balance.

i wouldnt do the 3 or 4 liters OJ or whatever roddy / peat suggest for the sake of my teeth alone.

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty certain it's gynecomastia. I'm thin, and there is hardened tissue beneath the nipple. My doctor for some reason did not order estrogen labs. My prolactin however, is low-normal, which i think is a good thing.

i had the hardened swollen sore nipples in junior high. worst experience ever, mainly due to changing in front of others in the locker room. assholes picked up on it real quick. i attribute a lot of the intensification in my social anxiety to those experiences.

LawOfThelema wrote:i had the hardened swollen sore nipples in junior high. worst experience ever, mainly due to changing in front of others in the locker room. assholes picked up on it real quick. i attribute a lot of the intensification in my social anxiety to those experiences.

I did too. Gynecomastia is apparently quite common for males of that age.

i have this exact smae problem right now. a hard sore lump right under the nipple.

there was a few ppl who experienced male breast cancer from finasteride, so my mind plays tricks but really i think its just gyno.

i did use finasteride for a few yrs but that was 4 yrs ago, and although i think the side effects from fin are under reported, i really didnt care at the time ,because if it brought back my hair it would be worth it, but it just didnt work for me, in fact it accelerated the recession in the hairline (but this is very hard to prove). And thats my main problem with finasteride, is not the sides which are bad, but the fact that it just isnt the silver bullet people make it out to be, and can actually make ur hair worse.

wouldnt care so much about this gyno though if it wasnt so damn painful. It feels like a big sore boil.

Does anyone have any advice about what I can do to get this problem solved?
Do I need to get my estrogen checked?
I know that CS recommends a lot of different things (andractim, iodine/selenium, curcumin, etc.),
but are these still valid if my testosterone is at a high-normal level?

The swelling seems to be going down ever since i stopped drinking orange juice?
Does anyone know why this might be?

Funny you got gyno on Ray Peat's diet, since it is designed to lower estrogen. Maybe the high sugar content and the milk gave it to you or it is only a coincidence?...Anyway, I second anthony regarding the estrogen/progesterone test. High estrog could drive up test as well (and SHBG).
But I'm no expert,, I could be wrong, you should do what you think it's best for you.
Low TSH means the thyroid is producing enough thyroid hormones, this is good news for you. According to some people, even lower then what you got is actually better.
One other thing, iodine is known to compete with estrogen for the receptors in the breast tissue, increase T3 and lower estrogen/raise progeterone, but if you want to get lab work done, start taking iodine after you do that as it will alter the results.

Thanks for the replies!

CS told me about a month ago that gynecomastia/high-estrogen might point to an estrogen glucuronidation problem. If this is the case, what can be done to fix this? Calcium D glucarate?

Also, is Andractim DHT gel available on prescription in the US? I have a doctor who will prescribe me just about anything.

It should be said. I have been consistently taking iodine (around 12.5mg), along with selenium (100mcg selenomethianine), daily. Curcumin and Resveratrol have also been consistently used. along with 5000mg of vitamin D daily.
In other words, I have many of the bases covered when it comes to attempting to manage estrogens through supplements.

mihai wrote:Funny you got gyno on Ray Peat's diet, since it is designed to lower estrogen.

It is quite ironic yes. My first guess is that it is a glucuronidation issue.
Ray Peat might suggest a raw carrot daily to keep estrogen from being reabsorbed into the bloodstream.
I wonder what others will recommend.

When I squeeze my nipples, fluid comes out. So, I think this is definitely gyno... Though, it seems to be getting better. The only reason I'm now able to squeeze is because the pain has drastically decreased.

sounds like prolactin is a big issue for you... chasteberry (vitex) in doses of 400+ mg a day (underdoing it wil increase prolactin, but higher doses will bring it down), muira puama, iodine

It's strange that you say that, because my bloodwork shows my prolactin as low-normal.

hmmm, ok maybe i have a lot more learning to do then! haha. That's strange...