Gyno (Puffy Nipples), Letrozole, Pramipexole, & Nolvadex

[Landolox]

Hello all, first post here after days of reading similar gyno-related posts. Hopefully, someone may have some insight from personal experience.

Finished a Havoc cycle in January 2011. It was not my first PH or Havoc cycle. Around March 2011, my left nipple became sensitive and a small, pebble-sized lump began to form. In hindsight, I should have started Letrozole at this point but I didn't. Lesson learned.

As a side note, I have always carried fat in my chest and have had slightly larger than average nipples. Prior to this incident I had wondered if I had some form of gyno or pseudo-gyno. As mentioned, having the lump only on one side really helps me to differentiate between having gyno and not having it.

The lump continued to slowly grow until I ordered Letrozole (and Nolvadex for PCT) and began tapering up to 2.5mg ED on August 18, 2011. From March to August, the lump grew to about the size of a marble and the sensitivity diminished, although it never subsided.

About 1 week at 2.5mg ED, the marble began to very slowly decrease in size. 2.5mg side effects consisted of lethargy for the first few days, zero-libido (although the GF seems to enjoy the challenge) slight mood swings, joint pain, particularly in the knees, and lower back pain/aching. After about 4 weeks, the lump had decreased approximately 50% in size although my nipples still looked puffy. No additional changes have occurred beyond week 4.

I ordered some Pramipexole after reading some success stories with both Letro and Prami, and because of the other small positive effects I had read Prami could bring. I began the Prami the last week in September, slowly tapering up to .5mg ED. With my Letro running low, I only ran the Letro at 2.5mg and Prami at .5mg for a couple of days. With the addition of Prami, the only noted changes have been an increased sensitivity in my left nipple and a slight increase in size. And yes, this occurred while maintaining 2.5mg Letro ED.

As of today, Oct. 5, 2011, my Letro taper down protocol has me at .5mg. I took that this morning along side my first dose of Nolva at 20mg. I will keep Nolva at 20mg ED for a week, then 10mg ED the following week.

Any idea what I did wrong regarding the Letro?

My consensus regarding Letro's Puffy Nipple success rate from reading the boards seems as follows: ~60% chance of it working to reverse gyno symptoms, mainly dependent on the amount of time that passes between symptoms occurring and Letro onset. However, there seem to be minimal posts where Letro has completely removed a lump. The majority of talk is about shrinkage. Do I simply fall into the category of my lump only shrinking but not disappearing?

Also, any idea on why the nipple would increase in sensitivity and the lump slightly increase 5+ weeks into the letro cycle? (Yes, I know this is a long time to be on 2.5mg ED, but the sides were not too troublesome). It's as though the bottom part of the bottle (ChemOne) was bunk.

Let me know if there are questions or if I need to be clearer on something. I feel I may end up under the knife, but maybe someone else could learn something from this post.

Thanks.

[slimwealthy1]

same **** happened to me. It really sounds like you did everything right, from everything i've read. I started letro 3 weeks after i got the lumps and it has completely gotten rid of it except a little nip puffiness. Nothing you can really do about it at this point if 6 weeks of letro at 2.5mg (which is too much to begin with) didn't work. Run the nolva 20/10/10 and look into surgery if you aren't satisfied.

edit: did you touch the affected area a lot? through the first 3 weeks i would touch it and obsess over the lumps. For the last 3 weeks i NEVER touched them and the lump shrinking drastically sped up and there was little to no sensitivity.

[Landolox]

same **** happened to me. It really sounds like you did everything right, from everything i've read. I started letro 3 weeks after i got the lumps and it has completely gotten rid of it except a little nip puffiness. Nothing you can really do about it at this point if 6 weeks of letro at 2.5mg (which is too much to begin with) didn't work. Run the nolva 20/10/10 and look into surgery if you aren't satisfied.

edit: did you touch the affected area a lot? through the first 3 weeks i would touch it and obsess over the lumps. For the last 3 weeks i NEVER touched them and the lump shrinking drastically sped up and there was little to no sensitivity.

I would say yes, that I have been touching/rubbing them a good amount since they stopped shrinking. I wonder if it can be irritated to the point of inflammation. I'm not sure if rubbing them makes it worse, but it certainly doesn't make it better. Guess I'll try to be more mindful of it. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Landolox]

UPDATE: 10/09/11

I am now a few days off of the Letrozole. Currently taking Nolvadex 20mb ED and will continue for another week before tapering to 10mg ED for a final week. Also on the Pramipexole at .70mg ED (taken right before bed due to pretty immediate drowsiness). I think it is safe to say that my Gyno has flared up to its original size and tenderness, though the lump is in a marginally different place behind my nipple than originally. My conclusion thus far is that the Letro works while on it but loses its effect almost immediately upon the taper down process. Not sure if the Nolva helped at all with estrogen rebound, but its safe to say that ~6 weeks of 2.5mg of Letro taken every day was only a temporary fix. If anyone else feels like chiming in with suggestions or insight, you are more than welcome. Looks like it will be going under the knife for me. As for the Prami, I couldn't tell if there were any affects other than the drowsiness so I will probably finish it out along with the Nolva.

I plan on getting blood work post-cycle and will post the results here for any who are interested.