#prolactin

[bilirubingal]

ok, so my prolactin is messed up again but i don't have time to see my psychoendocrinologist.. hopefully there will be a good one in the hospital i go to tomorrow!

[thescrumblingmidwife]

is it normal for your breasts to leak if you've never had kids? (17)

Hi Anon,

What you're referring to is called galactorrhea. We break the causes down into physiologic (caused by a normal physical process, usually pregnancy and lactation), pharmacologic (caused by a medicine), or pathologic (caused by an underlying disease or disorder somewhere in the body).

There are a few physiologic causes of galactorrhea in a nulligravid (never-pregnant) person, and sometimes the cause is just "idiopathic" (it's your normal but we don't know why). That said, it's not typical, and your doctor will want to rule out any pathologic causes. Most causes are totally benign (not a risk to your health), but it's good to know why it's happening.

Your doctor will want to take your medical history and ask you about your menstrual cycle, any other symptoms you might be having, as well as some questions about what the discharge is like, whether it comes from both breasts, whether you need to touch your breasts for it to come out or if it does it spontaneously, etc. Your doctor will also do an examination and a little bloodwork to see if you have hyperprolactinemia (too much of the hormone prolactin). If you do have elevated prolactin, they may want to do more bloodwork or imaging of your head to see if you have a small benign (noncancerous) tumor on the pituitary, called a prolactinoma. The treatment for this is usually just some medication. It's nothing to be afraid of.

Please let your pediatrician/doctor know the next time you see them!

[manjirinadkarni]

Looking for a natural way to balance your hormones?

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Fenugreek tea is known to be beneficial in balancing various hormones in the body.

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[intersex-support]

Hey there, I hope this is ok to ask but do you know if high prolactin is common in NCAH? I've been digging through the internet trying to find anything talking about this but I've found nothing. I want to be sure my diagnosis of PCOS is actually correct since my dr never did any further testing but finding certain information so I can ask them about this has been difficult. Also discovering that I can count myself intersex bc of this has made me feel a whole lot better, I appreciate this blog <3

Hi, I'm sorry for answering this late! I did do some quick research, and would be interested to see what you've found if there's anything.

I did find this article which talks about prolactin and cortisol in relation to endometriosis, while that's not much specifically to do with NCAH, I would say it looks like the study found there to be high levels of cortisol along with high levels of prolactin, and N/CAH is known to not produce enough cortisol. It's worth noting that the article mentions both can rise due to stress. Article link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16906287/

High levels of both prolactin and cortisol seem to have some connection to systemic lupus erythematosus and other connective tissue diseases, this is interesting since EDs is a connective tissue disease which is associated with specifically CAH-X. That being said, the common protein association with EDs that I know of is collagen deficiency; I could find nothing on high prolactin. Here's the article I looked at specifically for the prolactin/cortisol levels in people with SLE/CTD: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8832986/

While I couldn't find anything specifically about NCAH and prolactin, since cortisol is such a large factor in NCAH hormonal experience, I wouldn't be surprised if prolactin is influenced by that (possibly more for specific CAH variations). If your cortisol levels are low, then I don't think this would affect prolactin levels in the same way, if anything most articles at a quick glance indicate low prolactin. I also don't think there's enough accessible research to come to any conclusions here, that beings said, our hormones all influence each other and there's multiple different CAH variations which manifest/look different for everyone.

Keeping in mind that it's not uncommon for people with PCOS to also experience hypermobility and have high prolactin levels, I wouldn't say high prolactin specifically indicates CAH variation. It's possible that high prolactin and low cortisol could indicate a pituitary issue, which is something you could ask to be looked into in a lab test.

Sorry if this doesn't answer your question, if anyone else has the knowledge or experience to give input that would be great!

[er-cryptid]

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[neurosciencenews]

Lactation Hormone Also Helps a Mother's Brain

The same hormone that stimulates milk production for lactation, also acts in the brain to help establish the nurturing link between mother and baby, University of Otago researchers have revealed for the first time.

The research is in PNAS. (full access paywall)

[justinesattendingadventures]

This green tea is getting me through endocrinology, and endocrinology is getting me through undergrad.

[tomhasatransblog]

Got a letter from the endo

It's to my gp but I got a copy, basically says everything is normal except for my prolactin being consistently high, and they've requested that I be referred for an MRI on my pituitary gland. I'm not too fussed tbh because the endo said it's more likely the combination of hormones I'm on and stress. Just worried they'll want me to have it once I've moved to germany lol.