Dd and high prolactin - can anyone help?

[BellissimoGecko]

My dd (21) has not had a period since August. She had a blood test and the results came back that her prolactin is high - 705. Top of ‘normal’ results is 500. Two years ago her level was 125.

Other symptom: No sex drive.

Can anyone help or advise? She had been googling and has seen that the most likely thing is a (benign) pituitary tumour, and she is so worried. The doc wants her back in a month for another blood test.

Any experience or advice would be great. Thank you.

I had high prolactin levels. Once pituitary tumour was ruled out I was put on bromocriptine.

I had high prolactin levels (just under 700) and very low oestrogen levels (I think due to the higher prolactin). Had an MRI, didn’t show anything significant, possibly very small benign growth. Dr gave me cabergoline, and within 5 weeks I had my first period in several years.

Sometimes high prolactin can be caused by the stress of the needle for the blood test which is maybe why the dr is suggesting a repeat. Might be worth getting full hormonal blood test just to get a clearer picture

Thank you. Is this something you are medicated for for life? Can it go away?

What was the cause, if not a tumour, @Georgiepud?

Is she on any medication? Some medication causing this, but if it is prescribed then the GP should have thought of that.

I think it was hormones in my case, and I was leaking from the nipples. All this before any pregnancy.
Bromocriptine corrected it, but made me feel a bit nauseous.

I’m actually not sure. I would guess it depends on the reason for high prolactin. I think I remember my dr saying that in general with pituitary tumours prolactin levels would be really high. I had regular cycles when I was younger but needed the cabergoline to get my cycle back to get pregnant and I’ve went back on it now 8 months after giving birth. For me, the effects of having low oestrogen long term and the negative impact on bone density etc that could have means I am happy to continue medication as it’s only a tablet that I need to take once weekly

There’s also other things that can cause high prolactin, like stress and underactive thyroid.

I wonder if dd also has low oestrogen. Will check.

no meds, @EnoughNowImDone

She is stressed and quite an anxious person. She goes to the gym every day - I wonder if this could have raised her prolactin level?

I remember looking it up at the time and apparently very intense exercise can cause it to be higher. In my case, I wasn’t particularly stressed, or exercising a lot, and I had read that in a lot of cases, the cause of the higher prolactin can’t always be identified.
I would definitely recommend asking for a full hormone and thyroid blood tests done just to get a clearer picture

Thank, @Pommevert

Mine went about as high as your DD’s a few years ago and has since come down, with no real reason for it. If it puts her mind at rest, my GP told me that she would expect it to be much higher for a pituitary tumour and was never concerned about the risk of that. I think mine was probably related to stress.

I had very high prolactin levels about a year after I found out that I had an underactive thyroid. I was 21 at the time.

A year after starting thyroxine (T4) my prolactin level was still high although TSH was a lot lower My starting dose of 25mcg was increased to 50mcg, and then up to 150mcg, eventually 175mcg. I now take 100mcg T4 and 40mcg T3.

Prolactin is produced in large quantities when a woman breastfeeds - and it does stop periods. I think there must be several causes of high prolactin levels - mine was fairly straight forward to treat.

Does your daughter have any symptoms of underactive thyroid? It can cause low mood/anxiety. My main symptoms were tiredness and feeling freezing cold all the time. When I started T3 in my 40s, it was the first time that my body had ever felt warm, I had colour in my cheeks without having to wear blusher and I felt like I was 'walking on air' - my mood was improved so much my family were just a little concerned. I'd been so used to putting on a smiling mask and that now I didn't need to - it came across as me being a bit strange - I was skipping around singing and dancing everywhere. Like my personality had been buried for ever. I suddenly felt 'normal' with 'energy' - which I'd never experienced before. I had always looked at other people and wondered where they got their energy from. I felt that I had wasted quite a bit of my younger life after I had found out about T3. That was more than 20 years ago.

I have PCOS and the start of my diagnosis was no periods and a blood test which showed high prolactin (although i dont remember what the level was). I was referred to endocrinology who did more blood tests and some internal scans. Once I was diagnosed, I was monitored for a few years to manage the condition. They got me a referral to the assisted conception unit when we were ready to try for a baby and i had two DC (one with fertility treatment, one natural conception). Since then they have sort of left me to it.