I think they are testing my mum for a pituitary gland tumor. Any experience please?

[belledechocchipcookie]

My gran (her mum) was grossly overweight, diabetic and was leaking milk from her breasts for years before she died of cancer of the pancreas.

Over the past few months my mother has been unwell, the GP has told her it's a 'metabolic' problem. She's been leaking breast milk for the past few weeks, has been very tired for a while though, lost weight (has a hyatus hernia), fell last year and was diagnosed with osteoperosis. Her GP's told her that he'd like her to have a CT scan (she can't have a MRI because her hip's knackered and she can't lie down)to check her pituitary gland up her nose.

Given the fact that her mum had similar symptoms does it look like a genetic link? and should I mention something to my family so it's not such of a shock?

Sorry to ask.

HI just seen this post. I have a sort of interest, as I had an adrenal gland issues (neuro-endocrine, as is pituitary).

No need to start worrying family with genetic fears just yet , although I know how scary this must be for you. It may well turn out to be totally un-related, or have no genetic link at all. At this stage the doctors are trying to understand the situation. However, please ensure that your mum's doctors do have info on her mum; the more pieces of the jigsaw they have the better diagnosis they can give.

Best wishes to you and your mum!

Hi,

I have a pituitary gland tumour. I know what a shock and worry it can be but don't panic as it is a lot more common than a lot of people realise, and is in some ways a straightforward and very treatable issue.

The CT/MRI scan will be really clear so they'll be able to give a proper diagnosis, there shouldn't be any dithering.

I don't know at all about genetic links and how common they are but i think that it is something worth talking to your Mum's consultant about - as Lulie says, it could help them to work out what is going on with your Mum.

Finally if you do want to talk to your family i would go armed with facts. "Brain tumour" tends to be what a lot of people hear but of course its important to stress that these tumours aren't cancerous, and that the surgery which removes them is far far less complex than "brain surgery". A lot of people never have to have small tumours removed at all, and can medicate for symptoms instead.

Best wishes to you and your family.

My son had a prolactinoma,which causes milk production in women, he was diagnosed at 16 and had the standard treatment which is medication to shrink it. Unfortunately the bits of the pituitary that had been pressed against did not recover their hormone producing properties and he has to take synthetic hormones but this is not a major problem now he has got used to it.

I think surgery is rare for a prolactinoma but it is very important to get it treated as if allowed to grow it presses on the optic nerve and can cause blindness.

My Mum has a tumour on her pituitary gland, diagnosed at 21 and been under control with medicine since diagnosis. It's actually shrunk to the point now where she takes just one pill a week but still has annual brain scans to monitor it.

It's not hereditary and obviously it's different for everyone but in my Mum it's not really been a problem.

Thank you Your replies have made me hopeful. I've had a chat and told her that sometimes the pituitary gets enlarged, that it's not really part of the brain etc and it can be controlled with medication. She has a lot of other medical problems so it's just sad that she now has something else to have to deal with now.

She has a tumour, they picked it up on a CT. She's waiting for an appointment to come through for a MRI. Her sister, niece and her mother have all had the same symptoms.