Raised prolactin

[Hayleydobedoo]

Hi all

Very worried over here, i had a prolactin blood test over a year ago which came back high i was meant to have a scan and other tests but covid came, i thought it was why i wasnt getting pregnant, I am now 17 wks pregnant and had another blood test at 12 wk scan by that time i was 13 wks, ive had a letter come through for an app 27th oct to see someone about it as prolactin is still high, i am so scared this is going to cause issues with baby, 12 wk scan was all fine and downs test come back good, has anyone else had something happen like this? Is there anything they give you medication etc? Shall i be really worried?
Thank you x

Any advice would be really great x

In summary - it won’t cause issues.
Prolactin can be high for lots of reasons, and there are kind of different levels of concern. Not sure if you know your exact level from a year ago but often it can be mildly elevated due to time of day, breast stimulation, activity beforehand... so normally you have at least one repeat before investigating too much further. Did you have any breast milk leakage at the time, or headaches, visual change?
Also a true significantly raised prolactin will usually stop you from ovulating and need medications so that you conceive.
A second raised prolactin in pregnancy is basically meaningless as pregnancy causes it to rise (it helps to stimulate breast tissue growth!!)
Pretty likely all is actually normal for you.
Other than that, you’ve probably come across prolactinoma on google. It’s not that uncommon in childbearing age women, usually something called a “microprolactinoma” and it won’t cause trouble in pregnancy if it’s there. Diagnosis is usually by a couple of elevated levels outside of pregnancy as well as a brain MRI. It’s fairly easily treated with medications (but I don’t think you would need them). They almost never grow significantly bigger in pregnancy.
There’s a bit more detail to it obviously but I think it’s unlikely you’ll need to worry about it.
Have you had a chat with your GP about it? You’ll be able to have all the results reviewed at your appointment in October anyway, obviously depending on the details things might be a little different from what I’ve said but I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you.
Congratulations on your pregnancy :)

@tenthousandspoons0 thank you so much for your insightful reply I really appreciate it! I cant remember my levels from 2 yrs ago now but the dr said they were not massively over but by a bit, the lady on the phone from hosp didnt tell me today what figure was but said again not hugely over, she said the consultant was not to concerned because levels rise in pregnancy asked if i am getting headaches, i said yes but thats a pregnancy symtom she said if they dont go without aid of paracetamol or sleep etc then they will need to see me as could be brain tumour thing releasing the prolactin etc, i have a phone appointment this Friday, if i had raised prolactin how did i manage to conceive?! Is it still possible even if levels are a bit over, im so confused!! I cant find any threads onlinr of pregnant women who have had this issue only people TTC, I am just very worried person in general and thought having this can cause late MC or something bad to happen, just when I was starting to relax and try and enjoy pregnancy :)
Thank you

It’s possible but not common to ovulate if you have the brain tumour (prolactinoma) causing the levels to rise. I think it’s unlikely! They’ll just talk through your symptoms, sometimes they might think about arranging an MRI or visual field testing to check (both safe) but they may very well just leave things alone and check after pregnancy. It won’t cause miscarriage or any problems to baby - even when there is a true prolactinoma evidence would say no effect on baby; just low risk of complications with it growing bigger and causing headaches or visual problems. You’ll be totally fine!!