Swollen Pituitary Gland/Optic Nerve

[bevilj]

Hi All,

For the last several weeks I have been getting sick regularly (vomiting/headaches/double vision). I think I have spent more time in bed than out of bed. My tumor markers have been good lately so I was thinking it was a reaction to my meds (I tend to get every side affect listed).

I had a brain MRI last week and received mixed/interesting results. Luckily, no brain mets were found. But, my pituitary gland and optic nerve seem to be swollen. I have stumped my oncologist and the cancer board at the hospital and am now being referred to an endocrinologist for further investigation. A few possible diagnoses have been suggested but nothing really definitive at this point. In the meantime, I have started on a steroid to help with the inflammation and help me gain weight.

Has anyone had anything similar show up on an MRI? If so, what have you done to treat it? Does it go away?

Thanks in advance any guidance you have to offer ~
Jen

[Sheila]

Jen..hoping Brenda replies as she has had issues with the pituitary area...and she is the only one I can think of.....hope things improve for you!

[fej223]

Jen,

My mother had a similar condition back in the early 1990s. She had headaches and vision trouble, and her pituitary gland had swollen to the point where it was pushing the optic nerves away from the eyes. This was never described as any type of cancer, so the endocrinologist is probably the best place to go. My mother did require surgery to have the gland removed. I think they were planning to only remove part of the gland, but once they started they found that it all had to be removed. She recovered in a few days and her vision was back to normal almost immediately. She did have to take meds every day after that to replace the hormones that would normally come from that gland. She did live for over 10 years after that surgery, and only passed away 6 years ago due to unrelated heart issues. Hope this helps. Good luck!

[Unregistered]

Be certain that they rule out a metastatic lesion to the pituitary gland accounting for your symptoms.

[Skip]

Hello Jen,
I had an MRi of my head not to long ago and they found an enlarged pituitary gland, its called a "noma" mine is a prolactanoma, it a tumor not cancerous. I am on something called dosenex hope that is the correct spelling. They were looking for something else and found this. As long as the meds work no surgery is required. I get a blood test every six weeks testing for prolactin levels, the meds are working for me. There are other type of "noma's" like the one that keeps you growing. You know the people that are 8ft tall or more? Some of them have a "noma"that secrets the growth hormone.
The Pituitary is the "master"gland. Your endo doc will be able to diagnois this problem. If it needs to be removed my nero-surgen said he would go up through nose to remove it, so no scars would be seen.
I hope the best for you.

[bevilj]

Thanks all for your replies. I wanted to give you an update and let you know that prednizone seems to be helping so far. I haven't vomitted in 2 weeks now! And my headaches are seemingly better also. Headed to an endocrinologist in a couple of weeks so will share more after I learn about what could be going on and what we're going to do about it.