My friend’s cousin has breast lumps, or like the fat you get in the other post “Boy Boobs.” Now he has had these for a little over 2 years. But his story is strange. He first got some when he was around 10. Then they went away. However, when he was 11, he had to take a steroid prescription for a rash. Then they came back. They haven’t gone away since. Can this be serious?
Corticosteroids?
Hell if I know. I know testosterone can be converted to estrogen and that is why anabolic steroid users grow breasts, but I don’t know/didn’t know that corticosteroids could affect estrogen levels too.
Not that i’d recommend it but I have heard from several bodybuilders who have done this that breast cancer drugs that block the aromatase enzyme like arimidex can reverse mild gynomastia. Not that i’d recommend that (people will eat me alive for doing that) but since we are all sharing info and stories and all I figured i’d throw that out.
As Wesley alluded to, there are about 800,000 different chemicals classified as steroids, so without knowing exactly which ones the kid took, it’s hard to say anything. Gynecomastia is a common condition in users of anabolic/androgenic steroids who don’t do their homework, but I wouldn’t go looking for treatment options on a messageboard, y’know?
The kid’s parents probably ought to take him to a doctor.
Look up Cushing’s syndrome.
People who take steroids develop “Cushingoid” features, because of the extra cortisol. Symptoms include weight gain, gynaecomastia, “moon face” and some mood disorders.
However, if the steroid was topical, it’s unlikely to be related to to gynaecomastia…which is quite commonly developed by boys around puberty. Especially overweight boys, as steroid hormones are stored in fat.
Only a doctor can tell you if it is serious. But I had them when I was that age. They came and went, and sometimes were painful. My Doctor at the time said that they were just “growing pains.”
I don’t think you have a cause and effect relationship here. Steroid creams are not anything like the steroids that affect hormone levels.
Obviously, the lumps should be checked, but steroid creams are not the issue. For anabolic steroids to have an impact, it would happen over a period of time. At 11, he is a hormonal experiment anyway.
It wasn’t a cream. It was a pill.