Posting about someone else's chest for once, sort of. My brother in law asked me about his because he knows my history and I did not have a good answer, so I am asking here.
He is in his fifties, went on a new tablet about eight months ago for something unrelated, and within a few months of that his chest started getting fuller and one nipple got sore. He has never had anything like this before. His words were it came out of nowhere at fifty three.
Can medication actually do this or is that an internet myth. And if it can, does stopping the tablet undo it, or is he now in the same boat the rest of us are in.
Not a myth at all, it is a recognised thing with a fair few different medicines. Whether stopping helps is the bit I have never seen a clean answer on.
Obvious point but he does not stop anything himself. That is a conversation with whoever prescribed it.
Surgeon here. Taking the direct answer first: yes, medicines are a well recognised cause of gynaecomastia, and a chest that changes in a man in his fifties within months of starting something new is a pattern that should prompt a review of what he is taking rather than a cosmetic referral. A number of drug classes have been implicated in the literature, and any assessment of new gynaecomastia in an adult includes a proper medication history alongside checking for hormonal and other medical drivers. The site's overview of what causes gynaecomastia covers the range.
On whether stopping reverses it, the honest answer is that it depends on how long it has been there. Early glandular tissue that is still tender and actively growing has a reasonable chance of regressing once the driver is removed. Tissue that has been present for a year or more tends to become fibrous and established, and at that stage it does not reliably shrink back whatever you do about the cause. Eight months in is genuinely in the window where a review is worth doing promptly rather than at leisure.
Two things I would emphasise, both of which have already been said here in different words. He does not stop or change a prescription on his own initiative or on a forum's say so; that is a discussion with the prescriber, who has to weigh what the drug is doing for him against what it may be doing to his chest. And a new, firm or one-sided breast change in a man of that age is examined properly, because establishing what the tissue is comes before any cosmetic plan. That is standard practice and not a reason to be alarmed, but it is not a step to skip.
What I cannot do from here is tell you whether his particular tablet is responsible. That is for his own doctor with the whole picture in front of them.
The fibrous after about a year thing is grim but it makes sense of something I never understood, which is why two people can do the same thing about the cause and get completely different results.
Basically the clock is the enemy. Tell him to get the review booked this month rather than thinking about it.
Passed all of this on. He has seen his GP, they have looked at the medication list and they are examining and referring rather than just swapping the tablet blind, which sounds like the right order to me.
Slightly strange being the one giving the go and get it checked speech given I sat on mine for twelve years. Maybe that is the qualification.
