Pituitary Tumor

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Pituitary Tumor Symptoms & Signs

Because the pituitary gland controls the production of hormones throughout the body, pituitary disorders resemble other endocrine disorders and have a broad range of symptoms. Symptoms depend on the type and location of the tumor and cause hormone excess, hormone deficiency, or pressure on the brain and central nervous system.

Some tumors cause excess hormone production while others cause a deficiency, so one type of tumor may produce symptoms that are very different from those produced by another type of growth (for example, one may cause hair growth while the other causes hair loss).

The same tumor may begin by causing the release of excess hormone and then later result in a hormonal deficiency as normal pituitary cells are suppressed. This would cause early symptoms that appear to be "the opposite" of later symptoms.

Some of the many symptoms associated with pituitary tumors include the following:

• Headache
• Visual changes
  • Double vision
  • Drooping eyelids
• Personality changes
  • Decreased sexual interest
  • Irritability
• Seizures
• Nasal drainage
• Skin changes
  • Thickened skin
  • Enlarged sebaceous glands
• Facial changes
  • "Moon" face, puffy eyes
  • Enlarged jaw and facial bones
• Hair changes
  • Loss of body hair
  • Coarse, thin head hair
  • Thinning of eyebrows
• Weakness
• Lethargy
• Temperature sensitivity
  • Intolerance to cold
  • Intolerance to heat
• Constipation
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Low blood pressure
• Impaired sense of smell
• Changes in weight
  • Weight loss (unintentional)
  • Weight gain (unintentional)

In women:

• Cessation of menses
• Abnormal nipple discharge
• Excessive body hair

In men:

• Breast development
• Impotence