Jules, Very interesting -- you're right, sketchy source, take with plenty of salt! I, too, have read about gray and black-market use of Dostinex and bromocriptine in the, umm, performance enhancement arena for men. It does have that effect in men who need it due to elevated prolactin, but it can be nasty enough to take that I cannot imagine any temporary gratification would be worth the side effects (more with bromocriptine than with Dostinex). I've never had a tumor visible on MRI, either. According to postings by others, modest elevation can in fact be due to tumor, even though many doctors will tell you otherwise. I've also learned from other posters that it matters a lot who reads an MRI; that the smallest tumors are often missed by radiologists. I'm planning to ask my ENDO about getting a consult on reading of both of my MRI's. Prolactin was 89 at diagnosis 7 years ago (at least 6 years after I began noticing symptoms), and 120 after a 7-week break while changing from Parlodel to dostinex. There are many reasons to treat modestly elevated prolactin. I learned many of these things much more recently, because I was so miserable taking Parlodel (bromo) that I contemplated skipping all meds completely. Elevated prolactin suppresses estrogen, which puts you at risk for premature loss ot bone density, which I have. It;s invisible, but important to minimize by keeping prolactin low, and taking 1,500 mg of calcium daily in three separate doses (never more than 600 mg at a time -- your body can only process that much at a single sitting. Having low estrogen also puts you at early risk of all the problems associated with menopause: heart disease, vaginal dryness and painful intercourse, the hot flashes you were having, etc. . . I'm sufficiently convinced that doing nothing is worse than taking meds -- but easy for me to say as the Dostinex is light years better for me than the parlodel was. Many of the other symptoms: mild depression, feeling snappish, etc -- are things I've learned much more recently are all part of the high prolactin scene. Heck, I had perfectly good reasons to be depressed: a divorce, the death of a good friend from the much more sinister kind of brain tumor; working on a doctoral dissertation - I now know that pituitary disease figures into all that as well. Fortunately, I have not noticed any joint effects. I will also probably not blow my knee out skiing, as my reduced bone mineral density makes skiing (or crashing) inadvisable in my future. Bummer! I'll be interested in hearing what your OS and Endo say about the factors in your injury. As for whether or not to take dostinex before/ during/after surgery, consider speaking with a pharmacist, and absolutely speak with the anesthesiologist. Don't assume your doc will tell them about your other meds. These drugs interact with many, many otther meds that are commonly given during a hospital stay, and you will want to make sure they check everything for potential interactions. Examples: they interact with antihistamines; with one class of antibiotics; with anything that also lowers blood pressure; can cause nasal swelling esp,. if you're dehydrated -- they should advise you on whether to take (or when to stop) -- and remember that the half-life of dostinex is something like 14 days, so each dose takes a full month to completely clear your body. Good luck! | 