What are the symptoms of a tumor on the pituitary gland?
What are the symptoms of a tumor on the pituitary gland?
Depending on which hormones are affected, symptoms might include:
- Nausea.
- Weakness.
- Unexplained weight loss or weight gain.
- Loss of body hair.
- Feeling cold.
- Feeling tired or weak.
- Menstrual changes or loss of menstrual periods in women.
- Erectile dysfunction (trouble with erections) in men.
Is a tumor on the pituitary gland serious?
Most of these tumors are not cancerous. Pituitary cancer is very rare. Still, the tumors can cause serious problems, either because of their size (large tumors) or because they make extra hormones your body doesn’t need (functioning tumors). They’re typically treated with surgery, medicine, or radiation.
Can an eye doctor see a pituitary tumor?
If a pituitary tumor is strongly suspected, your doctor may refer you to an eye doctor to check your vision, as pituitary tumors can damage nerves leading to the eyes. The most common test is to measure how well you can see. The doctor may also test your field of vision (or visual fields).
Can you drive with a pituitary tumour?
You can usually drive again after you have recovered from treatment for a pituitary tumour. If you had a type of surgery called craniotomy, you need to tell the DVLA and you need to stop driving for 6 months.
Where does your head hurt with a pituitary tumor?
A person with pituitary tumor apoplexy usually has a sudden-onset, severe headache at the front of the head (either located on one side of the head or both) and/or behind one or both eyes.
How dangerous is pituitary surgery?
In case of damage to the arteries, brain tissue, nerves near the pituitary gland during the time of pituitary tumor surgery may lead to complications like permanent brain damage, blindness, or stroke but even these complications are rare. In case during the surgery there is some damage to the meninges, it can lead to CSF leak.
How can common pituitary tumors have huge health effects?
Still, even benign pituitary tumors can cause major health problems because they are close to the brain, may invade nearby tissues (like the skull or the sinuses), and because many of them make excess hormones. Pituitary cancers (called pituitary carcinomas) are very rare. These benign tumors do not spread outside the skull.
What is the recovery time for pituitary gland surgery?
Pituitary Tumor Surgery Recovery Time. This surgery is performed under general anesthesia. It takes about 3 hours for the surgical removal of tumor. The patient is required to stay in the hospital for at least 1-2 days, during which he/she is kept under close medical observation.
What are the effects of the pituitary tumor?
A pituitary tumor affects the body by creating an excess of hormones that make the body grow more than it should. This means people can get really tall and their body shape might change as well. Tumors in the pituitary glands can also cause headaches and blurred vision.