Acromegaly: The Symptoms

The symptoms I experienced were very subtle as I was experiencing them and they didn't occur all at once. In the early years I had no trouble explaining what was happening and even considered it to be well within the realm of "normal" but over time it became harder and harder to explain. Also when viewed over time, the changes seemed drastic and seemingly occurred over night. It consisted of the following:

• Unusual muscular growth
• Harsh facial features (swollen soft tissue)
• Curly hair
• Excessive sleep required
• Facial bone growth, eye brow
• Enlarged hands and feet
• Enlarged jaw bone causing under bite

The first symptom I noticed (and welcomed) was the unusual muscle growth as I approached my 40's. I had long since given up on the notion that I could look like Arnold Schwartzenegger. Though every man I suspect wants to look and feel stronger, I resolved myself to looking athletic rather than muscular. As a youth and even into my adult life, my physique was slight bordering on different stages of thin. Going to the gym was a good way to stay in shape but I clearly could not compete with the typical patrons. My weight fluctuated just like everyone else but it usually stayed within 5-6 lbs of 142. I'm only 5'10" and have an elfin build. Prior to these events, I typically weighed between 138 - 148 lbs. There were only two occassions in my adult life where I exceeded 150 lbs and they involved very seditary changes which allowed my weight to climb to 155 lbs. But once I resumed my normal activity, I reverted right back to my pre-determined range.

I began to see unusual results in the gym during the summer of 2004. It had been exceptionally hot that summer and I had stopped running as a result. I dismissed the improvements as typical variations since I had recently altered my workout. These improvements continued however and my weight began to climb. Within 3-4 months, I went from 148 lbs to 178 lbs, that's 30 lbs of muscle, meanwhile my waiste size remained at the usual 30". It was the first time ever that I could look in the mirror and actually liked what I saw. I received comments from my friends which did nothing more than acknowledge that I frequented the gym. The 8 years prior to that, it largely went unnoticed. As I mentioned, it was a welcomed change and certainly nothing I wanted to label unnatural.

It just so happened that around this time that my daughters (all three of them) went to work for Cold Stone Creameries for the summer. They would routinely bring home ice cream and I had gotten into the "habit" of topping off dinner with a pint of the flavor of the day -- every night. At first I was concerned that it might lead to excessive weight around the middle but my waiste stayed the same and everything else just kept growing. My chest, arms, legs, hands and feet simply kept getting larger. Interestingly enough, my proportions remained the same, almost like a pre-destined thing, just bigger. Again, a welcomed change and another point of rationalization. At the time I thought I had unlocked the key to my body and that my metabolism just needed more calories to compensate for what I naturally burned.

The rest occurred later or at least wasn't noticed until much later. The next thing I noticed was my facial features. It wasn't until 2006, approximately two years after the growth started that I noticed that my facial features had begun to change. It was a photo I saw where I appeared exceptionally haggard. I retook the picture thinking that it was just bad lighting but the same mug showed up. What a shock! Could I really look that bad??? Evidently I did and I looked decidedly older. This was in direct contrast to my otherwise normally youthful appearance. My smaller frame was easily and consistently mistaken for someone 5-10 years younger than I really was. Again, the change was welcomed. In the business world, it helps to at least look your age when establishing your credibility and experience.

It was in this same year that my mom had also commented on my hair. She asked if I had gotten a permanent. A what? Do guys do that anymore??? I had no explanation for it but instead just accepted it as growing older. After all I had just turned 40, my dad had curly hair so perhaps it was just in the genes.

It wasn't until later in 2007 that I noticed that usual my hats didn't fit anymore. These were the same fixed-sized hats that I had been wearing for years as an adult. You tend to grow attached to them after a while. Inescapable was how large my brow had become. It was noticeably larger and ridged now, almost ape-like.

Another symptom which I summarily dismissed was my need for sleep. It was like going through puberty again. (Do you remember that summer where you slept for 10-12 hours and grew overnight?) As an adult, my usual sleeping habits called for 6.5 - 7.5 hrs a night. No more, no less. If I was tired, I slept a little longer, if not, it was shorter, but always inside that range. Then all of sudden I'm sleeping 9-10 hours! If I didn't get over 8 hours of sleep, I would start falling asleep at work. It was most embarrassing during meetings when I'd start nodding off right there in front of everyone. I eventually just found that it was easier to stand during these meetings to keep me awake and save myself continual embarrassment.

Ironically despite these things, I still had no cause to think that anything was wrong. It wasn't until the end of 2007 that my annoyance with changes in my bite that I finally thought to go see a dentist. My only motive for going was to see about getting braces again. My rear molars no longer made contact with each other and my bottom teeth were now extending beyond my uppers. It was annoying to be sure but as for alarm, I still had not connected these changes as being related.

It was the dentist that redirected me to an MD. After the general checkup, he had no other recommendation than a teeth cleaning. I had grown so accustomed to my impacted molar speech that I inquired about it when I didn't get one. What impacted molars? The ones that had been there since I was in high school, the same ones that every dentist I had ever seen recommends I remove without fail to prevent long term problems. What do you mean what impacted molars? A quick review of the x-rays showed that I no longer had impacted wisdom teeth. Go figure! (So I guess I right to leave them in after all these years.) Well, what about my bite? We discussed my braces in high school and he suggested that maybe my jaw was growing. Is that it? Well, no, you should probably see a regular MD as that's not normal. Oh, okay.

It was early 2008 when I finally scheduled a visit with my primary physician and thankfully, he took the office visit seriously. I must admit to feeling rather silly about scheduling an office visit to discuss "jaw bone growth". Even more silly as we went through the usual questions about anything being wrong. My prior physicals didn't yield anything other than you are the epitome of health and this visit wasn't any different. My eyes, ears, temperature, weight(?) and reflexes are all normal. "So you say your jaw is growing?" Well, no, not really. I don't know that it's growing, I just know that my teeth have been moving. "Uhum, I see." It all felt very silly. But he followed his procedures which led to the test for growth hormones (GH) which then led to the CT scan which reveiled the tumor.

Looking back, it all made sense but hindsight is 20-20.