How Do I Work With My Doctor To Find Out If I Have A Pituitary Disorder?
In many cases, patients with pituitary disorders actually suffer for years with their condition before
it is recognized; all too often, multiple medical specialists fail to recognize the underlying source of their
symptoms. This can be an extraordinarily frustrating and costly experience and can leave a patient ill for many
years.There are many reasons why the medical community does not easily identify pituitary tumors and pituitary
diseases. First, pituitary disorders are relatively uncommon. This means that primary care providers often do
not have the requisite experience to easily recognize these disorders in a clinical setting. Second, the
physical signs and symptoms of pituitary disorders can be common to many different diseases. Together, these
obstacles can significantly delay the diagnosis and treatment of pituitary disorders. By searching the internet,
reading literature, and talking to other patients, it is sometimes the pituitary disease patient themselves who
ultimately identify the pituitary as the source of their problems. Fortunately, once considered, pituitary
disorders can be typically diagnosed with a few tests. To aid both patients and their physicians, we have
provided a link below to the printable PDF file, "The Basic Pituitary Tumor / Pituitary Disease Work-up."
This work up is also outlined in the section, A Clinicians Guide to the Work-up of Pituitary Disorders.
The OHSU Pituitary Disease Unit is available to aid in the interpretation of these tests (see Contact the
OHSU Pituitary Unit).
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access this file (free download).
For more details on the signs and symptoms of pituitary tumors or pituitary diseases, please see the sections
Diseases of the Pituitary -- A Basic Overview or A Clinician's Guide to the Work-up of Pituitary Disorders.
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