Can Symptoms of Hypopituitarism Present Years After a Brain Injury?

I suffered panhypopituitarism due to blood loss following a miscarriage in 1978. I didn't get the transfusions I needed and my pituitary gland died. It took 40 YEARS to be properly diagnosed! I have hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency, diabetes insipidus (not Mellitus), and HGH defficiency. I had infertility and re-occurring miscarriages. So to say that this would have been caught right away is WRONG AND MISLEADING! I suffered for years because of thinking like this! NO! Do the tests! Rule things in or out and consider you may have been neglected by incompetent doctors for years! You would not be the first! Doctors often dismiss symptoms out of laziness and ignorance.

if a TBI leads to a pituitary gland disorder then that can definitely affect hypothalamus, thyroid, liver, etc, and cause type 2 diabetes. Full blood work and a brain MRI with contrast will reveal this most likely.

Had five known, sports mostly. I'm 53, worried it will effect me down the road?

There is plenty of research to show that hypopituitarism can present years after a brain injury.

~~1. Benvenga, S et al, Hypopituitarism Secondary to Head Trauma, 2000, Journal Clin Endo and Metab “We learned, in fact, that head trauma can be minor and had occurred several years earlier, so that the patient may lose recollection of it.” http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/85/4/1353.long
2. Gordon, Mark (Clinical Professor, University of California) Post Traumatic Brain Injury Hormonal Deficiency Syndrome, 2006  “The first and foremost thing to do in order to diagnose, or rule out, post TBI hormonal deficiency syndrome is evaluate the patient – regardless of their age. Many of the patients that I see cannot even remember sustaining a head injury, because they were two or three when they were dropped on their head or when they accidentally banged their head on the wall and ended up in the emergency room.
http://www.worldhealth.net/pdf/Gordon_Thera10.pdf
3. Nachtigall, L B, Brain Injury and Pituitary Dysfunction, Massachussetts General Hospital Clinical Bulletin Vol 11: 2, 2005 (Re Benvenga article, “However, in about 5% of patients with posttraumatic hypopituitarism, there was an over 20-year lag period between injury and diagnosis.” “Longitudinal follow-up is necessary, as not all patients sustain permanent deficiencies and some develop hypopituitarism as a late manifestation many years after the initial event.” http://www.massgeneral.org/endocrine/assets/pdfs/neuroendocrine/clinicalcenterbulletin/2005_v11_i2_brain_injury_and_pituitary_dysfunction.pdf
4. Popovic V, Aimaretti G et al, Hypopituitarism following traumatic brain injury, Growth Horm IGF Res 2005 “Onset of pituitary deficits can evolve over years following injury.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15935980
5. Nirmalaraj K et al, Variable presentation of post-traumatic hypopituitarism, NZ Med J, 2008 “Although about 75% of PTHP cases are diagnosed within a year of TBI, delayed development of PTHP can also occur.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18256714
6. Bondanelli M et al, Hypopituitarism after traumatic brain injury, Eur J Endo, 2005. “Moreover, diminished pituitary hormone secretion, caused by damage to the pituitary and/or hypothalamus, may occur at any time after TBI.”
7. Alaca R et al, anterior hypopituitarism with unusual delayed onset of diabetes insipidus after penetrating head injury. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 81, 788-791
 

I had a TBI  6 years ago. I am a nurse. It took 2.5 years for a Dr  to believe me and actually run the endocrine tests required. Not a difficult ask. A few blood tests and you will know one way or the other. I work with 100's Dr still, and only one of them knew anything about hypopituitarism. It is not an every day thing. Don't give up. It took me 4 specialists to get the tests done, and  what do you know.... they came back positive!

I hope you find some help for your husband, and some one who will truly listen!

This is very true! I have felt like an "outcast" also, not receiving the proper care.So many doctors put me off and send me off to another doctor to worry about my problems. None have cared enough to make sure that I'm getting the correct & deserved care that I feel I need. My whole body has been taken over by a brain and spinal cord injury. When help is offered like Symposiums & Conferences, they're so expensive and in an area of Colorado(Vail for instance) that we can't attend for the help! I'm scared to death to drive in the cold&snow, I'm scared to ski again(so I have to Watch others have fun). My healthcare doesn't recognize TBI & SCI enough to give me the care I've needed. Now I've had a stroke after the two above ailments. It's a Life Changing happening!!!

Can damage occur to the pituitary when boxes are dropped directly on top of the head from 10 feet up? Jammed my head down and causes my neck to tighten. Ever since been extremely fatigued with a craving for salt and thirsty all the time and low blood pressure with tachycardia. Other symptoms as well.