Being mindful of the relationship between Invega and male breast growth can help patients make a more informed choice about their medication.

Invega is one of a group of psychiatric medications known as atypical antipsychotics or second-generation antipsychotics.

Scientists believe atypical antipsychotics may be less likely than typical antipsychotics to cause movement-related side effects. For that reason, doctors often prescribe an atypical antipsychotic like Invega as a first-line medication.

Explaining the Link Between Invega and Male Breast Growth

Invega and male breast growth
could be related because of the way the drug works on the body’s neurotransmitters. Invega in particular works by altering the brain’s use of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

While blocking the action of dopamine may help control patient’s psychiatric symptoms, it also causes the pituitary gland to produce more of a hormone called prolactin.

In pregnant women, high levels of prolactin stimulate development of breast tissue and the production of breast milk. Prolactin also occurs naturally in lower levels in men and non-pregnant women.

When prolactin levels increase in a man, they can trigger the same breast development that pregnant women experience.

In men, this abnormal breast growth is known clinically as gynecomastia. It sometimes occurs with milk production and nipple discharge as well, a condition known as galactorrhea.

Gynecomastia is not just the addition of  fat to the breast area – it’s the development of actual breast tissue that is naturally present in males but normally goes underdeveloped.

It typically begins as a small lump under the nipple. How much growth occurs can vary among patients, and some more extreme cases have resulted in large, D-cup size breasts.

The physical deformity of gynecomastia may be increased by the tendency of some antipsychotics to cause weight gain. The extra fat may go away after discontinuing the drug, but the overdeveloped breast tissue may still remain.

Treating Male Breast Growth

Usually, gynecomastia begins to resolve after removing whatever has been causing it – so for some patients, the solution may be to discontinue Invega or to replace it with a different medication.

Other cases of gynecomastia are more stubborn, however, and some patients have had to undergo male breast reduction surgery to resolve it. With surgery comes some amount of pain, the risk of infection and a certain amount of recovery time.

Physically, gynecomastia isn’t considered much of a threat to the patient’s health. It’s the condition’s psychological effects that can take a real toll. These effects can be particularly pronounced in young male patients, who may be more likely to be subjected to teasing and bullying.

One study published in 2013 described the psychological residuals that could follow from the use of atypical antipsychotics like Invega and male breast growth.

Researchers found that young men who suffered from gynecomastia scored lower on several different measures of psychological and general health when compared to other boys who had not had abnormal breast development.

The gynecomastia group showed lower scores on measures including social functioning, self-esteem and mental health.

Moreover, these effects appeared to occur regardless of the degree of abnormal breast growth, suggesting that simply having gynecomastia at all is enough to trigger these psychological side effects.