Human Growth Hormone Deficiency

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low HGH impacts way more than just how tall someone will be.

What are other functions impaired by low HGH? My understanding is that it’s a controversial treatment because stature is the primary function impaired and insurance often denies treatment on the grounds it’s not medically necessary. Is that untrue? I’m not doubting, just trying to collect more data.

Decreased muscle development, low energy levels, dry skin, delayed puberty, increased fat around stomach area, slow tooth development -- those were some of the symptoms affecting my DS before starting the treatment. Most have been rectified, though he will probably go through puberty on the later side. His endocrinologist said that if there is no sign of puberty by the time he turns 14 (in another year), then he will have to get a shot or two of testosterone to "jump-start" things.

[Anonymous]

Was your DD extremely premature?

[Anonymous]

OP here. DD wasn’t premature. She is coordinated and surprisingly strong for her small frame. She has very little body fat so doesn’t really fit the profile in that regard. But she was very late to get teeth and hasn’t lost too many. A couple teeth have been missing for 6-9 months with no sign of the permanent teeth yet. So that fits. She was tested for different hormone levels and so far, all have been okay. Her doctor wrote and said some results won’t be back for a week or so and she will follow up then.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't really sound like you need to aggressively treat her with HGH shots at this point. I would wait and see and discuss with your doctor.

[Anonymous]

how old is your DD, OP? We are treating my son who is quite short --- he is also 13 and we understand that there is a window that closes at or near puberty so we doing it now as if we were to wait a year or two, we would probably miss the window.

He hasn't had any side effects except he seems to be eating a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low HGH impacts way more than just how tall someone will be.

What are other functions impaired by low HGH? My understanding is that it’s a controversial treatment because stature is the primary function impaired and insurance often denies treatment on the grounds it’s not medically necessary. Is that untrue? I’m not doubting, just trying to collect more data.

You need to stop ‘collecting more data’ that you aren’t trained to fully process, and instead visit several competent professionals in the field. Have you consulted with anyone from NIH or a major University hospital yet? You should have her visit 2-3 competent doctors for their opinion.
It’s not normal for both of you to be tall and for her to be short. There is a narrow window of opportunity to act on something that will affect her health for the rest of her life. Grow up and deal with this properly and stop dawdling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't really sound like you need to aggressively treat her with HGH shots at this point. I would wait and see and discuss with your doctor.

You aren’t the girls’ doctor so don’t give out advice like that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't really sound like you need to aggressively treat her with HGH shots at this point. I would wait and see and discuss with your doctor.

This is not good advice for an 11 year old girl who is only 4'1".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Low HGH impacts way more than just how tall someone will be.

What are other functions impaired by low HGH? My understanding is that it’s a controversial treatment because stature is the primary function impaired and insurance often denies treatment on the grounds it’s not medically necessary. Is that untrue? I’m not doubting, just trying to collect more data.

You need to stop ‘collecting more data’ that you aren’t trained to fully process, and instead visit several competent professionals in the field. Have you consulted with anyone from NIH or a major University hospital yet? You should have her visit 2-3 competent doctors for their opinion.
It’s not normal for both of you to be tall and for her to be short. There is a narrow window of opportunity to act on something that will affect her health for the rest of her life. Grow up and deal with this properly and stop dawdling.

Read my post please. She has been tested at NIH on her doctor’s referral. We are awaiting results. Do you have personal experience to share?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't really sound like you need to aggressively treat her with HGH shots at this point. I would wait and see and discuss with your doctor.

This is not good advice for an 11 year old girl who is only 4'1".

Slow down, Tex. The OP's DD has not been diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency yet. The doctor has not recommended any course of treatment yet. She wants to come prepared to her follow-up appointment with some background knowledge and information. Please provide personal experiences with HGH treatments within your family. As in... do you have a child who underwent treatment? why or why not? side effects? results?

[Anonymous]

Did OP say the height and age and then bone age of her DD? Without that, only her endo and parents know how severe is the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't really sound like you need to aggressively treat her with HGH shots at this point. I would wait and see and discuss with your doctor.

This is not good advice for an 11 year old girl who is only 4'1".

Is this OP with your DD's height and age? If I am reading this right she is around 10 percentile in height or am I wrong? How much bone delay does she have? Our DS's endo decided that he didn't need growth hormone when he was 13 and below 1 percentile in height and weight, as his hormone levels came back ok and he had over 2 year bone age delay. He grew around 16 year old. So, I think as you have a good endo probably, that Dr will do the best course of action given your and your DH's being tall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't really sound like you need to aggressively treat her with HGH shots at this point. I would wait and see and discuss with your doctor.

This is not good advice for an 11 year old girl who is only 4'1".

Slow down, Tex. The OP's DD has not been diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency yet. The doctor has not recommended any course of treatment yet. She wants to come prepared to her follow-up appointment with some background knowledge and information. Please provide personal experiences with HGH treatments within your family. As in... do you have a child who underwent treatment? why or why not? side effects? results?

Yes, and I have posted above. Wait and see is often the way to go with potential issues, but growth in a girl of this age is not one of those times. OP is not taking this route, but it’s not good advice for anyone else out there who might be reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't really sound like you need to aggressively treat her with HGH shots at this point. I would wait and see and discuss with your doctor.

This is not good advice for an 11 year old girl who is only 4'1".

Is this OP with your DD's height and age? If I am reading this right she is around 10 percentile in height or am I wrong? How much bone delay does she have? Our DS's endo decided that he didn't need growth hormone when he was 13 and below 1 percentile in height and weight, as his hormone levels came back ok and he had over 2 year bone age delay. He grew around 16 year old. So, I think as you have a good endo probably, that Dr will do the best course of action given your and your DH's being tall.

Yes. 4'1" = 49 inches. The third percentile on the CDC growth charts for a girl at age 11 is about 51 inches. The 10th percentile is 53 inches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't really sound like you need to aggressively treat her with HGH shots at this point. I would wait and see and discuss with your doctor.

This is not good advice for an 11 year old girl who is only 4'1".

Is this OP with your DD's height and age? If I am reading this right she is around 10 percentile in height or am I wrong? How much bone delay does she have? Our DS's endo decided that he didn't need growth hormone when he was 13 and below 1 percentile in height and weight, as his hormone levels came back ok and he had over 2 year bone age delay. He grew around 16 year old. So, I think as you have a good endo probably, that Dr will do the best course of action given your and your DH's being tall.

Yes. 4'1" = 49 inches. The third percentile on the CDC growth charts for a girl at age 11 is about 51 inches. The 10th percentile is 53 inches.

I think you need to listen to endo in that case once results come back. If my DS's levels were not ok, we would have definitely started HGH. You don't want to wait till her growth plates are closed, nothing will help then and HGH will help so much before. Though once you start it our endo told us plates might close faster than they normally would, so make sure you discuss it at length. FYI, DS grew to over 5'10". Girls have a different growth pattern as I am sure you know. DS just grew half an inch at 19. I think you are more knowledgeable than me about shorter growth window for girls than boys as your are clearly doing everything you can. Our endo told us that HGH is their last resort, so if it was recommended I know it would have not been lightly. Good luck!