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When to consider growth hormones?
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 4:29 am
fish wrote:
My 11 year old daughter is BH healthy and has been growing on the same curve for years. My husband and I are short 5'2 and 5'4 so we expect our kids will be short but she is really really short. Have you used growth hormones or given them to one of your children? I'm wondering if it's something we should consider.

Take tests, check for deficiencies, and get a predicted height. If she'll be 5'2" like you, leave her alone. If they're predicting 4'9", you may change your mind about the medication.
But do hurry. They need to be taken for 3-4 years. Once there's an onset of a period their effectiveness starts petering out.
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nchr




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 4:32 am
ra_mom wrote:
Take tests, check for deficiencies, and get a predicted height. If she'll be 5'2" like you, leave her alone. If they're predicting 4'9", you may change your mind about the medication.


For otherwise healthy kids, hormones can add an inch or two. Discuss it with your doctor, but even if her predicted height is 5'2, why not help her get to 5'4? My sister has one child currently on growth hormones who is 10 and shorter than her 8 and 6 year old siblings and her son who is now 21 was on them because he was the shortest in his class at 13 but he is now 6'2. My sister does not regret it because although he would have been tal anyways, the growth hormones helped his self esteem. Neither of the kids were missing growth hormones but the doctors said it was necessary due to their sizes at the time.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 4:37 am
nchr wrote:
For otherwise healthy kids, hormones can add an inch or two. Discuss it with your doctor, but even if her predicted height is 5'2, why not help her get to 5'4? My sister has one child currently on growth hormones who is 10 and shorter than her 8 and 6 year old siblings and her son who is now 21 was on them because he was the shortest in his class at 13 but he is now 6'2. My sister does not regret it because although he would have been tal anyways, the growth hormones helped his self esteem. Neither of the kids were missing growth hormones but the doctors said it was necessary due to their sizes at the time.

I do not agree with this. I wouldn't give added hormones for no reason. There's always a risk-reward element and the risk is not worthwhile if the child will be within normal height. But I understand that there are different strokes for different folks.
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Librarian




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:00 am
My daughter who is 4'10" and has 3 children bH was never flagged for growth hormone deficiency. After experiencing fertility issues she found out that she had a benign growth on her pituitary gland. Easily resolved with medication (that she has to take everyday). This was probably the cause of her short stature. So her infertility was a co occurring hormonal deficiency. Not caused by growth hormone injections which she never got. She got married at 19 bH but I certainly heard plenty of comments and opinions of how her height would be a problem. I have no doubt she was turned down because of it. But she married an outstanding young man who happens to be 5'10!
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Librarian




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:04 am
Here is what a prominent shadchan told me about "short boys" in shidduchim : "A short boy is as bad as a fat girl". Offensive, absolutely. Especially since "short" in this case meant 5'6".
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giselle




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:04 am
nchr wrote:
For otherwise healthy kids, hormones can add an inch or two. Discuss it with your doctor, but even if her predicted height is 5'2, why not help her get to 5'4? My sister has one child currently on growth hormones who is 10 and shorter than her 8 and 6 year old siblings and her son who is now 21 was on them because he was the shortest in his class at 13 but he is now 6'2. My sister does not regret it because although he would have been tal anyways, the growth hormones helped his self esteem. Neither of the kids were missing growth hormones but the doctors said it was necessary due to their sizes at the time.

I’ve never heard of growth hormones adding inches to a person’s max growth potential.
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Librarian




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:05 am
Growth hormones do NOT NOT NOT add inches to a person's max growth potential.
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:24 am
Librarian wrote:
In any event, the drug is incredibly expensive and insurance will only cover it if there is a demonstrated deficiency.

This isn't necessarily true. There are many insurances that will cover growth hormones for idiopathic short stature (that is, extreme shortness -- less than two standard deviations below the mean for the age/gender -- with no known cause).

That's not to say that all parents of kids with ISS should run for growth hormones, just that they are often covered.

But this gets ahead of ourselves since it is not clear from OP whether her child has GHD, shortness of stature caused by other conditions, ISS, or is just short.
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amother
Khaki


 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:25 am
amother [ Slateblue ] wrote:
DD is short. We considered growth hormones but decided based on medical advice that it was not worth the risks. Besides, DD loves being short - BH. I am glad we didn't do it. Her father was extremely tall, and I am tall.

Ok but on the flip side my dh was originally against growth hormones for our child .as a child getting tested he was told it would only help reach his potential hight faster. He is fine with the fact that he's on the shorter side but I can tell you he has some medical issues that are proven to have come from being growth hormone deficiency as a child and that happens when you reach a adulthood. Since starting growth hormone treatment for my child she's so much healthier. Children who don't make enough growth hormone legit lose out because their body is not producing something that they need and it's more than just hight. it's your organs growing it's your muscles growing. By doing certain test you can see if you're actually deficient or if you are just ment to be short. Yes there is nothing wrong with being short such as me but it can make things harder realistically driving a car is harder, shopping for things that most people could reach is harder, reaching the cabinets in your kitchen is harder I'm not saying anyone should go on growth hormones so they could reach the shelves in the store but don't rule it out because you think it's okay and growth hormones are not good. A doctor will laugh you out of the office if you're going just so you could have a basketball player yes my doctor told me that has happened.
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Librarian




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:35 am
Also, fyi, a pediatric gastroenterologist told me there is a known link between growth hormone deficiency and Crohn's disease. It is unclear how it correlates but it is not coincidental.
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Librarian




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:36 am
Yes, insurance covers idiopathic growth hormone deficiency. My son's case was idiopathic. But a deficiency has to be demonstrated none the less
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amother
Khaki


 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:37 am
Librarian wrote:
Growth hormones do NOT NOT NOT add inches to a person's max growth potential.

Actually it could add an inch or two to your max potential height according to my endocrinologist . So if your bone scan shows about 5 feet can hope you can grow to 5 "2 but it won't make you super tall if you're meant to be short
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Librarian




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:39 am
And the pediatric endocrinologist told my friend that her son's ADHD medication was taking 2 inches off his projected height and there is nothing he can do about it. Being functional is more important than being tall. My friend was just upset that she was never told this could be a side effect. Perhaps that was a good thing Smile
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nchr




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:40 am
Librarian wrote:
Growth hormones do NOT NOT NOT add inches to a person's max growth potential.


Yes they can. But not significantly. Just a maximum of 1 or rarely 2. They are effective for individuals who are actually lacking the hormone.
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amother
Khaki


 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:41 am
amother [ Forestgreen ] wrote:
This isn't necessarily true. There are many insurances that will cover growth hormones for idiopathic short stature (that is, extreme shortness -- less than two standard deviations below the mean for the age/gender -- with no known cause).

That's not to say that all parents of kids with ISS should run for growth hormones, just that they are often covered.

But this gets ahead of ourselves since it is not clear from OP whether her child has GHD, shortness of stature caused by other conditions, ISS, or is just short.

Yes insurance is could cover ISS (but most don't want to) but ISS is a very broad term it's someone who's not growth hormone deficienct based off the growth hormone stimulation test but still not growing according to their curve. maybe even falling off the curve maybe going into early puberty. and if that happens your bones could close before you're finished growing. also there are certain genetic conditions that your body is producing the growth hormones but for some reason they're not working I forgot what it's called. so instead of labeling each of these things as issues the put it under ISS.
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:42 am
Librarian wrote:
Yes, insurance covers idiopathic growth hormone deficiency. My son's case was idiopathic. But a deficiency has to be demonstrated none the less


I wasn't referring to idiopathic GHD. I was referring to idiopathic short stature.

Idiopathic = with no known cause. One can have a GH deficiency with no known cause (idiopathic GHD) but one can also shortness with no known cause, including GHD. People with IIS (idiopathic short stature) do NOT have growth hormone deficiencies. Their short stature is with no known cause. And growth hormones are approved for treating IIS, and many insurances will cover it (though it's somewhat controversial). https://www.magicfoundation.or.....ture/
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amother
Khaki


 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:45 am
Librarian wrote:
My daughter who is 4'10" and has 3 children bH was never flagged for growth hormone deficiency. After experiencing fertility issues she found out that she had a benign growth on her pituitary gland. Easily resolved with medication (that she has to take everyday). This was probably the cause of her short stature. So her infertility was a co occurring hormonal deficiency. Not caused by growth hormone injections which she never got. She got married at 19 bH but I certainly heard plenty of comments and opinions of how her height would be a problem. I have no doubt she was turned down because of it. But she married an outstanding young man who happens to be 5'10!

If you are shown to be growth hormone deficienct they do an MRI of your brain to make sure there's nothing growing on your pituitary gland so if your daughter would have gotten tested they would have found that earlier it wouldn't have just given her growth hormones. But it's also possible that your daughter could have been taller and her bones fuse before she reached her height because of that growth and that some people just like to check when their children are young before it's too late.
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amother
Khaki


 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:52 am
nchr wrote:
For otherwise healthy kids, hormones can add an inch or two. Discuss it with your doctor, but even if her predicted height is 5'2, why not help her get to 5'4? My sister has one child currently on growth hormones who is 10 and shorter than her 8 and 6 year old siblings and her son who is now 21 was on them because he was the shortest in his class at 13 but he is now 6'2. My sister does not regret it because although he would have been tal anyways, the growth hormones helped his self esteem. Neither of the kids were missing growth hormones but the doctors said it was necessary due to their sizes at the time.

Yes now he's 6"2 and that was probably his bone potential. I don't know his lab results but it is possible that without them he could have ended up just like 5"6 or something. because he was lacking his body needed to reach his potential height .doesn't mean he would have gotten there on his own if she don't used growth hormones. It nothing to do with how tall you're going to end up it it has to do with the piece in which you're growing each year to when your bones are getting ready to close to what your potential hight is.
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nchr




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 5:55 am
amother [ Khaki ] wrote:
Yes now he's 6"2 and that was probably his bone potential. I don't know his lab results but it is possible that without them he could have ended up just like 5"6 or something. because he was lacking his body needed to reach his potential height .doesn't mean he would have gotten there on his own if she don't used growth hormones. It nothing to do with how tall you're going to end up it it has to do with the piece in which you're growing each year to when your bones are getting ready to close to what your potential hight is.


My nephew was not GH deficient, but was very short so my sister did GH treatment. Since he ended up 6'2 and he was not GH deficient it is likely he would have been 6'0+ anyways because generally, in non GH deficient people, GH can only add a max of 1 or 2 inches. However, you're right that it may have allowed his bones to not fuse earlier which is what we are hoping with my niece because she is quite short and also not GH deficient.
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amother
Ecru


 

Post Thu, Nov 07 2019, 6:04 am
What are the side effects of Growth Hormones? I still prefer short people than overly tall- which probably happens when 2 very tall people marry each other
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