S/o anything to try b4 GSH?

amother

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 3:55 pm

ds is 8 and short. Doc said he's in the 36 percentile for height and she says that's normal but somehow I have a hard time believing it. Some people in my family did GSH and grew nicely, the ones that did nothing are short.

I would love to try vitamins or natural methods before considering GSH.

any ideas?

amother

Bluebell

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 4:00 pm

36th percentile is not bad. My son was on hormones for several years before he even made it on the growth chart. And he wasn’t hormone deficient. Before we started, the doctor did full workout to rule out any other reason he wasn’t growing. A good doctor will do that. For example, we saw a cardiologist, had an endoscopy (he had significant gastric history), bloodwork, etc.

amother

Iris

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 4:26 pm

It would really depend on the cause, it’s usually related to some sort of dysfunction in the hpa/thyroid axis but depending on where and what’s causing the dysfunction. If you can get an endo to run labs that can give you some clues. Make sure you run a complete thyroid panel.

To increase growth hormone production , you can try a b complex, Gaba, beta alanine, 5htp, l arginine.
To support thyroid you can do copper, zinc, iodine, l tyrosine, ashwahganda
To support adrenals, ashwahganda, rhodiola, licorice, adrenal cortex, electrolytes, whole food vit c, magnesium
Growth hormone is produced during REM sleep. If your kid is a mouth breather, snorer, has apnea, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, or any other reason he doesn’t sleep deeply, that can contribute.

Inflammation is a huge trigger for hpa axis dysfunction so if you have reason to believe this is a factor addressing this can really help.

Excess weight, high blood sugar and insulin resistance can also inhibit growth hormone production so if these are issues you can try addressing them. Exercise also helps increase GH production.

Lastly, you can look into bioidentical hormones.

amother

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 4:39 pm

amother [ Iris ] wrote:

wow, you're knowledge is extensive and impressive.

I would need a full workup to know which of these are the cause. He may not be short now but based on our genetics he may end up very short if we don't do something now.

I probably need a referral from my doc to visit an endocrinologist but she didnt seem likely to give me a referral. I will need to ask for it and see.

amother

Iris

Fri, Oct 15 2021, 4:57 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

There are also congenital and genetic reasons obviously. I would look at thyroid first.

amother

Honey

Sat, Oct 16 2021, 8:27 pm

Just wanted to let you know that 36th percentile is no where near the levels for which docs typically recommend growth hormone. My children are all under 25th percentile. Doc was never concerned about their height until my preteen showed very little growth one year and fell off his own growth trajectory (but not off the percentile charts). We had bloodwork done and a age-bone scan done. Since those didn’t seem to indicate signs of growth hormone deficiency, we didn’t pursue treatment. After all, both his parents are extremely short. There’s only so much growth hormone would do for someone who is genetically disposed to being short.
Also, unless your children is actually deficient in Growth hormone, there’s little chance insurance would even cover growth hormone.
In terms of natural alternatives, I don’t know much about this, but just heard that zinc can help for growth. Ask your doc if this might help. Hatzlacha! And it’s not so bad being short!