Medical / health related question.

amother

Sat, Feb 03 2024, 3:16 pm

I’m new here and wasn’t really sure where to post this topic.. my oldest is almost 12. He is the same height as a 7 year old. My husband and I are both short and I have taken him to a Pediatrician and have had bloodwork done to rule out growth hormone deficiency. He has also had a bone scan done which showed his growth to be 3 years behind .
The dr said that as he does not have hormone deficiency he cannot take any form of growth hormone as it will not actually help him in any way. All it will do is speed up his growth process not change the end result .
My question is if anyone else here has experience in this area. He can get very down feeling so much smaller then his peers and sometimes made fun of etc . Kids can be cruel. I am also conscious of how this will shape as he gets older /shidduchim etc ( I know I know )
I’m looking to find out if anyone has experience where growth hormone treatment has actually helped where there is no deficiency ?! I just feel that I need to give him the best chance I can
Eta ; I’m outside the us so the way things work may be different

amother

NeonOrange

Sat, Feb 03 2024, 5:16 pm

Myabe try some extra opinions from some specialists. I would definitely go to an endocrinologist. Possible an orthopedist as well. And also go the genetics route for testing that could reveal the underlying cause if there is a condition causing it, which could clarify whether there is something you can do to help him.

amother

Clover

Sat, Feb 03 2024, 5:34 pm

Have you done blood tests to rule out any health conditions that could impact on growth, such as celiac disease, thyroid problems, or any others that can cause poor growth?
I would definitely request a referral to a specialist as often they know and understand more.

amother

Sat, Feb 03 2024, 5:41 pm

amother Clover wrote:

Yes the dr originally did a full panel of bloodwork which all came back as normal bH. He insisted that his height made sense as myself and my husband are both short adults and gave me his estimation as to what height he ‘predicted’ he would reach as an adult. I left that appointment in tears as I feel like for an adult male to be so very short can most definitely negatively impact various areas of their self esteem and future.
That’s why I tried to push the subject of hormone treatment but he wouldn’t agree to take it any further.
I will look into seeing an endocrinologist as pp suggested and see if that brings more answers.

Brit in Israel

Sat, Feb 03 2024, 5:45 pm

My nephew had similar/same story, his father is the shortest of our family and is short sil isn't much taller. He was extremely short until about 17 and now he is really tall he is 21 he just started growing much later. He is taller than me I am 169cm.

amother

Sat, Feb 03 2024, 5:48 pm

Brit in Israel wrote:

Thanks for giving some hope .
Did he grow on his own or did do any interventions ?

amother

Mauve

Sat, Feb 03 2024, 10:15 pm

I had this and the dr said that growth hormones wont help either. I resorted to davening every single bingle day to Hashem to please make him grow taller. Right now he is 18 and the tallest of all of my children (that I didn't daven for) and he's decent height. Hashem is in charge of growth as well as everything else.
I have an issue with another dc but this dc shows just 9 months behind on the bone scan. I'm much more nervous but I'm going to resort to the same thing like before.

amother

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 9:24 am

amother Taupe wrote:

Does he eat right? I read that people in Denmark were tall from eating a lot of protein, including milk. I know someone who said she grew from eating broccoli.

No he is my pickiest eater. We are always working on improving his diet but I’m sure it doesn’t help

amother

Seafoam

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 10:01 am

1) My friend’s son is similar. They are doing growth hormone even with no deficiency. They are working with an endocrinologist who told them that it won’t cause major growth but it will give an extra 1/2-1 inch per year on it. Definitely take him to an endocrinologist!

2) The fact that he is 3 years behind on his bone scan is definitely better, that means he has 3 years extra to grow. He may still gain more height naturally.

3) In addition to the endocrinologist, it’s probably worth checking with a GI to see if there is an absorption issue that can cause lack of growth. This is assuming he is also slight/underweight. If he is heavier it probably is not an issue to my knowledge.

amother

Burntblack

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 10:15 am

Btw op just some sympathy. DS is 12 and only just outgrew his size 8 pants. I never heard of another boy as short as him but it seems like our sons are roughly the same size. (We are working with an endocrinologist though).

amother

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 10:17 am

amother Seafoam wrote:

Op here thank you for your reply. Are you aware of any side effects / negative outcomes that come along with the growth hormone treatment your friends child is doing ?

amother

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 10:18 am

amother Burntblack wrote:

Hi yes it does sound like we are in the same boat , are you comfortable sharing what the endocrinologist has advised you ?

amother

Tulip

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 10:21 am

amother OP wrote:

Op here thank you for your reply. Are you aware of any side effects / negative outcomes that come along with the growth hormone treatment your friends child is doing ?

Not that poster, but my nephew took growth home on shots without being deficient and grew a bunch bh.

amother

Midnight

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 10:28 am

Slightly different than you- I am very short and my husband is tall. One of our children is very short. The pediatrician tried the diet route as he doesnt have a massive appetite. Did some blood tests and the bone age scan as diet Didn't help so finally got a referral to the pediatric endocrinologist.

We started the shots. It helped already and only on it a few months. You have to do a whole long test to prove a deficiency- they have the kid in the office for a few hours, gave meds via IV and then took blood several times.
Because I am short - we aren't expecting him to be 6 feet. But it could very likely be that I was growth hormone deficient and should be taller! That is genetic too!! My siblings are more normal height. No one is super super tall but I am a good few inches below anyone else.

amother

Midnight

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 10:30 am

amother OP wrote:

Op here thank you for your reply. Are you aware of any side effects / negative outcomes that come along with the growth hormone treatment your friends child is doing ?

Different poster but:
We were told that they can cause headaches which is why the doctor was slowly increasing the dose after each visit.

If CV he has cancer it can cause it to spread. So they do a brain MRI to prove it is clear (because the only symptom is lack of height so they look at the pituitary gland.)

amother

Burntblack

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 11:44 am

amother OP wrote:

Hi yes it does sound like we are in the same boat , are you comfortable sharing what the endocrinologist has advised you ?

We were going to an endocrinologist for years. We did blood work and bone scans in the beginning and then were just following up every few months to see how much ds grew. When the endocrinologist decided his growth rate was too slow he sent us for the long growth hormone test (twice), an MRI of his pituitary gland, more bone scans and blood work. He started growth hormone shots a few months ago and we haven't seen massive growth but he's definitely growing.