https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 05 May 2026 09:18:46 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926506 Tue, 22 Mar 2022 12:39:22 +0000 togetherthroughlife 2926506@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: Sure. My son is currently six. The percentile numbers won’t be super relevant here because he takes HGH for a specific condition that is lifelong. He doesn’t have a deficit of growth hormone, but his condition makes it difficult for his body to actually process the growth hormone. So he will actually get injections until he reaches final height. The course of care is to give more HGH to give his body a better chance of processing it. But he has really been a great responder to it and is now on the growth charts and even moved up a curve on height. :)</p> <p>He has helped do shots himself a couple times but he prefers us to do them. He prefers them in his buttcheeks so that’s harder to see/reach for him. We try to never miss a night, so we have a couple family members who know how to use the pen, but most other people are uncomfortable learning which feels frustrating sometimes. But if he misses a night here and there, we don’t feel bad about it at all! In a date night situation like you mentioned, we just give him the shot before we leave. So he usually gets it around 8pm but instead we would give it at 5 or 6, for example.</p> <p>Travel is trickier with some brands and dispensing styles than others. Our favorite (and current) is the Norditropin flex pro pen. It can live at room temperature which is nice. If we are going somewhere that takes a while to get to, or if it will be in the heat, I put it in a cooler. But overall it’s pretty easy to travel with. In the past when he has had a pen that HAS to stay refrigerated, we often didn’t fool with it when we were taking a smaller trip (like 1-2 days) and weren’t confident we could keep it at a perfect temp the whole time. I hated that pen. Omnitrope was the brand. Steer clear of insurance allows. ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926505 Tue, 22 Mar 2022 12:31:00 +0000 togetherthroughlife 2926505@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Chuckles: Mine has a condition which requires endo care as part of the routine plan of care beginning in toddlerhood. So we started discussing it when we first established care with an endocrinologist. First, the doctor just wanted to do baseline labs and lots of measurements, growth chart discussions, and lots of counseling within the department. After about a year of monitoring it “officially” we began. Our situation is not for catch up growth, so it’s different. Every hospital will have a different viewpoint of when they say they generally do testing in terms of ages. Always worth asking about just so you can know what your options are! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926501 Sun, 20 Mar 2022 23:09:41 +0000 MamaT 2926501@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PinkElephant: although my son was born small (he came early), he very quickly gained a lot of weight. He was a solid weight until about 5 (always short, but never underweight) and then it took everything I had to get calories in him. His weight was so low that my two year old son and my 5 year old were practically the same weight and height. I’d get asked daily if they were twins. At first it didn’t bother my son, but the older he got, the more it bugged him (understandably so!). The year he didn’t gain a single pound, you could see his ribs on his back. That was when our pediatrician was finally ready for us to move forward. Once we began his weekly injection, he gained 7lbs in a month! Now he gains 2-3lbs/month. It was obvious to me his body needed weight gain in order to grow in height. Obviously I’m not a dr, so I’m not sure it’d definitely cause your daughter to gain weight, but I’m guessing it would. </p> <p>The auto pen injector is so easy to use, and while my son *can* do it, he’d prefer I do it. Especially because you have to rotate injections sites, I’d have to do the ones on his back side regardless. I’m sure as he gets older, he won’t want me to do it. </p> <p>As far as traveling, we didn’t have any problems. His specific medication has to be kept cold, so when we travel, I put the medication in 2 ziploc bags (so it doesn’t get wet), then add ice packs to a small Tupperware container. I tape his prescription to the outside of the Tupperware, and getting through security has never been a problem. If needed, I get ice to add to the Tupperware after we get through security. Just always have to make sure you have a fridge where you’re staying. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926498 Sun, 20 Mar 2022 13:47:46 +0000 PinkElephant 2926498@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaT: Thanks so much for this! Those are some great gains! Once-a-week wasn't an option that was offered to us, and I never would have thought to ask- it definitely sounds intriguing. It's also interesting to me that your son needed to gain weight as much as he needed more height. My daughter is currently okay weight-wise (she's proportionate, just short)....especially being that she's a girl, I'd feel terrible if I caused her to be overweight in trying to get her more height. So that's something that is worth asking her endocrinologist that I wouldn't have thought about! Have you reached a point where your child can do the injections on their own (ie., if you have a date-night teen babysitter who can't do them)? What about travel - have you had issues bringing the pens? Not that this is a super-important consideration, but it's something I wonder about.</p> <p>@togetherthroughlife: Thank you! Are you comfortable sharing how old your child is, their sex, and what kind of percentile gains you've seen? I'm also curious to know if there has ever been any discussion of stopping GH if your child seems to be caught up? Have they reached an age where they can do the injections themself, at least sometimes (like if you had a date-night teenage sitter who wasn't trained to do it)? What about travel - any issue taking the pens along?</p> <p>@Chuckles: Interesting about the no-testing til age five...but that does jive with what happened to us. At two, they were pretty willing to start my daughter on GH just based on her growth records alone - I felt that was a little to cavalier an attitude for my comfort level, so we did some watchful waiting, and have had her tested now that she's 5. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926497 Sun, 20 Mar 2022 08:44:07 +0000 MamaT 2926497@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Chuckles: our pediatrician just kept telling us “we’ll just keep an eye on him” starting at probably 5yrs old. We did a bone growth X-ray at age 6 and that indicated he’d be a late bloomer, so we kept watching. Between his 7th and 8th year is when he didn’t gain a single pound (despite my efforts to add butter and cheese to everything!) so we finally saw an endocrinologist at 8 years old. He started growth hormone by age 8.5 and is now 10. It’s definitely frustrating to wait and see… </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926495 Fri, 18 Mar 2022 14:56:31 +0000 Chuckles 2926495@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@togetherthroughlife: and @MamaT: What age did you do GH testing and start on the shots? My nephew was tiny when he was born and has also had long stretches of not growing at all. He's basically at the 1st-3rd percentile for height. His doctors have said that they don't do endocrinologist testing until age 5, and he's 3 now. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926493 Fri, 18 Mar 2022 13:35:04 +0000 MamaT 2926493@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son is also on hormone injections, but he has been a part of a study (we joined after it’d already been studied for 4+ years) that he only does an injection 1x/week. He was born preemie, and while he was a chunky baby, he was always very short. Finally after not gaining a single pound in over a year, we went to Endo and sure enough he was producing very little GH naturally. When we started, he wasn’t even on the charts for weight or height. 1.5 years later, he is the 19%tile for height and 45%tile for weight. We were of course hesitant to start, but I haven’t regretted it once. He has gained so much more confidence. It was absolutely the right choice for our family to begin. Maybe ask your dr about the injections that are 1x/week. There is one that is FDA approved and the one my son is on, is almost approved. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926491 Fri, 18 Mar 2022 12:50:01 +0000 togetherthroughlife 2926491@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’m all ears if you’d like to ask any specific questions! My child has been on nightly HGH injections for 4 years now. We use a pen so it’s very user friendly. It just becomes a normal part dof your routine. ❤️ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926486 Thu, 17 Mar 2022 13:24:20 +0000 julie31 2926486@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That makes sense. We’ve been waiting to see if mine (he’s also 5 and a half) gets a growth spurt and catches up too. That hasn’t happened. He was born a big baby though, and continuously dropped percentiles as a baby/toddler. Last time we saw our pediatrician, she did some blood tests and it came back low for growth hormone. </p> <p>The idea of daily shots feels very daunting but it would also be nice to have answers and a path forward. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926484 Thu, 17 Mar 2022 13:10:30 +0000 PinkElephant 2926484@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@julie31: Thank you! I will definitely check it out just to gain a little more info about the process. Interestingly, my child's bloodwork continues to come back normal, and she grows at a steady pace - she's just never had "catch up growth" from being born small for gestational age at 16" and a bit over 4 lbs. ..so for her, growing at a steady pace isn't going to give an end result of a typical height, if that makes sense. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926463 Tue, 15 Mar 2022 08:19:17 +0000 julie31 2926463@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi! My kiddo is not on growth hormones (yet?)- we are just starting the process with a pediatric endocrinologist to confirm if he has a GH deficiency. I found a parent group on Facebook and it’s been really helpful to educate myself and read about other people’s experiences. The specific group I joined is « childhood growth hormone deficiency support for parents ». </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/growth-hormone-injections#post-2926453 Mon, 14 Mar 2022 11:14:09 +0000 PinkElephant 2926453@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are in the process of deciding whether or not move forward with nightly injections of growth hormone for my five and a half year old. </p> <p>I'm wondering if anyone here has a child on growth hormones and would be willing to talk about it. </p> <p>Ultimately it's something we want to do (we considered it for the first time a few years ago, and held off to see if she had any further catch-up growth), it is just daunting to think about a daily injection for something like 7-10 years!</p> <p>Thanks for any insight you can provide! Alternatively, if you're an adult who is under 4'10" and wants to chime in about that, I'm all ears! </p>