Lupron/Puberty

[lrs67]

My daughter is now 8 1/2. She showed signs of puberty at age 2 with small knots in her breast and thin, light pubic hair. She had no underarm hair. We were referred to a ped. endo. The bone age xray at the time show 1 year advancement. We continued to see this doc every 4 months until she was age 5. There was no changes and no other test were done. She turned 8 this past May(2008) and within weeks of her b'day the hair became darker and more noticeable. Her breast have also become noticeable through shirts and she complains of them be sore. We went back to the ped.endo. We were informed she was in puberty and age 8 was a normal range. They did another bone age xray which showed two years advancement -- age 10. They also did an ultrasound, bloodwork, etc. At this point, they have said everything is normal, but it would be up to us if we would want to start the Lupron treatment. My lil girl has always been very thin, but tall (currently 53 inches, 57 lbs.). The endo is telling us based on both my husband's (5'7) and my (5'4) height that my girl will only reach a height of approx. 5ft. and doing the Lupron would not guarantee much more than an inch. We are confused and don't know if we should do Lupron. The ped. endo has not had the best bedside manner. Because she had some puberty signs beginning at age 2 it concerns us that this is progressing so quickly now. Could this be a thyroid problem? And would this have been checked in the bloodwork. We are caucasian. The only reason I list that is because everything I have read states that it is less common in caucasians. Please give us some guidance, suggestions, help.

[pb143]

My daughter started Lupron when she was 9 and stopped when she turned 11. My husband and I are very tall, so she has always been tall. When we started, the endo said, without treatment, she would be lucky to make it to 5 ft! She will be 12 in a few days and she is 5'4 (she doesn't have her period yet). The endo says "they don't know if it will work" , I think, more in an effort to not disappoint you. I have never seen it not work. It's kind of a hassle because it's a painful shot, but it's worth it. If your insurance accepts it (it's very expensive), you should definitely give it a try. Once the bones fuse and she stops growing, there is no way to turn back the clock...
Good luck, I feel your pain!

[GlynisABJ]

A related discussion, Risks of Lupron on bone age past 11 was started.