Hi Luvchocolate,

My son is 16 years old and has been on GH injections since May 2011.  Hiscondition was diagnosed at aged 15.4 years old, though his bone age at the timewas only 13.9 years.  He was in the middle of puberty at the time he begantreatment.  His initial dosage was 1.0 mg/daily and he began to grow at agood rate almost immediately.   He hasn?t been measured ?officially? since September,but I would guesstimate that by now (end of January) he has grown about 4inches since treatment began in May.

When treatment began, my son had a 'growthspurt' in the first few months.  He continues to grow but the rate appearsslower now.  Like you, I am anxious all the time and have to stop myselffrom fixating about exactly how much he has grown each week. 

At our first check up I asked the consultant to draw blood to review my son?sIGF-1 level to ensure his dosage was high enough.  We both agreed that hisIGF-1 should be managed to the top end of the normal range given that he iswell into puberty and has only 12-18 months left for treatment.  After theblood test, the endo raise my son's dosage to 1.2mg/daily.  We have our nextappointment in early March.

Even though my son's growth started at a strong pace (measured at 14 cm /yr duringthe Sept. visit), the endo explained that there is no guarantee that this ratewill continue, especially over the full 2 years of his treatment.  It nowappears that he will probably not achieve the full 14 cm this year, despite thisprojected rate in September.

I have done a lot of reading on growthhormone treatment.  (You can find many articles on the internet.) Whilemost children experience the highest pace of growth in the first year oftreatment, there is another group of children who experience faster growth inthe second year of treatment.  Your son may fall into this category.

My nephew, who is now 22 years old, also underwent GH therapy.  He grew ata steady rate of 4 inches per year for each year he was on the injections,regardless of his pubertal development.  In other words, he neverexperienced a 'pubertal growth spurt'. 

Each child's experience is unique so it is very hard to predict what theresponse will be for any specific case.  My recommendation is to make sureyour endo monitors your son's IGF-1 level so that his dosage is maintained atthe right level.

I wish you and your son all the best.  I relate completely to how you feeland happy to ?obsess? with you at any time!  Feel free to write again, if you feel you need support.