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Precocious puberty

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I am writing this posting to gain some further understanding of the premature puberty.

My daughter was 4 1/2 when I noticed her having proper body odour. The doctor said that some kids just get it and for her to wear deoderant. I was never totally happy with it as it didn't seem normal to me. My daughter has always been tall and slim for her age and I have always been concerned that she is a little too tall. Last summer, aged 5 1/2 I noticed she seemed to have more hairs on her legs and a couple of dark pubic hairs. I took her to a new doctor, as we had moved, and he refered her straight away to the paediatrician at the hospital, as when he looked at her height he thought she was alittle too tall for her age.

A year later my little girl has breast buds and is having injections every 4 weeks to halt the puberty. She has had all the blood tests to check her hormone levels which were positive for puberty, as well as her bone age (currently 8 1/2) by xray. She has had an MRI scan of her brain to check for tumours and ultrasound scan of her pelvis for polycystic ovaries. She has been very good with it all but all she knows is that she is growing a bit too fast and the doctors want to slow her down a bit.

We have been told by the paediatrician that it is best for her to have these injections otherwise she will start her periods, which they do not want her to do. They have also told us that unless they halt the puberty that she could end up short because she has already started her growth spurt which will finish 4 years too early. She is already 4ft 4 at age 6 and in age 9-10 clothes. Her puberty doesn't seem to be linked to obesity though as some papers seem to sugest as her BMI is healthy for her age and height. Unfortunately they don't seem to have an answer as to why this has happened to my daughter.

We are finding the hardest bit is the teenage strops and temper that appear to be coming with it. We have been told to expect her to be more grown up in age and expect the hormone strops because the injections contain a massive overdose of the puberty hormones to confuse her body. She does seem to be struggling with concentration and odd little behaviour issues at school which we feel could be related.

If anyone else is experiencing this kind of thing it would be great to hear about it!!

3 likes, 25 replies

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  • karen1971
    karen1971

    Edited

    Hi

    i have just been reading up on this topic as I think my little girl who is 4 and half may have symptoms of precocious puberty. I have been worried for well over a year about her underarm body odour (she has been using my underarm roll on for about 6 months) and also her hair day that HAS to be washed every other (It could really do with washing every day, but I try not to do that as it makes it worse). I mentioned it to the doctor when I went with my daughter last week with a bad cough and she said that if I notice anything else like pubic hair I should take her back and they would investigate further.

    Low and behold today when I was helping her get dressed I noticed what I thought was a stray hair down below and went to take it off when I realised it was attached !! and there was a another one too ! They were both dark and 2-3 inches long !! So I am definitely going to take her back to the doctors asap.

    She is in age 8 clothes and is only an inch or so shorter than my friends little girl who is 8. She towers above all the other children her age at nursery.

    This creates problems in itself as peoples expectations of her behaviour are higher as they think she is older by looking at her - everyone asks me what school she goes to and when I explain she isnt at school yet they are shocked !

    After googling today I am concerned and realise that I should get this treated as if she is having the growth spurt that is talked about she may end up stopping puberty too early and end up being shorter... i just dont know, I just hope know I get the right advice of my doc as it seems opinion varies.

    She does seem to have very tempermental swings and can burst into tears over the slightest thing sometimes - but am I just reading too much into this now after reading too much !!??

    I would love to chat to anyone who has experience of this or is going through it

    • roops
      roops karen1971

      Posted

      Hi Karen,

      I was wondering how you are getting on as my daughters just been diagnosed. Id love to hear from you. 

      Roo

    • karen1971
      karen1971 roops

      Posted

      Hi roops.. she's doing great thanks she's 11 now and stopped her injections last year after her 10th birthday. 1 week before her 11th birthday she started her period. We've certainly had some fun with mood swings ! over the last few years but on the whole she's dealt with it ok. She had quite bad acne on her forehead during treatment but after treatment stopped it got worse and on her face too.. luckily our gp has been fab and tried a cream and then antibiotics too which has helped no end. She didnt have too much breast budding while treating, again thats suddenly progressed and she has to wear a 34a bra but they are growing fast ! Anything you want to ask please feel free to.

      Karen x

    • serathea
      serathea karen1971

      Edited

      Hi Karen, may I know if you think that the jab has helped your daughter to grow to a suitable height? My gal is 7 yrs old and we are asian from Singapore. We are starting the second jab next month and we hope that this jab will helped her stopped her puberty for now so that she will be able to grow taller later on. The doctor has been sure that the jab can start menses but no guarantee on height. Hope you can share with me. 
    • serathea
      serathea

      Posted

      stop menses I meant
    • roops
      roops karen1971

      Posted

      Hi Karen, Im sorry - Ive just seen this reply for some bizzare reason! Thanks so much for your reply. Glad to hear your daughter is doing well. After a year of being on monthly Gonapeptyl injections, my daughters dosage was recently decreased to Quarterly, which she is happy about. Im still noticing changes in her body though (increasing mood swings, rounded hips etc). At any point did you have to have any more MRIs  / Bone Scans done to check if your daughter was still on track?

      Thanks again smile

    • ash51043
      ash51043 serathea

      Posted

      Hi Serathea,

      ?We are also from Singapore and facing similar problem with my 7 yr old daughter. Can we connect which doctor you are referring to etc ?

       

  • Jackman
    Jackman

    Posted

    HI guys, my name is Jack and I amn a features writer for national newspapers and women's magazines. I would be really interested in speakin with either of you about your experiences of having a child with precocious puberty. If you are interested in sharing your story, you can contact me

    Thanksm Jack

  • Emis_Moderator
    Emis_Moderator

    Posted

    I have removed email address and phone number as we do not publish these on the site. If either user (or any others) wish to get in touch with Jackman leave a reply here saying "Moderator, pass my details on" and I will forward separately. Use those words as I scan all posts for the word Moderator and this will higlight the request. wink

    Emis Moderator.

  • karen1971
    karen1971

    Posted

    Moderator, pass my details on.

    Many thanks Karen

  • roops
    roops Guest

    Posted

    Hi, Im in the same boat you were in a year ago! I started noticing my daughters body odour age 5 but didnt think much of it until a teacher commented and we decided to check it out. I guess because we were living in a hot country at the time it was more noticeable. My daughter like yours has always been tall for her age - at least a foot taller than others in her class. She is about to turn 6 and I notice she has more hairs on her legs and a couple of dark pubic hairs. She also has breast buds and is having gonapeptyl injections every 4 weeks to slow down puberty. Anaiya will be 6 next month and already in age 8-9 / 9-10 clothes. Her puberty doesn't seem to be linked to obesity though as some reports suggest as her BMI is healthy for her age and height.

    My question is did you go through anything similar? I have recollection of undergoing checks for developing breasts early (age 7 /8) and starting my periods early (age 9). I just wondered if it could be hereditatary?  

    How are the injections working for you? Anaiya has just had the intial 3 jest now but will be starting monthly injections from next month. Is your daughter acting quite mature for her age and quite sensitive too? The moods swings and emotions are quite difficult to deal with i must say - Is that common? Anaiya also struggles with concentration though she is a bright girl. Has that inmproved over time for your daughter? 

    I hope everything is progressing well for your daughter. It would be lovely to hear from you.

    Roo

    • karen1971
      karen1971 roops

      Posted

      I didn't start my period until age 14 nor did my elder daughter. Maddie is ok with concentration but never been a fab sleeper which i have heard is fairly common. Maddie is now 11 ... adult size 8 feet, 5'7 and wears age 14-15 or womens size 10 clothes x

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