Precocious Puberty Support Group

Trudy,

YOu have to do the right thing based on your situation. Shots were never considered for my daugther. We had to hold her down to draw blood...getting her immuz shots were always a big problem.

The implant was my choice. The procedure should only take 15 minutes..usually in the office. They cut a small slit in the enter arm right above the elbow. The implant is rubbery and slides under the skin. You can not see it...however, I can feel it. No one knows she has the implant. So far, we only had it for 2 weeks this Friday....but I have noticed a change in her appetite already.

You have to do what is right for you...I did. I know the shots would have been a hassle for us...I thought..why put her through that over and over. If you daughter is ok with that...that might be the best route for you. The implant cost us $14000.00 and that does not include the surgeons fees.

You will do the right thing...

I am here if you need to talk.

Deborha

The type of medication is completely up to you. I can say we went with the implant right away I knew my 5 year old would never be able to do shots all of the time and then feel comfortable going to the doctor for small things. My doctor told me right away that the shots were very very painful.
Not sure what age your child is right of the bat but I can say my daughter would pick the implant over shots in a heart beat... :)
With the implant I feel that the child is able to forget about the illness.
Dida

Hi Trudy. My daughter has been on the injections for 6 months now. Honestly, we are working on the implant procedure. The shots are really painful and she works herself up when she knows she has to get them. We have to wait after she gets her injection for any reaction. Every 3rd month we get blood work done to make sure the suppression treatment is working. I hope & pray in Jan she gets the implant. We are working diligently to plan it now. All best!

Trudy,

My son got the shots since he was 5 (for 3.5 years). It was always tough on him, but he actually dislikes the blood-draw even more. It might be because he can see the needle/blood, I don't know. With the implant, blood tests are still required, but the shots go away. Our experience with depo-lupron shots: Initially they were every 4 weeks. This was really hard, especially since for the first 3-4 shots for about 1 week prior and after the shot, his behavior would really stink. After a while the behavior swings dissipated, though remained detectable to us at times. After about a year or 18 months, the doc suggested we switch to a larger dose, and only get the shot once every12 weeks. We did that. Once again for the first couple of shots we saw the pronounced behavior issues after he got the shots, but these would fade after a week or two and the medication lasted 3-times as long. After a few rounds of this treatment, again the worst of the behavior after getting the shots, became better.

The implant: He got the implant in July-08. It produced initially very good behavior (he was an angel!). After 6-8 weeks, his behavior did an about-face 180 degrees and he became very difficult to manage. eventually we were able to bring him somewhere back close to "normal", but sometimes seemingly bizzarre behaviors emerge. We also observe a correlative relationship that shows a possible link between seizures that have begun 3 months after the implant was started. As such we are having the implant removed, and resuming the depo-lupron shots.

My final recommendation: If given the choice I would suggest the implant, unless any seizures are currently present or observed in the future. Though the correlation we have observed between the implant and the seizures could be coincidence, it also may not be, and is it really worth that risk?

Best of luck and guidance to you!

One other comment: To help my son get through the shots, my wife and/or I ALWAYS baked him a special giant cookie the night before, and he got to eat it after he completed the shot (or half after the shot and half after the blood test; or 1 cookie after the shot and one after the blood test... you get the idea). Without this, I don't know if we would have gotten through it.

Also discussing the condition with him, and helping him to understand why it was critical that he get the shot, was the other critical factor in him bearing it. He actually thinks it is not that bad anymore.

Hello!
I just joined this group to help people who have children with Precocious Puberty. I was diagnosed with Precocious Puberty at the age of 4. My Mom was very attentive and luckily caught it right away. I was put on Lupron for eight years. I am now a healthy, five foot seven and a half, 125 pound, perfectly normal 22 year old female.
Lupron saved me. At that time, I don't believe the implant was even an option. I went to the doctor every month to get the injections. They really aren't all that painful. I can very clearly remember them. I believe most children just have a stigma towards needles (like most people). I never once threw a fuss about getting blood drawn or receiving the injections. It was just another part of my life. I also have incredibly small veins and it was always very difficult for the Doctors to draw blood. It would sometimes take them up to 7 trys poking around with the needle to get at the vein. Never once did I complain. I didn't feel like I was 'hard done by' or anything like that at all. My Mom and Dad have never once said I had horrible behaviour/reactions to Lupron either.
All in all, I am so incredibly thankful for Lupron. I would never ever wish to take back my experiences with Precocious Puberty. It has made me who I am today. And one of the biggest advantages I got from the whole experience is that to this day, I am totally not afraid of needles. ;)
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. :)

H - we went the implant route because my daughter becomes another child from another planet with any shots or needles. We have been successful with the implant - she is emotional at times, but we can handle it. With the implant, she can forget about the CPP. If we had to go back every month, it would do a number on her and me! We're hoping to have another implant in July. We actually put my daughter thru sedation because we didn't think we could hold her down for the implant. That part was probably the easiest part of this whole ordeal. We still need to do another MRI to check on her HH tumor, but have put it off because of the ordeal of injecting her with the dye they use for the MRI. Good luck with your decision.

Hi, I am the mother of a 2 1/2 year old who was diagnosed with Precocious Puberty a yeat ago. As we live in Australia, I don't know how helpful this will be. When we started treatment the shots weren't offered as an option. We find the implant fantastic!. My daughter is given an injection of local anasthetic where the implant goes, then the implant is injected into her lower back/upper bottom. We see a difference in her the next day. The last implant was given to her last Wedensday. This was her fifth treatment as the implants are done every 10 weeks. With the first implant the difference was noticed in her attitude within 1 week. She was so violent before.
I hope this helps.