Precocious Puberty Support Group

hi,
I don't know if any of this will help or not but
I have had a heck of a time making the same decission and not a day goes by that i don't wonder if I made the right one. My daughter started her period at 81/2. Then developed everything else. The shots are expensive $300-500 per shot because our insurance would not cover them. They would only cover the supperlin implant. I ordered it and had an apointment for the insertion and we did not go through with it because of the lack of information on the product and the limited amount of time on the market. I did not want my daughter to be the second child in her doctor's practice to get one.
Did we make the right choice? I don't know. What i do know is this, my daughter Just turned 9, she is 5'3", she is happy and never appears to have pms. She has a well balanced personality. She is coping very well with her changing body. She has been able to manage her monthly period. It was dificult for me to explain to her about all of the changes however, once she found out that while it was early, she physically ok. she has been fine. My daughter is a competitive swimmer, so she has had to learn how to use a tampon. Not an easy thing to teach a young girl.
There are days when I wonder if she will stop growing or if she will have a hard time fitting in with her friends. If she stops tomorrow, she will be just under the average height for a woman and we are all ok with that. She has told a few of her friends and did not lose their friendship in the process.
I don't know what else to say to you except do whatever feels right for you and your child. Children are very resilient and they can learn to cope with anything be it monthly shots or a body that is changing earlier than normal.
I don't know if any of this helps but at least now you know that you are not alone.

Hi,
I have a 5 year old daughter that has been on the lupron injection now for over a year. And yes they act like they are teenagers in a small body. My daughter is very smart for her age because of everything and she knew something was gong on. She asked me if she was sick I told her no but she is growing way to fast and that we need to slow it down. And that is why you have to have these injections. And that their is something under your brain that we need to keep an eye on.Once I said that to her she seemed ok with it. My daughter gets an injection of 11.25 mg every 21days. My insurance company covers the injections. I do have to take her to the doctors and have a nurse give it to her but we have been lucky and so far we don't -pay for it. MY daughter does have emotions that are out of this world. But I can say that since she has been on the injections her emotions have calmed down. Not totally away but she is ALOT better then she was. With school I don't know yet she starts in Sept. But I have a feeling its going to be hard. By the way you can call up your insurance company and see if they will pay for it. They should have a list but take for granted my daughter injection comes by fed ex. Because no one around here sells it. Well I hope this was helpful and if you ever need to talk I'm here. And take one day at a time because it can be very trying and emiotional time.

Thank you both so much for your response. In school I have been fighting with the school because they say she is ADHD. In my heart I have always known she is not. I think she just can not handle the hormones. Be prepared when your daughter starts school. They have had to give her extra help and she is doing much better. That is why I would like information/research in the social aspect of this. Apparently there is no research on this.

My daughter was diagnosed last fall at the age of 6, she is now 7. We began the Lupron shots - 11.25 every 4 weeks. (we are now considering bumping that up to every 3 weeks or increasing her dosage again because her bone age scan is showing 8 1/2 yrs., but her hormone levels are all normal.) Our insurance pays for most of the shots - ours run over $5,000 per shot, so thank goodness for insurance!
If we would not have done the shots, the endo explained that she may not reach her full height potential, in addition to going into puberty now. We simply explained to her she is going through something called puberty & it shouldn't be happening yet. We want her to grow tall & healthy. She still can be on an emotional roller coaster - right around the 3rd week after a shot - kind of like PMS. I think it's important to remember that not every child will react to the Lupron the same - it depends completely on their body. Good luck - it's a crazy road!

Do not divorce your husband because of financial reasons. If you cannot get Lupron because of insurance concerns, your endocrinologist can appeal to the drug manufacturer. they do have a program to assist you, you just have to push all the right buttons and demand it.
Guiving your child any drug is scary, but the affects of untreated PP are, too.