I am a 18 year old born with Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) have taken over 3600 hgh injections

4'10" for a 7 year old is pretty tall. What symptoms did you have that caused you to be investigated for growth hormone deficiency ?

post has been edited typo, its still a rough estimate i vividly remember being at least 10 cm shorter than the shortest person in my class at 6 and didnt get any better when i turned 7 so that's what caused suspicion, my mum got notes of my height tracked from young ill post it when she gets back, sorry thanks

Yeah the fact that you got over 6' kinda pisses me off as a normal short person. Like isn't there a time where they go he's no longer outlier short and just leave it be? Or they say, since we're here let's get you as big as you want to be?

they go till your bones fuse so theres no room to grow yeah its lucky but i suspect mum or dad side probably dad suffers from the same thing as me so when i got on it, it revealed my max potential

This has nothing to do with max potential lmao, anyone who takes HGH when still developing will shoot up in height. If you have any future sons down the line they are probably going to be wondering why they're like 5'8" instead of 6'3" like dad

edit: Crazy how this post got so downvoted but my next post which just re-iterated it is very upvoted. Plus there's nothing incorrect about this post. Who would actually want to be significantly shorter than their dad lmao

will get em on the juice as well

That sounds painful as fuck, how were the growing pains?

no growing pains surprisingly but developed lots of stretch marks

I did a similar thing when I was young!

I took growth hormone shots from the age of 12-15 years. I was in the 2nd percentile when I started (4 ft 6 in). "Short Stature Disorder" is what they called it in my health records. Now I'm 5 ft 3 in which is within normal range I think. (USA)

How did your friends react to you taking them everyday? On sleepovers and overnight school trips my friends were always fascinated or freaked out by the needles.

till this day ive only ever told 2 of my closest friends about it, i explained that it only fills in what im missing so hopefully they understood

So when do you stop taking this or do you just alter your dosage as you age to account for natural decline? What is the worst possible long term side effect of this that you were informed of?

if im aware all people on this program go till their growth plates have fused usually around 18 however there was a thingo passed a few years ago for people with gh deficiency to go back on after 18 for the extra benefits not just growth that growth hormone has, more energy etc, currently on a break but plan to get back on. Worst long term side effect i was informed of was higher chance of diabetes, thanks

DO you have a modified diet to reduce your chances of becoming diabetic?

i try to limit sugar from my diet where i can, still had candy and whatnot every so often as a child most i would do would would be something like choosing coke zero over classic, never had a issue with diabetes

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typo edited mb

Hi! I hope you are doing well.

My 8yr old son has been on somatropin now for a year and a half now for a known etiology. I think those needles look very similar to those my son uses, I think they're 32G. Do you remember if they felt painful to you in the beginning? My son requests lidocaine ointment every time and does cry when it's forgotten. Downright refuses the injection without it. Did you get used to it after a while or how did it work out? At what age did you start doing the injections yourself? In the beginning did the injection sites hurt after the injections for a while or not? What's the best way to make the injections less painful for a kid?

Just to let you know, I think the use of the medication has got my son stronger physically as well as we've seen positive growth.

Any side effects mentally or physically that you remember? Thanks! And have a nice day!

uses the injection without it. Did you get used to it after a while or how did it work out? At what age did you start doing the injections yourself? In the beginning did the injection sites hurt after the injections for a while or not? What's the best way to make the injections less painful for a

took me about a year to get used to, my parents did it for me till i was about 15, unfortunately every so often an injection is painful at about 5/10 pain but i definitely got used to it after a while, ive learnt a few things to make the injection easier, for injecting around the abdomen aim for further away from bellybutton but not into obliques, also dont count down, my parents once lied and told me they purchased a different brand of needles that were only slightly painful and i believed it and it worked. very rarely did injection sites become painful if it ever did it was only a small radius about 1cm around felt like a bruise but it does happen. no major side effects the biggest risk is diabetes but yeah hope this helps i wish the best for him :]

Really? I take HGH I use these. I use 1ml of bacteriostatic water, and 3UI daily. These are painless.

what injection sites are your go to? 3IU daily seems a lot, do you spread it out in 2 shots or just 1

I had growth hormone deficiency too! Diagnosed when I was 6 years old (currently 33) and started taking growth hormone shots. My doctor said I’d be lucky to reach 5’2” and I’m 5’7”!! My doctor had me stop when I was 16, may I ask the reason you’re still on it?

I had some issues develop after I stopped and wondered if they were related at all. I did go see an endocrinologist but they said my levels were good to maintain

ed when I was 6 years old (currently 33) and started taking growth hormone shots. My doct

they recently passed a law or something that allows people to continue even after their growth plates close for the fact that there can be still issues unrelating to major height loss like low energy, i plan to go back on to mostly aid when i start to cut bodyfat at the gym and overall improve performance. What type of issues do/did you have if u dont mind ive been off for about 3 months now and so far so good

Did you look like the typical dwarf? Big head but short limbs?

Big head yes but limbs were normal proportional size just small in general

4'10 seems abnormally tall for a 7yo. Maybe a typo?

typo edited mb

Did you go through puberty early or late compared to your peers since you started taking HGH around 7 years old?

i would say i was lucky my parents caught it relatively early at 7 so my signs of puberty came at a normal time compared to peers however something to note after i started treatment height results were pretty much instant iirc and puberty signs came through afterwards, thanks

did they make your peen bigger?

not sure if it was the juice or puberty either way am happy with the dude down stairs

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pic of me in 2016 about 3 years into taking hgh https://imgur.com/oy3MbsM
recent pic of me next to sister same girl in first photo the shortest one https://imgur.com/yHeYjow

about the 4'10 sorry that was a typo ive edited it since, but i was at least 10 cm shorter than the shortest in my class at 6 and didnt get better at 7 so thats what caused suspicion hope this clears shadyness thanks

Do you experience constant growth or does it come in spurts? Will you continue growing as long as you’re receiving HGH?

the growth was pretty constant from ages 7-16 slowed down since then, once my bones fuse i cant grow anymore with/ without hgh however they passed a law few years ago where im from that allows people w growth hormone deficiency to continue on with growth hormone treatment at a lower dose after their bones have fused for health benefits other than growth, i plan to continue as i find i get benefits during workouts, thank you

My at that time 5 year old son was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency in 1992. Growth hormone deficiency is often linked to a severe blow to the head for a baby. My son fell off the bed head-first when he was 6 months old. It was bad enough to cause a skull fracture. For those who don't believe this, my son was crawling everywhere by 6 months and started walking at 9 months. He took protropin for 11 years stopping when he was 15 and had reached 5' 9". The doctor determined that his bones had fused and further growth was unlikely and/or more likely to cause problems. He lives a very normal life with a wife and baby of his own today.

I'm curious about one thing. Protropin was extremely expensive at the time typically running about $1000 per month. I was fortunate to have insurance that covered the cost other than shipping. Is it still that expensive and if so, how were you able to afford treatment?

He’s Aussie. We don’t have to worry about vast the majority of medical costs.

god bless australia baby

So can anyone just be put on growth hormone and be 6'2"? Idk why you're still taking growth hormone if you're already in like the 97th percentile for height.

Probably because some males aren’t full grown until 18+. It’s more about the fusing of the growth plates.

So would it be bad if he stopped taking it before the growth plates fused?

yeah would be bad after growth plates close theres very little you can do about height development

Idk why you're still taking growth hormone if you're already in like the 97th percentile for height.

as a result of being born with growth hormone deficiency it isnt just a slowed height growth, there are other negatives such as lower energy and cardiovascular risks which is why people born with the deficiency can go on even after growth plates have closed

I had the same issue! Stopped growing at 4'9", diagnosed at 10yo, started hgh injections at 12yo. Once my blood levels were up (~3 months), I grew about one inch per month for six months, then my growth slowed down to about 1/2 inch per month. I discontinued HGH when I reached 5'10", around 16yo. Ironically, I came out as trans a few years later, and immediately regretted gaining so much height!

What was your growth rate like once you reached the full potency? Because I started HGH when I was already very close to puberty, there was a lot of uncertainty about whether it was better to wait and see what happens (maybe puberty would kick my pituitary system into gear, or maybe I wouldn't grow and then I wouldn't have enough time for maximum effectiveness before my growth plates fused). I'm curious how you were effected, starting from a much younger age!

Also, in case you're interested in comparable experiences, some additional info about my case:

My injections were largely self-administered, using a diabetic-type needle injector (I don't remember the proper name for those). Around the time I was first diagnosed, I received an MRI (for an unrelated issue: scoliosis). The scan revealed that my pituitary gland was malformed. When I started hgh, endocrinologist explained that I was in the 0th percentile for height/growth rate (smaller than 99% of the population, given age and genetics and such). I also had virtually zero HGH in my blood stream. I also grew so fast in response to the injections that my growth rate changed to be in the 99th percentile.

As a side note, the rapid growth combined with physical treatment of my scoliosis meant that I went from having severe curvature that surgery was recommended for, to having mild curvature that was treatable via PT!

What was your growth rate like once you reached the full potency?

at full potency i was growing at about an inch a month my response to the injections just blew up from the get go only slowing down at around 16, i vividly remember being like 10 and seeing a average percentile height graph and seeing my line go completely over the average and being like what is going on. I would say it definitely better for someone diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency to start as soon as possible to spread out the growth time so that injuries surrounding crazy growth periods are minimized also so that you maximize your bodies growing time before growth plates are closed in my case i would like to anyway, thanks!

My son (10) is on about the 3rd year of GHD (started at about 7 and half). At 7, he was 3'6. At age 8, he is the same height as my youngest son at age 5. But he has grown over a foot over the last two and half years or so. He is about 10 and half now and at about 4'8 ish.

He's still short for his age, but within reason, last time we did a bone age scan, he had the bone age of a 6.5 year old. We were doing the daily injections, but just switched to the weekly ones (not overly happy with it).

Really don't have much to say, but good to hear that her got up to past 6' with the parents being shorter. He was adopted, so we don't know anything about the birth dad, but he his birth mom was short.

He has always had a bit of a stocky build, I have noted that he's gained a ton of weight in the last 2.5 years, and he is not nearly as fast as he was before hand (relative to his peers)

Do you remember having trouble with your body adjusting at the early years? We are not sure if he just gained too much weight too fast or if that is just his body type.

i was skinny prior to getting on hgh but got chubby fast after getting the news and starting injections, wouldnt be unusual for me to get upto 4k calories a day to maximise my growing time and it sounds like your son is probably an endomorph body type like me. During prime puberty i lost a lot of the fat thanks to limiting food and playing sports in combination with taking hgh (learnt that it also acts as a powerful fat burner) unless the weight becomes too concerning i wouldnt be too strict with his diet as he is probably about to enter prime growing time, i dont regret eating a lot anyway but be sure to prioritise protein then carbs and limit fat if needed, hope his journey goes well!

also try to get on daily injections i personally just dont think weekly is enough

I research GHD! What's it like having to take injections every day? Did you have any expectations over how much you'd grow with or without the treatment, and did that help you keep up with the injections?

for the first year i really hated the needles but i have to thank my parents for always being on track of making sure i was doing it with their supervision ofc, when i was young i didnt really care about how tall i was and just accepted that i was gonna be short but every checkup seeing me improve on the average height graphs my mum was very happy and that made me happy so i continued. When i got into the gym i saw it as a booster so it was good, ive been off hgh for about 3 months now because my recent xray showed my bones have fused but i plan to get back on, thanks

My 14 year old will be on hgh soon. He had a Rathke’s cyst that killed most of his pituitary function. Two surgeries later and he’s only 4’7 and entering high school. MRI on Saturday to make sure he’s in the clear and we should be starting. Any tips for us As we start this journey?

good to hear hes still relatively young so there’s plenty of time to grow, you wanna maximise this time though so don’t be scared for him to put on weight as it can be lost later but once his growth plates close that’s that, when I was his age I was getting up to 4K calories a day in and I really believe that helped loads for my body development, keep up to track of his injections make sure he’s not skipping any days I’m very grateful my father would always prepare the needles to ensure there was no way I would skip also limit sugar where possible diabetes is always a risk and yeah I wish him the best!

In your opinion, Do you gain muscle or strength at a faster rate then normal people when strength/hypertrophy training?

for muscular hypertrophy? no, on higher doeses it does help retain water which makes you appear bigger but mostly cosmetic, i went off all hgh have been for 3 months and lifts have been going up so i think training is more important, it does help for fat loss if used with correct timing, for me I would do up to 2iu 40 minutes before a cardio/weights session and found that i was able to drop up to 5 kg a month while still gaining muscle mass

I knew a family (friends of my parents) who had a boy who was on the shorter side for his age. In middle school (6th grade maybe/12 years old-ish) he started playing basketball. The boy was good at the sport, but by the end of his 7th grade year, he felt like he could not be competitive due to his short stature.

His parents got him some sort of HGH prescription, and by the time he was a sophomore he was taller than the average kid on his basketball team. I think I remember he got some sort of scholarship to play basketball in college as well.

I am 5'7" ... and as a man that is not ideal. I was always envious that people had this growth option.

What the expected negative side effects are to this type of hormonal boosting? - I saw you stated a higher risk for diabetes. - that seems a minor risk, why isn't this a more common treatment for short children?

the side effects are very minimal, its not really hormonal boosting just giving back what is missing, however abusing hgh past what you need then you get complications such as cadiovascular risks, heart diseases, abnormal facial bone growth. A reason i can think of that this treatment im on isnt prescribed for below average height children could be that its simply just not that commonly tested for, its expected for a child to be short but its up to the parents to follow up on that suspicion i think one of the only ways to know you have the deficiency is to do an mri scan and notice any damages to the pituitary gland, also that for a child who has regular growth hormone levels, firstly they wouldnt be able to get the substance unless sources illegally at a might higher price, and taking more wouldnt do all too much and would just amplify risks associated

Do you ever load up a dose, yell with arms in the air "I have the power", stab yourself, then go about your day?

Props if in public.

i convinced my friend i was captain america and show him my shit when he came over for sleepovers felt awesome wouldnt recommend tho

So it's pretty dope to have this disorder because you're 6'2 now yeah?

now that im 6'2 all i can do is look back and be grateful that it worked out, though younger me couldve really used this back then so im writing this stuff now so that maybe someone can be inspired from how it worked out for me

If you're 18 how long will you be taking hormones for still? Are there any side effects or risks to the treatments?

although my peak years of body development are over I still have the deficiency so without the meds I have less energy to do things but I believe the adult treatments go till around 23 ish by then my natural levels will be low enough for me to function at my best

I’m only replacing what I’m missing so not many risks the major one tho is a higher chance of diabetes, only when u abuse it and use doses higher than prescribed that’s where the risks are gonna be prevalent

How life changing would it be for daily injections to become once-weekly?

when trying to lose fat i would take it 40 mins prior to working out for the effects so i couldnt do it once weekly i dont really see a benefit besides not having to stab yourself 6/7 days i also get better sleep when taking it before sleep, thanks

How did your parents find out that you needed a growth hormone? Has it affected you in anyway? Can you have kids if you wanted them in the future?

when i was 6 i was at least 10 cm shorter than the shortest kid in my school and i didnt improve much going into the next year that when suspicion came on, i never struggled physically or mentally even when i was short i just accepted that's how things were gonna be, child mentality lol. There is a low chance around 3% i could pass on the deficiency to my future kid but i suffer from another disease called awkwardness that is a much higher risk to my ability to produce a child

What was your relationship with athletic competitions? It seems like you might be going to the gym for health reasons but was there a sport you wanted to get into that you figured would be problematic? Like no son rugby or Tennis is off the table, get into software engineering or stage productions?

funny you mention, growing up i played competitive tennis and did very well at that sport while taking injections, only ever saw my condition as problematic when i first started getting into the gym i thought i would have a hard time building muscle but im 8 months in and progress has been good and ive been off hgh for 3 months now because ive turned 18 but plan to get back on it for other benefits other than development. Also I experimented a bit during my first few months taking hgh before going to the gym at slightly higher dose as i learnt that HGH helps burn fat, thanks

What do you think your life expectancy is after all those injections?

im very glad you asked this, as a child this is a question that terrified me but i was really happy to find out that i will have a ordinary life expectancy, also hgh treatment has shown to have deaging properties if responsible

Are you good at football?

no but thats not because of the deficiency i just suck

I took those as a teenager as well. Probably for around 4 years. I still remember the way the pen before this one looked; it was blue and not as curvy.

I never worked out but was always shredded as if I did. I could eat anything and not worry about weight gain. It was awesome. I think the Humatrope was responsible for it.

Have you seen the same results?

Then around the time I was 18, my metabolism slowed and those eating-poorly and not-working-out habits bit me in the ass as I then became fat and weak lol

yeah the eating was mental was probably getting down up to 4k calories a day at like 12 while playing tennis and it was like the food didnt exist but yeah eventually stopped tennis and it was too much but didnt wanna risk losing height gains so got fat as lmfao, im 18 now and my growth plates have closed but where im from youre allowed to go back on it after 18 for other benefits and i plan to go back on mainly to help get shredded as hell when i start my cut

My nephew was just prescribed for hgh last week! He’s 9 and he’s MUCH smaller than his peers. They tried all the supplements in the world but he was not growing at all. Finally got an MRI a few weeks ago and I guess they felt it was necessary once they got the results. I’m glad to hear it works though. I love him to pieces and the thought of him being so small for the rest of his adolescence compared to his classmates terrified me. Kids are not exactly kind to those who standout.

Did you have any complications with your birth? Specifically I remember that my nephew was born a bit prematurely.

i was born with jaundice but i think that was just a coincidence that had no effect on my growth hormone deficiency, hope all goes well with the little mans journey

Probably a basic question, but how easy/difficult was it to get diagnosed for GHD? And do the doctors just draw blood and test it and that's pretty much it?

My nephew is 4 but has been pretty much the same height since he was 2. And his brother is 1 and almost as big as him now lol.

they noticed my deficiency when i was taken in for a mri scan and noticed damage to my pituitary gland what produced natural hgh they did blood work and it matched up and thats about it to get a perscription

How much does the Norditropin shortage suck?

humatrope better

What music do you like?

as a result of being diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency a side effect ive noticed is ive become a big fan of ice spice

How does hgh work with insurance coverage in Australia? In the US, there are pretty strict requirements to get it covered.

nce coverage in Australia? In the US, there are pretty strict requirements to get it covered.

its pretty easy as long as you have a diagnosis australia is great in that we get most medical costs covered

Hi OP, I am a 20YO man who was diagnosed with GHD at 16 and took a combination of Humatrope and Norditropin (insurance bs made me switch meds) until I was 18.

My perspective on different medications is uncommon. To my understanding, most patients will use one system for the duration of their treatment— but— I hope you share the same flaming hatred I hold for Humatrope's barbaric, outdated system.

The medicine is fantastic, it's results undeniable. I will always be grateful for the opportunity I had to take it, but Humatrope is just so needlessly complicated, delicate, and over-priced compared to Norditropin 😭

I could rattle off a whole list of differences, but I this comment is already long enough.

What are your thoughts on Humatrope's injection system?

where are you from? here in australia at least in the past 10 years or so its been very easy and affordable to get scripts as its covered by insurance, for me at least i would go get a checkup every 3 months or so track height, puberty, health risks yk the drill then get scripts at least till my growth plates fuse but i can choose to continue as i am still deficient, what problems do you have with the system?

Do you think this will hurt your chances at getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

wouldnt necessarily say so, my odds as we are speaking are 0% so odds cannot be hurt, fun fact messi has the same thing i have and hes the goat

Did you ever get headaches?

not unusually regularly but my bad diet probably would have been a bigger contributor

Hey i have 2 questions. Do black people and lgbtq people deserve human rights?

And what drug belongs best in your body?

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