Short Term Testosterone for Delayed Puberty? Good or Bad?

If it were my son I would not. My son was VERY short until this past year. He is 16 now and grew at least 6 inches this past year. When he was little the dr didn't expect him to get over 5'4". He is over 5'5" now and I know he's not done growing. I would let nature take it course. But that's just my opinion.

Add: In your last post you said he is 5'4". That is not really small for a 15 year old. I absolutely would not do it!!!

I'm a bit confused by the delayed puberty comment. I don't know what Tanner stage so can't comment on that. Puberty to me - means hair under armpits, voice change, pimples, etc. That's how I knew for my boys - and that was early, before 15 (I think you said in an earlier question).

One of my kids is short in comparison to siblings and also cousins, and also friends. He's the shortest on his teams. He may be done growing. We have one relative who was shorter than most - but everyone else is tall. He may just take after him, or he may have a growth spurt coming. No one here is concerned about it - including our kid.

I am not very tall myself, and I have a BIL who is my height and I have a very good friend whose husband is my height so men can be short. It happens. Your son will fill out. These men, hit puberty. I don't know if testosterone shots will make your son grow.

My BIL - everyone else in his family is taller than him. All his sisters, are taller than him. He just happens to be shorter.

I have a very thin son, who is like a bean stalk. He eats non stop but you would never know it. They come in all sizes and shapes as teens. At 15, on our teams, the kids grow at huge different rates. Over the summer, some kids shot up and I barely recognized them. One of my good friends at high school had a huge growth spurt in 12th grade.

I don't know why you are as concerned as you are. One of my son's good friends (the thin tall one) is very small and looks really young. He gets some teasing - but trust me, they all get teased for something. The really tall ones, get teased too. The ones with bad skin get teased. The ones with funny hair, get teased. They are all getting teased at this stage.

I would wait - as his doctor said. I really would let it go for now. I don't have experience - other than having sons who come in different shapes and sizes and all their friends are the same. You would think some are men (some have full beards!) and some still look like little boys. It's all ok. They catch up :)

ETA: I do apologize because I know you're looking for people with experience with the injections and I answered without having that so just skip over my answer if it's not helpful. I just wanted to say that if your teen is concerned, he needn't be necessarily. If his doctor isn't - I'd wait (is all I'm saying). I personally think if you jump the gun (before the doctor is concerned) you might hurt his self esteem (make him think something is the matter with him). I know it would my boys.

So typical. It's like no one can wait for one single thing to happen naturally anymore. Instant gratification is all anyone cares about. "I want it and I want it now."

Don't fool with Mother Nature - she doesn't take kindly to that. I can see if the risk reward was a health benefit, but you are concerned about a perceived "delay" that has nothing to do with this actual health.

Teach your child to be strong and body confident - it isn't just for girls, you know.

Oh, I don't know how tall your child is, but my kids range in height from 5"1 (boy) to 5"10 (girl) - all adults and done growing. No one, including my just over 5 foot boy has EVER mentioned this being an issue.

ETA: I note in your previous post, another mom stated "you can't force your kid to grow faster." Sadly, I guess you are trying to, anyways . . .

Why? My son was a late bloomer, hardly grew at all from 6th to 10th grade, and he wasn't the only one. If it's affecting his relationships with peers then he's hanging around with the wrong kind of kids. THAT should be your focus, not pumping him up with hormone treatments :-(

Some kids are tall and some are short.
Good things come in all sizes.
My best friends mom was 4ft 11in - and the mom had 7 kids who were all taller than she was.
Unless he's been diagnosed with Kallmann syndrome (totally absent puberty) - I would not do the shots.
Read up on the possible side effects.
Don't worry so much about peers - psycho social issues? Really?
He's active, plays sports (I'm sure he's plenty popular), eats well - gets his nutrition and calories.
I suspect it bothers you a lot more than it's bothering him.
The doctor said you should wait a year for his growth spurt (you said in your other post) - so wait.

This does not sound like a good idea. In your last post, the way you describe your son is that he is healthy, eats well, and is active. The doctor says he will hit his growth spurt in a year. His height is not cause for alarm. You would be doing this for your own vanity it seems. Is the problem with his esteem compounded by you being overly distressed about this? How much does your impatience and non-acceptance contribute to his stress? Kids do pick up on our vibes! At this age, there are mountains of boys who are 5'4" and are definitely not out of the norm. Leave well enough alone and be more focused on how to help him find ways to manage his interactions with his peers.

I would not do it. It validates in his mind that something is wrong with him when nothing is wrong. He is just fine exactly the way he is! Also, there is no guarantee it would even do anything. My stepsister is all concerned her son is short and is having him go through injections and it is not doing anything. My nephew is waaaay too concerned about it. He's fine. There are plenty of boys who are short and have a growth spurt later. My son's best friend is very short and my son is very tall...it just is what it is. My cousin was always the shortest boy in the class (and quite chubby) and then his junior year in high school he grew so much I did not recognize him when I saw him...he is over 6 feet and has stretch marks on his back from that giant growth spurt. I personally would not worry about it. It is perfectly fine to be short anyway...that is a stupid shallow societal thing. My other BIL is a short guy but he is completely confident and successful and one of the kindest most laid back people...I don't even notice his height honestly. Both of his sons are short (middle school and high school) and as a family they see nothing wrong with this...both these boys are very confident kids.

still obsessing over your son's height?

poor fellow.

i'm betting the psycho-social issues he's developing are far more on account of his mother wanting to pump him full of hormones than anything he's getting from peers.

i wish you'd see someone about this. you're worrying me.
khairete
S.

no long term research has been done on short or long term testosterone shots.yeah the doctor is willing to try the shots but he would be flying blind..and if something goes wrong.. like the child develops cancer or becomes aggressive or suicidal...the doctor isn't going to say well maybe it was the shots...have the childs pituitary gland check out by a specialist instead..

When my daughter was born she was born with multiple issues to include hearing impairment and Esotropia among other things which she had to have two eye surgeries. When she entered the school system she was diagnosed as being " developmentally delayed" and had to have IEP's (Individualized Education Program) all throughout elementary middle and high school. She was also always the shortest person in her class (very short). She was teased about it mercilessly and even called a "midget" and when she cried and told her teacher about it, her teacher said to her "you are a midget" which only escalated the problem. I say all that to say, she was seen by a multitude of specialist to include a neurologist that suggested she take hormone injections at the age of eight, which she took for two years. Besides from being very painful, it had some adverse effects and I didn't see any real benefit of the injections so I stopped the treatments. She too had bone age test which indicated she was almost 4 years behind in bone growth. She is now 24 and is still very short and still suffers from some issues which now include mental ones. It was 2012 when she first started to display mental issues and had a full fledged breakdown in 2014 and another one in 2016. After she had the breakdown in 2016 I plunged into research and I found that my daughter had been misdiagnosed all these years. What my daughter should have been being treated for is Asperger’s Syndrome which symptoms are as follows:

Intellectual or Artistic Interest
Speech Problems
Delayed Motor Development
Poor Social Skills
The Development of Harmful Psychological Problems

I would not recommend the hormone shots. I believe they did more harm than good to my daughter.