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Precocious Puberty in 8 and a half year old


Chillipeppers

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Chillipeppers

Just came back from the paediatrician and my daughter who is only 123cm is in between stages 2 and 3 of puberty. He has referred us to an endocrinologist and has stated we need to be urgently seen as she only has 6 months to stop puberty to allow her to grow more.


I feel like I have failed her. It took 6 months to see him, if I had gone elsewhere maybe we could have started the process earlier.


She is only 8 and a half and within 6 months will get her period if we are not seen early. How do I speed up this process? When I call to book the appointment what do I say?

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acidulous osprey

The paed should have written a referral stressing the urgency of her being seen. Are you looking at public or private? Sometimes an urgent public referral will be triaged and sometimes they don't have the capacity to do that. Going privately will mean she is seen quickly.


If you're in Brisbane I can suggest a couple of endos. Ring the practice and tell the receptionist that you need an urgent appointment and why you need it. Go on their cancellation list.

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Chillipeppers

I’m in Sydney. The Paed is waiting on blood work to be sent to him before he writes the referral. He wants us to go to westmead hospital which is public.

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acidulous osprey

Westmead would have all the services. Sometimes you can figure out who the doctors are at a public hospital and if the wait time is too long then see them privately.


Good luck with it all, it does sound like the paed is on it and will make sure you are seen in time.

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You should be okay to get in quickly with an urgent referral. If you can, get the name of the clinic you’re being referred to, and then call outpatients/specialist clinics at the hospital and check that the referral has been received, and that it’s been triaged as urgent.

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Fruitmincepies

You can also stress to the receptionist that you will jump at a cancellation appointment, even if they ring you the morning of (depending on how far away the specialist is).


I went to see a specialist who was known to have a 6 month waiting list. He got my referral and decided I couldn’t wait, and called me before I had even bothered to call to make an appointment, and saw me within a week.

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acidulous osprey

We were once seen the next day by a specialist who had an 18 month waiting list. Oh and another time our dev paed saw us on Easter Monday and got us into a neuro the next day.

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I would be inclined to ring again and again until you get her in. Find out who the doctors are, go to their private clinics as well. One of my kids had to see a lung specialist and have various tests done via the public hospital and I spent a lot of time on the phone making sure her paperwork didn’t get lost.


Also every time the receptionist had to ask the doc what to do when he was booked out he came back and said squeeze her in. Once when he wanted to see her in March- April - before autumn properly set in, the hospital said June, I asked them to check with him, he said April, they booked her in for the end of May.... so I went to his private clinic, did the same circuit and came out with an appointment in late April and it was worth every cent. He really did need to see her then, we were just starting the same cycle of illness as the previous year and he caught it just in time.

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Kiwi Bicycle

Oh and the other way to get a quick appointment is to have the doctir call the other doctor when you are there.

We managed to get an appointment this way when DS had serious hernias. Paed rang surgeon, got us an appointment in 3 days time and surgery happened a week later.

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VeritasVinumArte

[mention]Chillipeppers[/mention] has your daughter had an x ray for growth plates? When we saw an Endocrinologist for DS1 that was one of the things looked at too.


Unfortunately DS1 has my genes of early puberty plus my lack of height. In retrospect he had growth pain issues at the beginning of grade 4 which boys don’t normally get until grade 9. His voice broke at 11yrs, had severe acne requiring roaccutaine at just turned 12 (actually the Dermatologist thought his DOB was wrong for such a young boy to have such severe acne). At 12 his growth plates were already basically finished. He has since grown a total of 2cm in 3 years. He is 161cm at 15.5yrs. Endocrinologist was very nice and said even if I had brought him at 9yrs they wouldn’t have given anything to stop puberty..... DS1 was just an extreme case of normal early puberty.


On the other hand DS2s puberty has pretty much tracked about 6m behind that of his brother’s (early too) BUT the big difference is for him the growth plates are only slightly advanced, so he still has much more growing to do.


Wishing you the best for your Daughter. I am 150cm :ninja:

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Chillipeppers

@Chillipeppers has your daughter had an x ray for growth plates? When we saw an Endocrinologist for DS1 that was one of the things looked at too.


Unfortunately DS1 has my genes of early puberty plus my lack of height. In retrospect he had growth pain issues at the beginning of grade 4 which boys don’t normally get until grade 9. His voice broke at 11yrs, had severe acne requiring roaccutaine at just turned 12 (actually the Dermatologist thought his DOB was wrong for such a young boy to have such severe acne). At 12 his growth plates were already basically finished. He has since grown a total of 2cm in 3 years. He is 161cm at 15.5yrs. Endocrinologist was very nice and said even if I had brought him at 9yrs they wouldn’t have given anything to stop puberty..... DS1 was just an extreme case of normal early puberty.


On the other hand DS2s puberty has pretty much tracked about 6m behind that of his brother’s (early too) BUT the big difference is for him the growth plates are only slightly advanced, so he still has much more growing to do.


Wishing you the best for your Daughter. I am 150cm :ninja:

 

She had the X-ray today as well as a complete bloodwork. We are waiting for results to be sent back to the paediatrician. He should get everything by Friday. He said he will call me on Monday morning with details on how to proceed, including giving me an urgent referral I am 160cm so not tall myself but I’ll be happy if she reaches 150cm. At the moment she is tracking to only reach 130cm (looking at growth charts and her recent growth spurt).

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VeritasVinumArte

Eldest was chugging along at 5th percentile since birth... then surged to 75% (with puberty growth spurt) and is back down at 10th percentile and going backwards. He grew from 130cm to 158cm at the height of his growing spurt (2yrs). Ironically he has stretch marks on his back because he grew so quickly...... but he is still 10cm smaller than his brother 2yrs younger (who is still growing)

Edited by VeritasVinumArte
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I agree about ringing very frequently to ask about cancellations, esp if it's private. People tend to cancel early in the morning. If you call a minute after one of those calls, you'll save them (possibly fruitlessly) ringing around to see if they can fill the spot.


Sounds like the paediatrician is on the ball. I hope Monday comes as quickly as it can for you.

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VeritasVinumArte

[mention]Chillipeppers[/mention] hopefully Monday will have good news. As I said although early puberty for both boys, only one has had limited growth, but he will still end up the 3-5% which he was originally under 5yrs.

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I got breasts at 10 and my period at 11 and definitely got taller during my teens. I mean I know that's only anecdata but she won't necessarily stop growing when she gets her period!

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I got breasts at 10 and my period at 11 and definitely got taller during my teens. I mean I know that's only anecdata but she won't necessarily stop growing when she gets her period!

 

How much taller? She's 4ft, and the growth that happens after puberty tends to be lower. My daughter grew after puberty, too, but only a couple of inches.


Getting breast buds at ten is typical, eight isn't.

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Chillipeppers

Thanks everyone. I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I hope we have caught it on time and her growth isn’t limited

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I got breasts at 10 and my period at 11 and definitely got taller during my teens. I mean I know that's only anecdata but she won't necessarily stop growing when she gets her period!

 

How much taller? She's 4ft, and the growth that happens after puberty tends to be lower. My daughter grew after puberty, too, but only a couple of inches.


Getting breast buds at ten is typical, eight isn't.

 

I'm 160 cm now; so not tall.

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VeritasVinumArte

I had breast buds in grade 3 and grew to being a DD cup by the end of grade 6 (when my mum finally took me for a bra fitting). I was 143cm then. I was 145cm when I got my period Term 1 of grade 7 and stopped growing soon after at 148cm. I had a final growth spurt at 18yrs after the HSC (horrid growing pains) to get me to 150cm.


See what the results come back and see the specialist. As I said the Endocrinologist said he would have done nothing for Ds1 as he didn’t believe it would change the outcome.


Just wondering what was your DD growth percentiles like on average under 5yrs of age? At 150cm I am 2% as an adult.

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Chillipeppers

[mention]VeritasVinumArte[/mention] she was following the last line on the curve until 2 months ago when she jumped two lines. Sorry I don’t have the book on me to check percentiles.

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Thanks everyone. I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I hope we have caught it on time and her growth isn’t limited

 

It’s a lot to deal with. You’re doing everything you can. It sounds to me like the paed knows what he’s doing and will get you to the front of the line. Ime, Westmead clinics are quite good at prioritizing appointments when they need to. May just need to be flexible with appointment time.

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I got breasts at 10 and my period at 11 and definitely got taller during my teens. I mean I know that's only anecdata but she won't necessarily stop growing when she gets her period!

 

How much taller? She's 4ft, and the growth that happens after puberty tends to be lower. My daughter grew after puberty, too, but only a couple of inches.


Getting breast buds at ten is typical, eight isn't.

 

I'm 160 cm now; so not tall.

 

You're typical though, just like me (or was, suspect I'm shrinking). It's not about being at the shorter end of the scale, it's about ending up being just over 4ft, as opposed to being just over 5ft. Worlds apart. As someone I know of about that height said, it's not the height that's the problem, it's that the world is not made for adults that height.

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VeritasVinumArte

My 150cm is not great, but I do agree much better than 130-140cm. I will admit to purchasing kids shoes and clothes from time to time as they can fit better and cost less..

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My daughter has grown about another 5cm in the two years since she got her period, versus about 25cm in the two years before. VeritasVinumArte you are right about the percentiles, DD was always on or just above the 75th % and at 14.5 she has finished growing (I think) smack bang on the 75th.


OP you are doing everything you can and I hope the scan results bring some optimistic news. Don’t be afraid to be the squeaky wheel but it really sounds like your dr is on the case.

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