Late puberty in boy...anyone's child go through this?

[barkley]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This boy already struggles with anxiety and ADHD. He is very emotional without medication. He takes a low dose antidepressant already and we are going to start him on a new ADHD med in January. I don't particularly want to do hormone therapy, because I am generally opposed to those types of interventions for things that would otherwise naturally occur eventually. What I am concerned about is his excessively slow growth rate over the past 3 years in addition to the lack of puberty. I worry about things like pituitary tumors or some underlying health issue being the cause.

He has always been a short child. He was always between the 10th and 25th percentiles (trending down over the years), and now he is barely even on the chart at the 1% mark. He has grown less than an inch per year since he turned 11. That concerns me. He is a very high functioning autistic with no real sensory or cognitive issues so I'm not worried about how he will handle the physical changes. He has always been a very mild mannered child and I don't forsee any major changes with puberty in terms of aggression or anything like that. It's just not in his nature. He's very much a pacifist.

As for my younger son, he is SUPER smell sensitive and is over sensitive to pain, but he has been using deodorant for a few years and is fine with several brands. He is similarly non picky aboyt body wash and shampoo. His hygiene habits are excellent. He will be given an electric shaver when he is ready because he is very scared to cut himself with a razor. The acne has been his biggest issue because it hurts and he scratches at it and makes it bleed which then makes him freak out. Fun times! He has only had like 3 pimples so far, so I hope it doesn't get much worse for him. The other son has the most flawless complexion I've ever seen. I'm super jealous of him. Ha ha!

mind has adhd as well and took adhd meds until about sophomore year in high school when his adhd really seemed to take a turn for the better (i think getting a teacher that figured out the ideal teaching method for him helped immensely and that was also when he started in a teen asd support group so he learned some coping techniques that made a big positive impact BUT like i said, he was on adhd meds too-and he didn't really move into puberty until he was off/eating more (those meds killed his appetite so he ate little/burned it off quick). with the acne (big problem for our ds)-we got him clearasil pads (pretreated in a jar) that he uses nightly as well as when he sees a breakout. it seems to help but he's just one of those kids prone to it.

 

[BLAZEY]

My DH was the same. His younger brother by 3 years was taller and stronger, more mature physically than him by age 12 when DH was 15 and I met them. I seriously thought DBIL was the older brother. When DH and I started dating a few years later DH had caught up both now stand 5'10".

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I once found a souvenir baseball card that my husband got when he was younger. Judging by the photo and his stats listed as 4'8", 75 lbs., I thought he was about 7 or 8 years old. Nope - he was 13! I was VERY surprised when he told me that. He said that when he graduated from high school, he was only about 5 feet tall and barely 100 lbs. Never shaved, either; he didn't have to. It wasn't until college that he finally grew; now at age 44, he is 5'9", wears size medium-to-large, and has a mustache and beard. He was just a late bloomer, that's all.

 

[Jaime4004]

I've been following along because I also have a late bloomer. My 13 1/2 yr old is the same size as my 10 year old. We did see endocrine and lots of money in labwork later, all is good. She predicted he'll be about 5'9 or 5'10" eventually, it just won't happen for a bit. It's nice to see all the stories of boys who eventually catch up.

 

[DLgal]

mind has adhd as well and took adhd meds until about sophomore year in high school when his adhd really seemed to take a turn for the better (i think getting a teacher that figured out the ideal teaching method for him helped immensely and that was also when he started in a teen asd support group so he learned some coping techniques that made a big positive impact BUT like i said, he was on adhd meds too-and he didn't really move into puberty until he was off/eating more (those meds killed his appetite so he ate little/burned it off quick). with the acne (big problem for our ds)-we got him clearasil pads (pretreated in a jar) that he uses nightly as well as when he sees a breakout. it seems to help but he's just one of those kids prone to it.

Yeah, mine has been on and off Adderrall a couple times, but it caused him to pick at his skin to the point of getting infectious open sores, so we had to stop it. It did help him focus at school, which is still a problem (new school this year, but he is in specialized programming and is still very distractable), so his doctor suggested trying Concerta. He wants nothing to do with any type of group activities but he sees a therapist weekly who specializes in teens with autism/ADHD.

 

[amcnj]

I had several friends who in high school were 6-12 inches shorter than me, but a few years later were now around my height.

It sounds like your current doctor will be re-evaluating the situation in another six months, but there is no harm in getting a second opinion in the meantime if you are apprehensive about waiting another half year.

 

[Skippy918]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This boy already struggles with anxiety and ADHD. He is very emotional without medication. He takes a low dose antidepressant already and we are going to start him on a new ADHD med in January. I don't particularly want to do hormone therapy, because I am generally opposed to those types of interventions for things that would otherwise naturally occur eventually. What I am concerned about is his excessively slow growth rate over the past 3 years in addition to the lack of puberty. I worry about things like pituitary tumors or some underlying health issue being the cause.

He has always been a short child. He was always between the 10th and 25th percentiles (trending down over the years), and now he is barely even on the chart at the 1% mark. He has grown less than an inch per year since he turned 11. That concerns me. He is a very high functioning autistic with no real sensory or cognitive issues so I'm not worried about how he will handle the physical changes. He has always been a very mild mannered child and I don't forsee any major changes with puberty in terms of aggression or anything like that. It's just not in his nature. He's very much a pacifist.

As for my younger son, he is SUPER smell sensitive and is over sensitive to pain, but he has been using deodorant for a few years and is fine with several brands. He is similarly non picky aboyt body wash and shampoo. His hygiene habits are excellent. He will be given an electric shaver when he is ready because he is very scared to cut himself with a razor. The acne has been his biggest issue because it hurts and he scratches at it and makes it bleed which then makes him freak out. Fun times! He has only had like 3 pimples so far, so I hope it doesn't get much worse for him. The other son has the most flawless complexion I've ever seen. I'm super jealous of him. Ha ha!

I would be concerned with the fact that he dropped off his curve. I don’t think it would hurt to get a second opinion. Do the medications that he’s taking have any side effects related to growth and development?

My friend’s dd has been on HGH since she was maybe 4 cause she fell off her curve drastically. She’s 7 now and it’s helping. She’s still very petite though.

 

[DLgal]

I would be concerned with the fact that he dropped off his curve. I don’t think it would hurt to get a second opinion. Do the medications that he’s taking have any side effects related to growth and development?

My friend’s dd has been on HGH since she was maybe 4 cause she fell off her curve drastically. She’s 7 now and it’s helping. She’s still very petite though.

The doctor wasn't concerned because, apparently, it's normal for boys , especially, to fall WAY down the curve for a couple years right before puberty. There is a name for this phenomenon, but I can't recall what it is now. The doctor said if his growth completely stalled for a year, it would be a red flag, but he is growing, just veeeery slowly, like 1/2 inch per year (normal growth is 2 inches per year).

Yes, his antidepressant can cause slow growth, but not at the dose he is taking. And his growth slowed down prior to beginning that.

 

[bdcp]

My two boys were complete opposites in growth. Oldest son went through puberty when he should have. He was 5'1" at 12 and hit 6'1" at age 20 (turning 35 next week yikes!). My youngest son who is now 32 was always small for his age. At 12, he was prob around 4'6" at most and by 14 not showing any signs of puberty. Dr was concerned so we started seeing a pediatric endocrinologist for tests. After testing and finally a wrist x-ray, it was determined that it was just late puberty. At 15, his growth plates were what a 13 year olds should be. At 16, he was 5' tall. His senior year in HS, he grew 4" and in college he grew another 3.5". He's now just over 5'7" and caught up with several of his friends who hit their growth spurt at 13/14. My husband is 5'8" and I'm 5'3" and I went through a later puberty and graduated HS at 5'2". I added that extra inch in college. Even though my boys were only 28 months apart, the oldest was always 10" taller than my youngest until he grew. They're still almost 6" apart.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

My DS is also a late bloomer, he is 15 now, and just broke 100 lbs this year, when he started high school he was all of 85 lbs and not even 5' tall. Now he's at 120, and has grown several inches in the last 6 months. He's starting get a bit hairy, but his voice is still cracking and his feet are gigantic! He's sitting at 5'5" or so now, and hopefully will gain another 4" or so in the next few years.

 

[DLgal]

My DS is also a late bloomer, he is 15 now, and just broke 100 lbs this year, when he started high school he was all of 85 lbs and not even 5' tall. Now he's at 120, and has grown several inches in the last 6 months. He's starting get a bit hairy, but his voice is still cracking and his feet are gigantic! He's sitting at 5'5" or so now, and hopefully will gain another 4" or so in the next few years.

Mine is a freshman this year and weighs just over 100lbs. He's a bit stocky so he has always weighed on the higher end for his height. His feet seem so small, though. He's been wearing the same shoe size for 3 years. He's only a size 6.

I'm worried that he will turn 16, want to get his driver's license, and not be tall enough to drive!

 

[barkley]

Yeah, mine has been on and off Adderrall a couple times, but it caused him to pick at his skin to the point of getting infectious open sores, so we had to stop it. It did help him focus at school, which is still a problem (new school this year, but he is in specialized programming and is still very distractable), so his doctor suggested trying Concerta. He wants nothing to do with any type of group activities but he sees a therapist weekly who specializes in teens with autism/ADHD.

the last adhd med mine was on was daytrana-loved that freaking patch b/c he could take it off and w/in an hour his natural appetite would come around. he gained some well needed body weight with that med.

i get the not wanting to do any type of group activities. the best thing that happened w/my ds on that was discovering 2 activities-gamer clubs and rock climbing classes. the gamer groups have allot of opportunities to do individual games but they naturally lend themselves to the participants talking about the games they are playing which opens up ds to talking to others and then engaging with them in multi player games. rock climbing is a class that's offered through the j.c. here-i've seen it benefit him b/c it's one where the person is working towards an individual goal but you have to work with others (helping with the ropes and such) to achieve your own goal/help others achieve theirs. the conversation in that situation seems to occur organically-and there's no win/lose factor like traditional sports (which always stressed my ds out).

 

[DLgal]

the last adhd med mine was on was daytrana-loved that freaking patch b/c he could take it off and w/in an hour his natural appetite would come around. he gained some well needed body weight with that med.

i get the not wanting to do any type of group activities. the best thing that happened w/my ds on that was discovering 2 activities-gamer clubs and rock climbing classes. the gamer groups have allot of opportunities to do individual games but they naturally lend themselves to the participants talking about the games they are playing which opens up ds to talking to others and then engaging with them in multi player games. rock climbing is a class that's offered through the j.c. here-i've seen it benefit him b/c it's one where the person is working towards an individual goal but you have to work with others (helping with the ropes and such) to achieve your own goal/help others achieve theirs. the conversation in that situation seems to occur organically-and there's no win/lose factor like traditional sports (which always stressed my ds out).

My son didn't have any appetite or weight loss issues with his ADHD meds. He did have some insomnia though. He could honestly stand to not gain anymore weight until he grows taller because he is pushing the upper weight limit for his height as it is. He can put down a LOT of food, fast! He ate an entire individual pizza (like 9") in under 5 minutes last weekend.

That's interesting about the rock climbing. So far, my son only likes cycling and swimming...two sports that require NO talking with anyone. He is into computers and trains but when people try to talk to him about those things he loses interest quickly. He really struggles to have conversations, even at home. We went on our weekly trail ride last weeekend and ran into a train enthusiast at the railroad crossing. We always stop there for awhile to watch the commuter trains go by...my son likes seeing the signal arm go down. This guy was probably late 20s and very obviously had autism/aspergers. He talked to us for like 15 min all about trains, but my son kept walking away rather than really paying attention, even though the guy had a lot of really interesting things to say and he purposely tried to engage my son several times. I think he sensed my son's autism. His other interest is baking, which is also a solitary endeavor for the most part. He will find his motivation to socialize eventually. I don't want to force it because there is nothing worse than faking your way through social interactions.

 

[kimmar067]

...my brother was kiddingly called [by my sister] the 'man-boy' all throughout high school. He was only about 5'5" and maybe 120-125 lbs when he graduated. He shot up about 9 inches and gained 75 lbs, so when he went to his 10-year H.S. reunion, NO ONE recognized him - even with a name tag on!

 

[barkley]

His other interest is baking, which is also a solitary endeavor for the most part.

mine likes baking too! i've got him tapped to make the christmas fudge this week

 

[DLgal]

mine likes baking too! i've got him tapped to make the christmas fudge this week

Nice. Yeah, mine is baking a Toy Story alien cake for a birthday next week, currently working on 6 dozen decorated sugar cookies he was hired to make for a party this weekend, and will be doing brownie/cookie/oreo bars (his specialty) next week for holiday teacher gifts. He wants to be a pastry chef...and he is well on his way! I have no problem with this hobby of his!

 

[AdamEfimoff]

See a doctor. Its normal for everyone to have different 'puberty' stages. I as a male I actually find it embarrassing to talk about puberty on an open forum

 

[DLgal]

See a doctor. Its normal for everyone to have different 'puberty' stages. I as a male I actually find it embarrassing to talk about puberty on an open forum

We have consulted with a doctor already. If you find it embarrassing, why did you comment on the thread? I am posting anonymously. My son will never know about this.

 

[bdcp]

See a doctor. Its normal for everyone to have different 'puberty' stages. I as a male I actually find it embarrassing to talk about puberty on an open forum

How is it embarrassing if no one knows who you are? And, yet, here you are posting.