TeenHealthFX - Answers - Wants To Be 7 Feet Tall

Height / Question
Published: July 1, 2002

Dear TeenHealthFX,

I am 15 going to be 16 on January 12. I'm 6'3", size 16 shoe and 170 pounds. I have been this height for the past 18 months and I have never grown more than 2 inches in the past 6 years. Ever since I started puberty, instead of my growth increasing, it has decreased. I was always 6 or more inches taller than anyone my age and now many people are catching up. I always play basketball and want to be 7 feet tall. I work and have recently bought Humatrope overseas because I know I don't need a prescription to get it. I will be getting it sometime next week and I want to know if a doctor could tell me how many IU's of it I should take to stimulate a growth spurt. I know you need blood tests done to measure my IGF-1 levels. Can you tell me how many IU's of growth hormone a teen secretes when they get a growth spurt per day at night? I need to know roughly the dosage I should take?

Signed: Wants To Be 7 Feet Tall

Dear Wants To Be 7 Feet Tall,

Humatrope is a drug used to increase the amount of growth hormone circulating in the body. According to the manufacturer, it has only two medically prescribed uses:

Humatrope is indicated for the long-term treatment of pediatric patients who have growth failure due to an inadequate secretion of normal growth hormone.
Humatrope is indicated for the treatment of short stature associated with patients who have a genetic abnormality (called Turner Syndrome) when their growth plates are not closed.

Taking growth hormone after your growth plates have closed and you are done growing, (as is probably your case), can result in a very debilitating disease associated with bony and soft tissue overgrowth-called acromegaly. Acromegaly is disfiguring cosmetically with characteristics such as enlargement of the skull and tongue, and coarsening of facial features. Most patients have neurological and musculoskeletal symptoms including headaches, weakness, and arthritis. Perhaps you are not familiar with the many other serious side effects Humatrope can cause:

Increased pressure on the brain, visual changes, nausea, and/or vomiting
Cancerous transformation of skin lesions.
Diabetes or glucose intolerance.
Leukemia has been reported in a small number of pediatric patients who have been treated with growth hormone. The relationship, if any, between leukemia and growth hormone therapy is uncertain.

For the reasons stated above, and because your growth seems perfectly normal - you probably entered puberty earlier than your peers and have completed your growth while they are still growing. TeenHealthFX would not recommend attempting to self prescribe Humatrope. We do recommend speaking to your doctor to better understand your growth pattern and your projected adult height.

Signed: TeenHealthFX