Re: Precocious Puberty and OCD

January 5, 2002

Oh joy - another thing to worry about!!! How much more do you have

to take?? No, I don't know much about Lupron, but I hope you find lots of

info and help at your appointment. I've never heard of the precocious puberty

- brain injury connection, but I certainly HAVE noticed that Annie has been

boy-crazy since she got sick. One major crush after another. I have chalked

it up to a kind of obsession, but now I'm going to be worrying...Her big

worry, on the other hand, is NOT having a figure at age nine. Geez. If it's

not one thing, it's another!!!

January 5, 2002

Oh joy - another thing to worry about!!! How much more do you have

to take?? No, I don't know much about Lupron, but I hope you find lots of

info and help at your appointment. I've never heard of the precocious puberty

- brain injury connection, but I certainly HAVE noticed that Annie has been

boy-crazy since she got sick. One major crush after another. I have chalked

it up to a kind of obsession, but now I'm going to be worrying...Her big

worry, on the other hand, is NOT having a figure at age nine. Geez. If it's

not one thing, it's another!!!

January 5, 2002

Oh joy - another thing to worry about!!! How much more do you have

to take?? No, I don't know much about Lupron, but I hope you find lots of

info and help at your appointment. I've never heard of the precocious puberty

- brain injury connection, but I certainly HAVE noticed that Annie has been

boy-crazy since she got sick. One major crush after another. I have chalked

it up to a kind of obsession, but now I'm going to be worrying...Her big

worry, on the other hand, is NOT having a figure at age nine. Geez. If it's

not one thing, it's another!!!

January 6, 2002

This is interesting. Kellen began losing her baby teeth on her fifth

birthday--one month after OCD onset. Later her dentist told me that there

was some research to suggest that kids who shed their baby teeth ahead of

schedule go on to enter early puberty. However none of her mh

docs/therapists have mentioned anything about brain disorders being linked

to early maturity, and apart from the teeth, she doesn't show any signs of

early physical maturity.

Kel has had a few blood tests--I can't say she loves them, but she tolerates

them. We have used a prescription cream called Emla that numbs the area, so

she doesn't feel the stick. I would suggest doing this at a hospital walk

in lab during the week rather than on the weekend--the folks are good, quick

and used to dealing with kids I found. I give her some reward afterwards,

so she has something to look forward to.

What signs does your son show of having the condition that causes early

development? I'm just curious what these may be.

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

> Hi all, my 8 yr. old AD/HD,OCD son is being tested for a condition that

causes early pubertal development. We have been monitoring him for the last

3 yrs. and and we will be having a rather extensive blood test done on

January 15th (Can you tell I am dreading it). The endocrinologist that we

saw at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia told me that very often children

with brain " injuries " will experience this. Has anyone on the list gone

through this? What might anyone know about the use of Lupron, which is the

hormonal treatment used to stop the development until a more apropriate

time. Thanks,

January 6, 2002

Hi Kathy, Tommy began at age 5 with adult smelling body odor, so bad that we

had to have him begin using deodorant. At that time I contacted all of his

Dr.'s and was assured that it had nothing to do with his meds, at that time

Adderall and Prozac. I took him to an endocrinologist and his bone age was

estimated at 9 yrs.(he had just turned 6) and his blood work was in the

pre-pubertal range. This Dr. didn't think there was anything going on except a

condition called premature adrenarche, which is an early maturation of the gland

that causes us to have body odor. Although I was never comfortable with this

diagnosis there wasn't much that I could do about it until last summer when he

began growing hair in various parts that 8 yr. old boys usually don't have hair

on, mostly under one arm, but also in other areas. He also has experienced a lot

of weight gain that was being attributed to the SSRI's. When the hair began to

grow under his arms his pediatrician even tried to get him an earlier

appointment at CHOP. It was at this appointment tthat the endocrinologist told

me that it is not uncommon for kids with brain injuries to enter puberty

earlier. BTW, Tomy did not lose his teeth early.... As far as the blood test

is concerned, one of Tommy's OCD issues is that he is terrifed of having his

body fluids leave his body. We had lots of problems in the early years before

SSRI's and CBT and ERP where he wouldn't go poop for almost a week and he would

withhold pee for 24 hours at a time. I would say that these are not issues now

as he has had lots of exposure situations since he was 5. Blood tests are

another story. He did have one in November that went well until the tech went

to take the vial away, and he tried to get it back. He also bruised his arm

where the needle stick was and kept sucking the blood off so that it would go

back into his body. At the time of the test in November, we had just started an

increase in his SSRI, which is now working better, so hopefully the benefit from

the increase will also assist Tomy in bossing back the OCD monster who bosses

him around. We have talked with Dr. Chansky (his therapist) about the next test

and we have some ideas as to how to handle the situation. I also made sure that

Santa brought Tommy a Gameboy Advance, and he will get a new game to use that

day, in the hopes that his hyperfocussing ability will be put to good use with

gameboy instead of blood draws. I have also talked to the nurses at CHOP who

will be doing the testing and they are aware of his issues. If the test becomes

too much for him, we will stop and pursue another way to get the test done.

Kathy wrote: This is interesting. Kellen began

losing her baby teeth on her fifth