![Nutropin [somatropin (rDNA origin) for injection]: Growing Opportunity](/images/logo-nutropin-growing.png){kind=logo}
Many children and teenagers are prescribed growth hormone as a therapy for multiple years. If your doctor has prescribed GH therapy for multiple years, both you and your child have important roles to play.
It isn’t just one big goal that’s years and years away, it’s lots of smaller goals, many already within reach. As you continue on your GH journey, learn what you need to know about:
Your GH journey
Remember, you’re on a journey. It’s the long haul—but you’ve probably already made more progress than you think. Find your stage of the journey here—and start planning for the next.
FIND YOUR PATH
1. Okay: What’s Going On?
You recognize that that there may be a growth issue, and you ask your doctor about it. It’s important to let your doctor know about your concerns, and find out if there’s a medical reason
2. What Does the Doctor Think?
When you talk about your child’s growth, your doctor is likely to do some math to see how tall your child is compared with most kids in the same age group and of the same sex. If your child has slowed growth, the big question is: what’s causing it?
3. Seeing a Specialist and Getting Tested
Your doctor refers you to a specialist—a pediatric endocrinologist—for tests that may identify a medical reason for slowed growth
START YOUR JOURNEY
4. Getting Your Prescription
If appropriate, your child gets a prescription for growth hormone therapy
5. Getting Your Insurance Company on Board
Your doctor’s office and Genentech coordinate with your insurance company to help you get your authorization, so you can start GH therapy
6. Learning to Deal With the Dose
With injection training, you or your child learn how to give the right dose of GH therapy correctly, and set up a routine
AIM FOR GROWTH
7. Doing It Day by Day
You and your child continue your daily injections. This may be the hardest part: making GH therapy a part of your routine and sticking with it
8. Keeping Up With Your Insurance Company
Your doctor’s office and Genentech help make sure your insurance company keeps renewing its authorization, so your GH therapy can continue
9. Tracking and Moving Ahead
You track progress and work with your doctor to make sure it’s the right dose
10. Your Journey Ends
You and your child should be very proud of yourselves! Be sure to ask your doctor what comes next
WHO IS NUTROPIN FOR?
Nutropin® [somatropin (rDNA origin) for injection] and Nutropin AQ® [somatropin (rDNA origin) injection] are human growth hormone, available by prescription only.
Doctors prescribe Nutropin for children and teenagers with growth failure who:
- Do not make enough growth hormone on their own
- Have chronic renal insufficiency—a slow loss of kidney function—and have not had a transplant
- Have Turner syndrome
- Are not likely to grow to their potential adult height, as determined by a doctor, and whose bones are still able to grow
Doctors prescribe Nutropin for adults who:
- Have growth hormone deficiency that started either in childhood or as an adult due to brain surgery, radiation therapy, trauma, or diseases of the pituitary gland or the hypothalamus
Your doctor will test to see if growth hormone is right for you.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Nutropin and your safety:
Please read this important safety information carefully. Then, if you have any questions, talk with your doctor.
Nutropin is NOT for:
- Children and teenagers whose bones have finished growing
- Patients who have certain types of eye disease caused by diabetes
- Patients who have active cancer or any brain tumors
- Patients who are critically ill after open heart surgery or abdominal (stomach) surgery, are severely hurt, or have severe breathing problems
- Children and teenagers who have Prader-Willi syndrome and are very overweight or have trouble breathing
- Patients with a known sensitivity to benzyl alcohol, an ingredient in the liquid used to mix Nutropin Injection. Sterile water should be used when mixing Nutropin for newborns.
If any of these apply, talk to your doctor before you start taking Nutropin.
If you are about to start taking Nutropin, or are already taking it, be sure to tell the doctor who prescribed it:
- About ALL of the medications you are taking, including supplements
- If you have or develop a brain tumor
- If you are given any new medication, especially glucocorticoid steroids like hydrocortisone or prednisone
- If you are pregnant or if you become pregnant
- About ANY other condition or illness you have or develop
What are the possible side effects of Nutropin?
You may experience discomfort, soreness, or redness where Nutropin is injected.
Contact your doctor immediately if you experience:
- Ongoing injection site discomfort
- Curvature of the spine (scoliosis)
- Joint pain
- Puffy hands and/or feet (caused by fluid retention)
- Changes in vision, a bad headache, or nausea with or without vomiting
- Hip or knee pain
- A need to limp when you walk
- Pain in wrist (carpal tunnel)
- Allergic reaction
Be sure to inject Nutropin at a different recommended place on your body each time. Your doctor or nurse should supervise the first injection and provide training and instruction.
Your doctor is your primary source of information about your treatment.
Please see the full Prescribing Information for Nutropin and Nutropin AQ, available from your pharmacy and at www.nutropin.com, for more about Nutropin and safety.
Questions? Call the Nurse Hotline at 1-866-NUTROPIN (1-866-688-7674).
The content available from this website is for informational purposes only. Individual results may vary. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or to Genentech Drug Safety/Adverse Events at 1-888-835-2555.
Nutropin and Nutropin AQ are registered trademarks; and NuSpin, growingopportunity, and Nutropin GPS are trademarks of Genentech Inc.
