![Nutropin [somatropin (rDNA origin) for injection]: Growing Opportunity](/images/logo-nutropin-growing.png){kind=logo}
If you’re interested in reading more about normal growth, growth problems, or the psychological effects of being “different,” you may find some of these publications helpful:
- Stories of Strength: The World of Growth Disorders
- Human Growth Foundation booklets
- Short & OK
- Patterns of Growth
- Growth Hormone Deficiency
- Growth Hormone Treatment: What to Expect
- Turner Syndrome
- Ready for School: Advice for Parents of Pre-Schoolers and School-Aged Children
- Growing Up Small: A Handbook for Short People
- Tall and Small: A Book About Height
- The Missing Piece
- People
This list was taken from Growing Children.
The MAGIC Foundation. Stories of Strength: The World of Growth Disorders.
A collection of stories written by people with medical conditions affecting their growth or their parents.
Human Growth Foundation (HGF). Series of booklets for parents on these topics:
- Short & OK: A Guide for Parents of Short Children
- Patterns of Growth
- Growth Hormone Deficiency
- Growth Hormone Treatment: What to Expect
- Turner Syndrome
- Ready for School: Advice for Parents of Pre-Schoolers and School-Aged Children
These titles are available from HGF by writing to 997 Glen Cove Avenue, Glen Head, NY 11545, or by calling 1-800-451-6434.
Kate Phifer. Growing Up Small: A Handbook for Short People.
Middlebury, VT: Paul Eriksson, 1979.
“Addresses how parents and others can help children understand, cope with, take advantage of, and maybe even cure short stature.”
Kate Phifer. Tall and Small: A Book About Height.
NY: Walker and Company, 1987.
Normal growth and puberty and variations from the normal pattern of development. Aimed at the middle- and high-school audience; contains tips for handling school and peer problems related to height.
Shel Silverstein. The Missing Piece.
NY: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1976.
Available in paperback and at public libraries. This children’s book (for all ages) is about a wheel that’s missing a piece and how it learns to feel good about itself even though (or because) it is different from other wheels.
Peter Spier. People.
NY: Doubleday Publishing, 1980.
Available in paperback and at public libraries. This book for 4- to 8-year-olds helps them learn about differences and similarities among people.
Note: Genentech is not responsible for, and does not necessarily endorse, the opinions or products presented in these publications.
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.
