fects and complications?
It’s important for your child to stay on schedule with all related medical appointments. Contact your child’s doctor if any changes cause you or your child concern.
Possible side effects of GnRH analogue treatment include:
- Injection site swelling
- Weight gain
- Hot flashes
Use of GnRH analogues might also have long-term effects on:
- Bone density
- Future fertility
Children will likely have their height checked every three months. Your child’s doctor might recommend yearly bone density and bone age tests.
If children with male genitalia begin using GnRH analogues early in puberty, they might not develop enough penile and scrotal skin for certain gender confirmation genital surgical procedures, such as penile inversion vaginoplasty. Alternative techniques, however, are available.
In addition, delaying puberty beyond one’s peers can be stressful. Your child might experience lower self-esteem.
What other treatments are needed?
Assessment and counseling by a behavioral health provider can help you and your child as you move through the decision-making process and provide support during therapy. Engaging your child’s school teachers and officials also might help ease your child’s social adjustment during this process.
After a period of adjusting to pubertal blockers, adolescents might work with their care team to add cross-hormone treatment. This is done to develop masculine or feminine secondary sex characteristics, helping the mind and body look and act like the gender with which your child identifies. Keep in mind that some of these changes aren’t reversible or will require surgery to reverse the effects.
GnRH analogues aren’t the only medications that can delay puberty. If you’re interested in alternative treatments, talk to your child’s doctor.
Info via Mayo Clinic