Norditropin® (somatropin [rDNA origin] injection): About growth hormone deficiency

About growth hormone deficiency (GHD)

Hormones are chemicals made by special organs called "glands." They act as messengers in the body. Growth hormone is a hormone responsible for telling your body to grow. When it tells the bones in your legs and your spine to grow, it makes you get taller over time.

The pituitary (pi-TOO-i-tair-ee) gland—a small gland just above the roof of your mouth—makes growth hormone. If your pituitary gland doesn't make enough growth hormone, then you are said to have GHD.

If your doctor says that you have some of the signs of GHD, then he or she may ask you to visit a new doctor called an endocrinologist—a doctor who specializes in treating patients who have problems with their glands. The endocrinologist will continue to track your growth progress, just as your previous doctor did. He or she may also order an X-ray of your hand because it shows him or her what your "bone age" is, which can help him or her see how much growth may be remaining.

You might also be given a Growth Hormone Stimulation Test, to help your doctor decide if you have GHD. This is an important test and, most of the time, can help your doctor be sure that you're not producing enough growth hormone.

What happens if I don't have enough growth hormone?

After a Growth Hormone Stimulation Test your doctor may say that you have GHD and that you should have growth hormone therapy. This means you'll have to inject yourself with growth hormone, like when the doctor gives you a shot. Like all growth hormones, Norditropin^® is taken by injection. Norditropin^® is available in Norditropin NordiFlex^® (somatropin [rDNA origin] injection), a prefilled, multi-dose, disposable delivery pen. In other words, the growth hormone is already in the pen, you don't have to mix it yourself, and you don't have to worry about syringes. Norditropin NordiFlex^® 5 mg and 10 mg pens offer storage flexibility.

Some of the information you've just read may have included words you don't understand. If you don't understand a word, just look it up in our glossary.

Indications and Usage

Norditropin^® (somatropin [rDNA origin] injection) is used to treat: children who have growth failure because of low or no growth hormone; children who are short (in stature) and who have Noonan syndrome or Turner syndrome; children who are short (in stature) because they were born small (small for gestational age-SGA) and have not caught-up in growth by age 2 to 4 years; and adults who do not make enough growth hormone.

Important Safety Information

Do not use Norditropin^® if: you have a critical illness caused by certain types of heart or stomach surgery, trauma or breathing (respiratory) problems; you are a child with Prader-Willi syndrome who is severely obese or has breathing problems including sleep apnea; you have cancer or other tumors; your healthcare provider tells you that you have certain types of eye problems caused by diabetes; you are a child with closed bone growth plates (epiphyses) or you are allergic to any of the ingredients in the medicine.

Before you take Norditropin^®, tell your healthcare provider if you: have diabetes; had cancer or any tumor; have any other medical condition; are pregnant or plan to become pregnant; are breast-feeding or plan to breast-feed.

Norditropin^® can cause serious side effects, including: high risk of death in people who have critical illnesses because of heart or stomach surgery, trauma or serious breathing (respiratory) problems; high risk of death in children with Prader-Willi syndrome who are severely obese or have breathing problems including sleep apnea; return of tumor or cancerous growths; high blood sugar (hyperglycemia); increase in pressure in the skull (intracranial hypertension); swollen hands and feet due to fluid retention; decrease in thyroid hormone levels; hip and knee pain or a limp in children (slipped capital femoral epiphysis); worsening of pre-existing curvature of the spine (scoliosis); middle ear infection, hearing problems or ear problems in patients with Turner syndrome.

Patients with Noonan syndrome and Turner syndrome should be closely monitored by their doctors as they are more likely to have congenital heart disease.

The most common side effects of Norditropin^® include: headaches, muscle pain, joint stiffness, high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), sugar in your urine (glucosuria), swollen hands and feet due to fluid retention, and redness and itching in the area you inject. If you have headaches, eye problems, nausea or vomiting, contact your healthcare provider right away.

Norditropin^® may affect how other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how Norditropin^® works so be sure to tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Especially tell your healthcare provider if you take: glucocorticoid medication, thyroid hormone, insulin or other medicine for diabetes, medicines that are metabolized by the liver (e.g., corticosteroids, sex steroids, anticonvulsants, cyclosporine), or oral estrogen replacement medicine.


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