With the children that are treated with dexamethasone, as I understand it, I have read somewhere ( it is something that has already been tried, tested and proved by the sounds of it though ) that at the dilute tiny doses that are used that it is excreted from the body within 16 hours.  Therefore I don't see where it could affect any norturnal growth hormone at all.  Infact from what I could gather, the children taking dexamethasone are given this first thing in the morning only (which would better emulate the sharp rise of cortisol at that time of day) and by midnight it is not an issue and would be at it's lowest virtually in the blood levels (which if we study circadian rythym charts show that cortisol production is virtually non-existent or extremely low and steady through the night until 6.00am when it rises sharply again )-- perhaps hydrocortisone given last thing at night could cause more of a problem where noctural growth is concerned in that case?  Well Im sold on this idea anyway and I feel that its food for thought, and well worth investigating.

 

JH