Hi Liz,

 

You (and your sister) are right about the pubic hair, body odor, and all that stuff.....BUT that is only if your daughter has CAH.  As I tried to tell you back several months ago (obviously, not very well) there are many other conditions besides CAH that can result in signs of Precocious Puberty.  Just because your daughter may not have CAH, doesn't mean that she doesn't have a different condition that needs to be addressed.  As I mentioned below, in my response to Julia (in the thread on Lupron), things like pubic hair, axillary hair, body odor, etc. are controlled by the adrenal glands.  If your daughter does not have an adrenal problem (remember, CAH stands for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia), it is not surprising that she would not have these symptoms.  But, she could very well be a case of true Central Precocious Puberty,  meaning that the problem is with her pituitary gland, instead.  In my opinion, I think you need to know exactly what the problem is, before deciding if you truly wish to refuse treatment and proper diagnosis. 

 

It's been a number of months, so please excuse me if I am not remembering everything correctly---I am going soley by memory, here----but, I believe you had mentioned that your daughter had developed breast buds at the age of 6 (right?)  As I mentioned back in the spring, if breast buds occur first---before the hair and other stuff---the indications may be more that she has idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty, rather than something like CAH.  From what I also remember you saying, it sounded as if your doctors were thinking along that line, as well, because they had looked at her LH/FSH levels, first (which are hormones made by the pituitary.)  I seem to also remember that there was some minor activity, which is probably what triggered them to suggest that she come in for a follow-up stimulation test. 

 

IF your daughter does have idiopathic CPP, you might be interested to know that the mean length of time between when breast buds appear and the onset of menarche (when she gets her period) is 2.3 years.  Therefore, are you (and, perhaps, more importantly, is your daughter) prepared for her to possibly start menstruating at the age of 8.3 years?  In girls, also, most of adult height is completed by the time she gets her period, so you may also want to ask yourself if you are prepared for her to stop growing by the time she is 9 or 10. 

 

I am not saying that your daughter has CPP, either---only her doctor can tell you that, after running the appropriate tests.  I am only surprised that you and your husband are so unwilling for them to do that, especially if they are making the recommendation.  Usually, it seems to be the other way around (that the doctors don't listen to the parents' concerns).  Do you see the irony here? 

 

As I also mentioned below, the decision to treat CPP would hinge on the gap between your daughter's chronological age and when she is expected to reach sexual maturity (when she gets her period).  No doubt, an afternoon of tests is not the most pleasant thing to go through, but you might want to compare that to your daughter possibly having to deal with pads, tampons, and all that good stuff---every month from the third grade on.  Will she be prepared to deal with the baggage of womanhood, when all her friends are still very much little girls?  Only you, as her parents can answer that question...it is certainly not my, or anyone else's call. I only pose it as food for thought.