re: weight problems
Feb. 15th, 2004   2:45pm

I can’t help you with the "looking for an adult with CAH" but as a parent, I can tell you our 5 year old son is in the same situation.

His levels have been fairly well controlled (although we have had periods of oversuppression). He has typically been on a low dose of Cortef (ave. around 9mg/m2/day). His height growth has been good, yet we have consistently struggled with his weight.  He is very active and our diet is pretty good - lots of fruits, veggies, whole foods and not too many sweets or processed foods.

He was always a chubby little guy. But when he was about 3 1/2 he started to gain weight very quickly. I think his preschool diet contributed to his issues. I no longer had control over everything he ate and even the once a day juice and sweet snacks seemed to really stick on him. His ped endo said that kids who are prone to being overweight often see a big weight gain around age four.

Last spring he gained 10 pounds in the three month period between endo visits. That was a real breaking point for me. I felt we had to try something different. We started circadian rhythm dosing (see the thread below for a good description from Julia). The results have been amazing. He has averaged 1-2 pounds gained each 3 months instead of 5-10. He is still growing well (2-3cm/3 months) and is on an even lower dose than last year. His moods have also smoothed out. For us, this has been a good dosing system.

My theory on why this dosing schedule works well for us - I think he metabolizes the cortef quickly and a 4x a day dose works best for him. Also, I think he really craves carbs and fatty foods about an hour after his dose. Because his largest dose is now at 3:30 am we don’t have to fight to keep him away from food. His next largest dose is at 7:30am and it is easier for me to get a healthy breakfast in him than it was to make sure he made healthy choices for lunch and snack.

If you would like to talk more. Feel free to email me

Chris D
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