Hi Angela, I am sorry you are having problems with your son. What did you mean when you said this is the third time he is in puberty?

Sometimes, it is easy to confuse signs of "true" puberty with sign of "pseudo" (or "false") puberty. If he is truly starting puberty, then his testicles will increase in size. If his testicles are still small, but he has physical symptoms such as body odor, underarm hair, genital hair, acne, etc., then he may just be experiencing "false" puberty. False puberty is caused by excess androgen hormones and means that a child is not getting enough cortisol medication.

Harald is right that CAH and Addison’s Disease are very similar...in most cases, treatment is almost exactly the same. However, where they differ is in the production of male hormones (androgens.) Generally, people with CAH produce too much androgen, while people with Addison’s produce too little. High levels of androgens are what produce the signs of early puberty in kids with CAH. So, if you are concerned specifically about signs of early puberty in your son, you may also want to keep that in mind, when comparing it to Addison’s.