Premature Puberty from Pentasa?

[MummyNat]

Hi, I'm not quite sure how to ask a question on this forum but I am trying to find out if anyone has experience of premature puberty specifically breast development when their daughters have been taking Meselazine ( Pentasa ). My daughter is 8 and has very sore boobies at the moment and the tissue around the nipples feels hard. I know that puberty can start in girls around age 8-12 however these changes started approx 2 weeks after starting to take Pentasa and I feel it is not a coincidence, but I am keeping an open mind at the moment.

 

[my little penguin]

Tagging crohnsinct
She knows the topic well.

I have a DS with Ibd
Pentasa didn't change anything for him
He was 7 at the time

 

[xmdmom]

As far as I can see (google scholar search and prescribing info), there is no association between Pentasa and precocious puberty. What you describe sounds like normal early breast development which is considered on the early side of normal these days.

(At age 7, 10.4 % of white girls and 23% of african american girls have some breast development. By 8 years old, it's 18% of white girls and 31% of AAs.)

Sometimes when nutritional status improves, puberty begins. However, this is usually when puberty was delayed due to poor nutrition.

In any case, have you noticed any recent weight gain or improvement in health since beginning Pentasa?

 

[crohnsinct]

Weird MLP, I didn't get this tag or another recent tag...will have to look into that.

Yep! My younger daughter T was dx'd with precoscious puberty at 8 years old. Had to wear a "real" bra at 9 and got her period that same year. She also was ridiculously tall for her age. It was one of the reasons she wasn't on any of the doctors' radars for Crohn's...she couldn't have Crohn's because she was growing like a weed and obviously not malnourished. The Crohns dx came two years later.

I think it is probably just a coincidence that they happened around the same time.

You could take her to an endocrinologist and have her hormone levels etc tested and do a bone age test. We did one to determine whether or not we wanted to give T hormones to stop the development. If her bone age was the same as her age, we were told that once she started her period her growing would likely stop. It was, but we decided against stopping things. She is my third daughter and was pretty mature about everything and I didn't want to medicate her just for the sake of a few inches. As it turned out, she is on the smaller side for our family but squeeked out an inch or two after her period started and the GI thinks she still may grow another inch.

There is also a very real chance that she will hang out at this stage for a very long time. Plenty of my daughters' friends have done that.

Good Luck!

 

[DustyKat]

I agree with perhaps seeing an endocrinologist to establish where your daughter is regarding her sexual development. :ghug:

I would also look at the symptoms from two angles if Pentasa is brought into the mix as a consideration of what is happening:

1. The way you are thinking now, is the Pentasa playing a role in promoting this as a side effect. Or….

2. Has the commencement of Pentasa suppressed inflammation and allowed the body to progress down its normal development path.

Dusty. xxx

 

[xmdmom]

Could there have been any inadvertent exposures to estrogens? Creams, pills, herbs?

A bone age would not be advanced if this is the very first sign of puberty.

 

[Worried mama]

Did you or her dad have early puberty? My son takes Pentasa, but he's 13, and puberty hasn't really kicked in yet.

 

[MummyNat]

Thank you, you have all been very helpful. I will ask to see an endocrinologist. She was diagnosed in Feb this year with Crohn's and put on enteral feeding for 7 weeks, half way through this when there was no improvement in her health the doc prescribed Pentasa and approx 2-3 weeks after taking this her breasts became sore and hard. My logical brain was saying " no problem it's just normal development" but my mum radar was saying "make sure it is just normal and not a side effect of the medicine". I feel reassured now that my logical brain was probably right, I had looked up on the internet for any connection of precocious puberty and Pentasa and couldn't find anything.
I will mention it to her doctor when we she him in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately I think he's going to want to introduce steroids as the modulen and Pentasa has not had any impact on her Crohns, she still bleeds with every bowel movement, she is still as pale as a ghost and very lethargic too but her blood tests indicate she isn't difficient in iron so I put it down to the Crohn's tiring her out.

Her growth has fortunately thus far never been an issue but she has been exposed to estrogens when I changed her to soya milk as a baby/toddler when she had rectal bleeding after coming off breast milk and going on to formula milk. I wasn't aware then, nor was I advised by health visitors or doctors, that soya milk had high estorgen levels and is not recommended for infants under the age of 2 so I could have caused her a problem. I dearly hope not but it is a possibility.

There is no early puberty in the close family and my other daughter is 12 and has only just started developing breasts.

Thank you very much it really helps to know I can turn to others who unfortunately have more experience of this disease than I do. You are very selfless helping others when I'm sure many of you have had a much tougher time with Crohn's than we have xx

 

[crohnsinct]

Pentasa is a very low level drug and does not have a good track record with Crohn'sso it is not surprising you find yourself facing yet another med decision.

I have three daughters and my other two did not have precoscious puberty nor has anyone in our extended family, or grandmother or me.

I fed my middle daughter soy milk from the age of one year on and she went through puberty at 13 or 14.

Please don't beat yourself up over decisions you have made. We all make the best decisions we can at the time and you have obviously made them from a place of love and concern.

 

[positivemum]

Hi Pentasa had no effect on my son's crohns and we quickly moved on to other courses of treatment. take each day at a time especially in terms of decisions- you can only make the best judgement at the time for your daughter's treatment. It is a rollercoaster ride this Crohn's journey so hang in there and stay on this forum!

 

[24601]

Hope the appointment goes well tomorrow! Btw, just in case you didn't see it, I replied to your PM and did my best to describe my experiences with anti-MAP therapy (such as they were).

Let us know how things go!

 

[ChampsMom]

My son started Pentasa in 2010 when he was diagnosed at the age of 13 and there were no early signs of puberty for him (he was small for a LONG time) but is now just shy of 6 feet.

While there are many folks that Pentasa has not been a successful medication, for my son after some adjustment (they increased the dose the first year) it is working.