Pituitary Tumor-Prescribed Humatrope-have some questions

VulgarDisplay · Mar 2, 2007

Long story short, the tumor has rendered me 100% growth hormone defficient! I have been prescribed Humatrope and have no experience with growth. The prescription is for 12mg cartridges, 2/month, 3clicks(0.6mg) daily.
I am familiar with IU dosages, can someone translate for me...approx how many IU's is this dosage?

Thank you in advance....

Zuke · Mar 2, 2007

100iu's = 1mL

1mg = 1mL

.6mg = 60ius??

marshall · Mar 2, 2007

Are you going to be ok long term?

dragonfire101 · Mar 2, 2007

Are they prescribing test also. I have a pituitary tumor also and need thyroid meds and test. GH is low , but no GH for me yet.

VulgarDisplay · Mar 2, 2007

marshall said:
Are you going to be ok long term?

No one can answer that question for me yet. I'm told that I need to have blood work and an MRI every 2 months.

VulgarDisplay · Mar 2, 2007

dragonfire101 said:
Are they prescribing test also. I have a pituitary tumor also and need thyroid meds and test. GH is low , but no GH for me yet.

I have been prescribed 200mg of cypionate and 500 IU of HCG per week. Also I am off and on Synthroid depending on my blood work.

VulgarDisplay · Mar 2, 2007

Insurance company....

I'm on the phone with them right now and thay are saying that they may not cover it. Called the pharmacy and it will cost $1500.00/month!! If it is true that they won't cover it...I may have to explore other options. Any guidance from anyone experienced in this area would be much appreciated.

EDIT: they just told me that it wouldn't be covered under the Pharmacy policy but with prior authorization from my endo it will be covered under my major medical...I hope this remains true...I'll let you know.

rAJJIN · Mar 2, 2007

VulgarDisplay said:
Long story short, the tumor has rendered me 100% growth hormone defficient! I have been prescribed Humatrope and have no experience with growth. The prescription is for 12mg cartridges, 2/month, 3clicks(0.6mg) daily.
I am familiar with IU dosages, can someone translate for me...approx how many IU's is this dosage?

Thank you in advance....

Vulgar,
Im not sure if Humatrope is the same as Nutropin or not
But here is a little write up on Nutropin
____________________
How Nutropin is supplied
Nutropin is supplied as 5 mg (approximately 15 IU) or 10 mg (approximately 30 IU) of lyophilized, sterile somatropin per vial.

Each 5 mg carton contains one vial of Nutropin (5 mg per vial) and one 10 mL multiple-dose vial of Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP (benzyl alcohol preserved). NDC 50242-072-03.

Each 10 mg carton contains one vial of Nutropin (10 mg per vial) and one 10 mL multiple-dose vial of Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP (benzyl alcohol preserved). NDC 50242-018-21.

Nutropin is available in the US by prescription only. Healthcare professionals should provide patient training prior to use.

dragonfire101 · Mar 2, 2007

No one can answer that question for me yet. I'm told that I need to have blood work and an MRI every 2 months.

I 'm in the same boat every 4 months though so I know how you feel. PM me if you ever feel like talking. How long have you been dealing with this. I know it affects mood alot, mine anyways and my finacee' sometimes has to deal with it. Is your famiy supportive and know whats going on.

dragonfire101 · Mar 2, 2007

The prescription is for 12mg cartridges, 2/month, 3clicks(0.6mg) daily.
I am familiar with IU dosages, can someone translate for me...approx how many IU's is this dosage?

Ok I did some research and other brands that have 12mg vilas it says 12mg(36iu)

So divided that would be 3iu per 1mg

So you would be getting about 1.8iu ed at about .6mg

**broken link removed**

see here for vials of humatrope in mg/iu

dragonfire101 · Mar 2, 2007

**broken link removed**

check this out

big ronster · Mar 2, 2007

what type of tumor do you have? Is it a prolactinoma or another kind?
Also, 1mg of GH usually equals 3iu, so .6mg is around 2iu. I had a prolactinoma, which is a kind of pituitary tumor, and dostinex was prescribed to me. I have never had it come back but have to take the med for life or it starts to. PM me if u have any q's.

GoneForever · Mar 3, 2007

Threaten to sue them. Insurance compaines are a bunch of pussies. They never wanna cover anything, but the minute you scare them with a lawsuit they usually give in as long as you have a dr. script. IMO insurance companies are the biggest scam artests in the world. Evil greedy people who will rot in hell.

VulgarDisplay said:
I'm on the phone with them right now and thay are saying that they may not cover it. Called the pharmacy and it will cost $1500.00/month!! If it is true that they won't cover it...I may have to explore other options. Any guidance from anyone experienced in this area would be much appreciated.

EDIT: they just told me that it wouldn't be covered under the Pharmacy policy but with prior authorization from my endo it will be covered under my major medical...I hope this remains true...I'll let you know.

SouthernMuscle · Mar 3, 2007

is this sort of tumor a common thing? how do you know if you've got one?

VulgarDisplay · Mar 3, 2007

SouthernMuscle said:
is this sort of tumor a common thing? how do you know if you've got one?

I started to lose weight and feel very lethargic, was napping 3 times/ day and had next to no motivation. The wife and I were trying to have children with no success when I went for a blood test and it revealed I had a testosterone level of 42! I immediatelty had an MRI and was diagnosed. Since then we have found out that I am 100% GH defficient. On a side note I went on HCG and repronex for 6 months...2 injections/day!!! Sperm count went from 0 to 75 million and we now have a son named Carter.

VulgarDisplay · Mar 3, 2007

big ronster said:
what type of tumor do you have? Is it a prolactinoma or another kind?
Also, 1mg of GH usually equals 3iu, so .6mg is around 2iu. I had a prolactinoma, which is a kind of pituitary tumor, and dostinex was prescribed to me. I have never had it come back but have to take the med for life or it starts to. PM me if u have any q's.

I wasn't aware there were different kinds of Pituitary tumor. I will ask my endo next month which variety I have. So I wil be taking 2 IU/ day? From what I've read that will be a suffficent dose to see changes without the risk of sides. I will PM you next week, thanks for the info!!

VulgarDisplay · Mar 3, 2007

rAJJIN said:
Vulgar,
Im not sure if Humatrope is the same as Nutropin or not
But here is a little write up on Nutropin
____________________
How Nutropin is supplied
Nutropin is supplied as 5 mg (approximately 15 IU) or 10 mg (approximately 30 IU) of lyophilized, sterile somatropin per vial.

Each 5 mg carton contains one vial of Nutropin (5 mg per vial) and one 10 mL multiple-dose vial of Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP (benzyl alcohol preserved). NDC 50242-072-03.

Each 10 mg carton contains one vial of Nutropin (10 mg per vial) and one 10 mL multiple-dose vial of Bacteriostatic Water for Injection, USP (benzyl alcohol preserved). NDC 50242-018-21.

Nutropin is available in the US by prescription only. Healthcare professionals should provide patient training prior to use.

Thanks for the help rAJJIN...from everything I've read over the last 2 years you seem to be a very knowledgeable and an all around good guy! I appreciate your help.