Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Proper Use
This medicine is given as a shot under your skin. Somatropin may sometimes be given at home to patients who do not need to be in the hospital. If you are using this medicine at home, your doctor will teach you how to prepare and inject the medicine. Be sure that you understand exactly how the medicine is prepared and injected.
This medicine comes with a patient information insert. Read and follow the instructions in the insert carefully. Ask your doctor if you have any questions.
You will be shown the body areas where this shot can be given. Use a different body area each time you give yourself a shot. Keep track of where you give each shot to make sure you rotate body areas. This will help prevent skin problems from the injections.
Dosing
The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.
The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.
- For injection dosage form:
- For treatment of growth failure caused by growth hormone deficiency (Accretropin™):
- Adults—Use and dose must be determined by your doctor.
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual total weekly dose is 0.18 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight to 0.3 mg per kg of body weight. This is divided into smaller doses that are given 6 or 7 times a week as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by growth hormone deficiency (Norditropin®):
- Adults—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. At first, the usual dose is not more than 0.004 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight given once a day as an injection under the skin. Your doctor may adjust your dose as needed.
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual daily dose is 0.024 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight to 0.034 mg per kg of body weight. This is given 6 to 7 times a week as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by growth hormone deficiency (Nutropin®):
- Adults—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. At first, the usual dose is not more than 0.006 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight injected under your skin once a day. Your doctor may adjust your dose as needed.
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual total weekly dose is up to 0.3 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight. This is divided into smaller doses that are given once a day as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by idiopathic short stature:
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual total weekly dose is up to 0.3 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight. This is divided into smaller doses that are given once a day as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by chronic kidney disease:
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual total weekly dose is up to 0.35 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight. This is divided into smaller doses that are given once a day as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by Noonan syndrome (Norditropin®):
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual dose is up to 0.066 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight given once a day as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure born small for gestational age (SGA) with no catch-up growth by age 2-4 years (Norditropin®):
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual dose is up to 0.067 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight given once a day as an injection under the skin. Your child's doctor may adjust the dose as needed.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by Turner syndrome (Accretropin™):
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual total weekly dose is up to 0.36 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight. This is given 6 or 7 times a week as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by Turner syndrome (Norditropin®):
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual dose is up to 0.067 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight given once a day as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by Turner syndrome (Nutropin®):
- Children—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The usual total weekly dose is up to 0.375 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight. This is divided into 3 to 7 equal doses that are given once a day as an injection under the skin.
- For treatment of growth failure caused by growth hormone deficiency (Accretropin™):
Missed Dose
This medicine needs to be given on a fixed schedule. If you miss a dose or forget to use your medicine, call your doctor or pharmacist for instructions.
Storage
Keep out of the reach of children.
Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed.
Ask your healthcare professional how you should dispose of any medicine you do not use.
Store this medicine in the refrigerator, away from direct light. Do not freeze or shake.
Throw away used needles in a hard, closed container that the needles cannot poke through. Keep this container away from children and pets.
