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What is the most important information I should know about somatropin?

If you use a steroid or any medicine to treat diabetes, your doses may need to be changed when you start using somatropin. Do not stop using or change the dose of your steroid or diabetes medication without your doctor's advice.

If you are using somatropin to treat short bowel syndrome, it is very important to follow the diet plan created for you by your doctor or nutrition counselor. Somatropin is not a cure for short bowel syndrome.

If you have Prader-Willi syndrome and are using somatropin, call your doctor promptly if you develop signs of lung or breathing problems such as shortness of breath, coughing, or new or increased snoring.

Call your doctor at once if you have sudden and severe pain or tenderness in your upper stomach, with nausea, vomiting, sweating, fever, fast heartbeat, and yellowing of the skin or eyes. You should also call your doctor promptly if you have vision changes and sudden, severe pain behind your eyes.

How you store this medicine will depend on what brand you are using and what diluent (liquid) you are mixing somatropin with. Read and carefully follow the instructions provided with your medicine about proper storage of somatropin before and after it has been mixed.

What is somatropin?

Somatropin is a form of human growth hormone. Human growth hormone is important in the body for the growth of bones and muscles.

Somatropin is used to treat growth failure in children and adults who lack natural growth hormone, and in those with chronic kidney failure, Noonan syndrome, Turner syndrome, and other causes. Somatropin is also used to prevent severe weight loss in people with AIDS, or to treat short bowel syndrome.

Somatropin may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before using somatropin?

Before you receive somatropin, tell your doctor if you have ever had an allergic reaction to a growth hormone medicine, or to drug preservatives such as benzyl alcohol, metacresol or glycerin.

Do not use this medication if you are allergic to somatropin, or if you have:

• diabetic retinopathy (a serious eye condition caused by diabetes);

• cancer; or

• Prader-Willi syndrome and are also overweight or have sleep apnea or severe respiratory (lung) problems.

You should also not use somatropin if you have a serious medical condition after having:

• open heart surgery or stomach surgery;

• trauma or other medical emergency; or

• breathing problems (such as lung failure).

Before using somatropin, tell your doctor if you have:

• liver disease;
• kidney disease (or if you are on dialysis);

• diabetes;

• scoliosis;

• high blood pressure (hypertension);

• a pancreas disorder;

• cancer (past or present);

• carpal tunnel syndrome;

• underactive thyroid; or

• a brain tumor or lesion.

If you have any of these conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely use somatropin.

FDA pregnancy category C. This medication may be harmful to an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. It is not known whether somatropin passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. Do not use somatropin without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.