Growth spurt???? Help!

[NameChangeThreeThousand]

Anyone with boys ... Is this a growth spurt??

Age 11

Exhausted doing a sport he has done 6 times a week with no problems ever! Now adding time, not improving, looking knackered

Sleeping in middle of the day

Grumpy and irritable

Eating loads, then eating nothing

Feeling "ill" for a few days, then better, then "ill" again

Sore knee

???? Or does this sound like illness?

Or could some of this be symptoms of hayfever? (which he also has quite bad)?

If it's a growth spurt if sorts. How long does it last?

Thanks!

This ^

Also , just a thought. Is he taking a different antihistamine than last hay fever season? Was thinking of possible causes of day time sleepiness .

Sounds like my son before he was diagnosed with diabetes. He was sleeping loads. Does he have a weird taste in his mouth and is he extra thirsty?

I have 2 teenage boys, I would say that falling asleep during the day is highly unusual for an 11 year old. This is something associated with much younger children or old people. It is definitely harder to wake kids up the older they get and they take any opportunity to have a lie in but they don’t tend to have daytime naps.

The pain in leg thing is normal, my son had it around that age

Took him to the GP, who asked if he is very sporty. I say:no, normal. GP asked what our normal was, so I said he did cricket, karate and tennis, in total doing sport 5x a week. GP said that is a lot, and not a bad thing, but in boys that age it can cause more pressure/stress on tendons and bones, and that the bones and muscles don't grow exactly at the same rate, so sporty boys that age are very prone to knee pain, and a weirdly "loose" knee. And they grow out of it

My boys also always got tired towards the end of the school year and were tired from school work/sports and in need of a break

Grumpiness also normal at that age

If he has ongoing stomach issues you may want to get that checked though!

Similar but I was just coming in here to suggest the knee issue might be Osgood Schlafters. It's quite common in children who do a lot of sport and are having a growth spurt. My DS had it in both knees at various points during the ages of 12 and 14.

Have a look at this:

www.esht.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/0907.pdf

I can't help with the rest but hope your gp has some answers.

If he’s doing a lot of exercise in hot weather dehydration is the first thing to rule out as it can be the cause of most of those, along with not sleeping properly (could be the heat and hay fever) so I would rule these out before thinking about growth spurts or anything more serious.

When you go to the doctor make sure you right down all the symptoms as it is easy to forget details in the appointment

Thanks all

Osgood-Shlatter disease is common at this age. Osgood-Schlatter disease is a condition that causes pain and swelling below the knee joint, where the patellar tendon attaches to the top of the shinbone (tibia), a spot called the tibial tuberosity. There may also be inflammation of the patellar tendon, which stretches over the kneecap.

It settled over time when everything catches up.

I suspect he is growing. He'll probably be an early shooter. One of my sons shot up around 12

if the leg pain is one sided and/or without obvious cause then go see a dr.

have a look at osgood-schlatter, crmo and see if that could fit the symptoms.

@QueenMabby yes, that’s it, it was Osgood-Slatter

i was clumbsily remembering 😄

I definitely think you’re right to get it checked out with doctor. It could just be heat, growth spurt, lots of exercise etc clashing together but it sounds a notable change and worth checking out and being sure.

This is just a small picture but there are a few red flags in your post. I'm a physio and if he came into clinic I would be referring him to GP for further test.

Night pain is usually inflammatory response - can indicate something underlying - if it is unremitting at night it wakes him up then he needs an urgent referral.

Again - fatigue (yes, it's normal for teens to be tired but this sounds like it isn't his normal)

Stomach pain etc - all these things add up.

Hope you get some answers. May well be something simple like an iron deficiency but I wouldn't ignore.

Doesnt sound like growth dd has grown loads this year from 50th centile to 90th.
Maybe little more sleep but none of other issues you are saying.
Has he actually grown a lot. I think over 10cm here this year. When usually 6cm.
Plus for her hormones kicking in and spots etc