Jump to content

NevadasMom

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,044

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by NevadasMom

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Do you think she'd like New Jersey wink.gif

     

    :COUGH::COUGH::

     

    AHEM

     

    excuse me but I have first dibs!!!!!

     

    I think every one is forgetting that if she goes any where it will be to come and live with her fur ebber :wub: . You know he is practicing up on his nursing skills.

     

    Claudia, you know that she is still in my prayers as are you.

     

    Excuuuuuuuse me........if she should come & live with anyone. it should be me...the "Cushings Queen"! :lol

    And you are not joking!! Carol has been a HUGE help to Misty and I, both with her knowledge,insight, experience and compassion. I will never be able to thank you enough! And I have to believe that with the help we have received here and the support, we will get through this

     

    Just part of the job of doing good deeds in sweet Nevada's name! :wub:

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Do you think she'd like New Jersey wink.gif

     

    :COUGH::COUGH::

     

    AHEM

     

    excuse me but I have first dibs!!!!!

     

    I think every one is forgetting that if she goes any where it will be to come and live with her fur ebber :wub: . You know he is practicing up on his nursing skills.

     

    Claudia, you know that she is still in my prayers as are you.

     

    Excuuuuuuuse me........if she should come & live with anyone. it should be me...the "Cushings Queen"! :lol

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I really want to thank everyone for caring so much about my little girl. She didn't want to eat this morning but as soon as I put the Nutritional Yeast all over her food, she ate every bit of it. She still is not drinking very much but hopefully that will change as the day goes on. If not, I will bring her in for fluids. I need to have a serious discussion with my vet about the "value" of treating this disease vs not treating it.If I notice a change during treatment, and I'm going to be blown off and cause her to crash again, I'm not doing this. It's not fair to her. So, I will wait and see what the vet feels about it.I will just ask for guidance to do the right thing.

     

    This is the reason I chose Trilostane for treatment with Fiona. We are successfully treating her PDH Cushings Disease since July of this year. Her last ACTH test on 10/17 showed the pre/post numbers right where we want them and we've never had to use the prednisone.

     

    I did extensive research on my own with only Board Certified vet sources. There is a lot of conflicting information on both medications. In fact, some of the expert endricrinologists (SP?) actually advocate a crisis and moving the dog to Addison's disease because "it's easier to manage". After reviewing all these opinions, my gut told me that a medication like Lysodren that was "loaded" in high doses initially, would be too harsh for my dog. Then I sat with my vet and asked her all my questions and told her my concerns. Since we were on the same page for a course of treatment with Trilostane, the next step was to find an ethical source (it's not FDA approved), which we did with the Apothecary Shop in Arizona.

     

    The Yahoo group for Canine Cushings is highly moderated and quack treatment advocates are not represented. The owners there have developed the "start low-go slow" mantra for Trilostane treatment. Therefore, we started Fiona with 30mg once each morning (this is 1/2 the recommended dosage for her 58#) then tested ACTH at 2 weeks. The first week we took Fiona to work with us to monitor because I was still very nervous about the treatment. The post numbers showed improvement, but were still too high, so we added another 30mg in the evenings every other day and tested again at about 3 weeks. Again, the post numbers showed improvement, but were still high. She now takes 30mg twice daily and her numbers are great.

     

    The other thing I learned is that some dogs do not show immediate visible signs of improvement - which has been attributed to them actually experiencing "withdrawal" from having the excess cortisol in their systems. So, we've dial down our expectations of instant results.

     

    After just over 3 months of treatment, Fiona has normal water consumption and her energy level has improved. Fiona will be 10 in January. I would not elect no treatment unless the dog was significantly older or had other mitigating health issues - then I would try to maintain comfort with the many holistic approaches, I've read about but not fully researched. Fiona's only other health issue is hypothyroidism.

     

    By the way, I didn't ever catch what type of Cushings disease Misty has? Was an adrenal ultrasound done? Is the tumor pituatary or adrenal?

     

    Don't be shy about getting a second or third opinion and doing your own research. Good luck!

    When Nevada was undergoing treatment for cushings, I was told that Trilostane was not available in the USA. Had that been an option, I may have given it a thought. It's available right here in Phoenix...who knew??!! Just out of curiosity....what it the cost? Glad to hear your pup is doing so well. It's an ugly disease to deal with.

    Carol, my vet told me it wasn't available in the US and he said he doesn't do business with compounding pharmacies. No idea why. The Trilostane is much cheaper than the Lysodren which in my opinion is expensive. Mine was 187.00 for 10 days. I thought that was a bit ridiculous but what can ya do?

     

    There are several compounding pharmacies that distribute Trilostane, however some are better at communicating their testing for quality assurance and FDA clearance policies. Fiona's medication runs about $90 per month and that includes the Fed-Ex shipping fee. My vet was very particular that our source follow the FDA rules and we rejected two sources before finding the Apothecary shop. If my vet blanketly refused to deal with a respected source of a better medication for my dog, I'd be interviewing for a new vet.

     

    If you need any other information, feel free to email me...

    The Apothocary Shop has a very good reputation here in the valley for their compounding pharmacy. Just out of curiosity, did you happen to hear about Pet Health Pharmacy in Youngtown, AZ? I've used them & never had a problem.

     

    Hi Claudia,

    Will she stay Addisonian or will she return to the Cushings state following treatment? If not would this mean that the medication distroyed her adrenal glands? These Adrenal diseases are so crazy. Big hugs to your girl.

    From the way that my Vet explained it....you can accidentally or intentionally kill off too much of the adrenal cortex, thus making them Addisonian. Some Vets prefer to do this since it can be easier for owners to manage. Cushings can be a real rollercoaster ride.

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted · Edited by NevadasMom

    I really want to thank everyone for caring so much about my little girl. She didn't want to eat this morning but as soon as I put the Nutritional Yeast all over her food, she ate every bit of it. She still is not drinking very much but hopefully that will change as the day goes on. If not, I will bring her in for fluids. I need to have a serious discussion with my vet about the "value" of treating this disease vs not treating it.If I notice a change during treatment, and I'm going to be blown off and cause her to crash again, I'm not doing this. It's not fair to her. So, I will wait and see what the vet feels about it.I will just ask for guidance to do the right thing.

     

    This is the reason I chose Trilostane for treatment with Fiona. We are successfully treating her PDH Cushings Disease since July of this year. Her last ACTH test on 10/17 showed the pre/post numbers right where we want them and we've never had to use the prednisone.

     

    I did extensive research on my own with only Board Certified vet sources. There is a lot of conflicting information on both medications. In fact, some of the expert endricrinologists (SP?) actually advocate a crisis and moving the dog to Addison's disease because "it's easier to manage". After reviewing all these opinions, my gut told me that a medication like Lysodren that was "loaded" in high doses initially, would be too harsh for my dog. Then I sat with my vet and asked her all my questions and told her my concerns. Since we were on the same page for a course of treatment with Trilostane, the next step was to find an ethical source (it's not FDA approved), which we did with the Apothecary Shop in Arizona.

     

    The Yahoo group for Canine Cushings is highly moderated and quack treatment advocates are not represented. The owners there have developed the "start low-go slow" mantra for Trilostane treatment. Therefore, we started Fiona with 30mg once each morning (this is 1/2 the recommended dosage for her 58#) then tested ACTH at 2 weeks. The first week we took Fiona to work with us to monitor because I was still very nervous about the treatment. The post numbers showed improvement, but were still too high, so we added another 30mg in the evenings every other day and tested again at about 3 weeks. Again, the post numbers showed improvement, but were still high. She now takes 30mg twice daily and her numbers are great.

     

    The other thing I learned is that some dogs do not show immediate visible signs of improvement - which has been attributed to them actually experiencing "withdrawal" from having the excess cortisol in their systems. So, we've dial down our expectations of instant results.

     

    After just over 3 months of treatment, Fiona has normal water consumption and her energy level has improved. Fiona will be 10 in January. I would not elect no treatment unless the dog was significantly older or had other mitigating health issues - then I would try to maintain comfort with the many holistic approaches, I've read about but not fully researched. Fiona's only other health issue is hypothyroidism.

     

    By the way, I didn't ever catch what type of Cushings disease Misty has? Was an adrenal ultrasound done? Is the tumor pituatary or adrenal?

     

    Don't be shy about getting a second or third opinion and doing your own research. Good luck!

    When Nevada was undergoing treatment for cushings, I was told that Trilostane was not available in the USA. Had that been an option, I may have given it a thought. It's available right here in Phoenix...who knew??!! Just out of curiosity....what it the cost? Glad to hear your pup is doing so well. It's an ugly disease to deal with.

    Carol, my vet told me it wasn't available in the US and he said he doesn't do business with compounding pharmacys. No idea why. The Trilostane is much cheaper than the Lysodren which in my opinion is expensive. Mine was 187.00 for 10 days. I thought that was a bit ridiculous but what can ya do?

    Compounding pharmacies are a lot cheaper than Walgreens. :unsure

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I really want to thank everyone for caring so much about my little girl. She didn't want to eat this morning but as soon as I put the Nutritional Yeast all over her food, she ate every bit of it. She still is not drinking very much but hopefully that will change as the day goes on. If not, I will bring her in for fluids. I need to have a serious discussion with my vet about the "value" of treating this disease vs not treating it.If I notice a change during treatment, and I'm going to be blown off and cause her to crash again, I'm not doing this. It's not fair to her. So, I will wait and see what the vet feels about it.I will just ask for guidance to do the right thing.

     

    This is the reason I chose Trilostane for treatment with Fiona. We are successfully treating her PDH Cushings Disease since July of this year. Her last ACTH test on 10/17 showed the pre/post numbers right where we want them and we've never had to use the prednisone.

     

    I did extensive research on my own with only Board Certified vet sources. There is a lot of conflicting information on both medications. In fact, some of the expert endricrinologists (SP?) actually advocate a crisis and moving the dog to Addison's disease because "it's easier to manage". After reviewing all these opinions, my gut told me that a medication like Lysodren that was "loaded" in high doses initially, would be too harsh for my dog. Then I sat with my vet and asked her all my questions and told her my concerns. Since we were on the same page for a course of treatment with Trilostane, the next step was to find an ethical source (it's not FDA approved), which we did with the Apothecary Shop in Arizona.

     

    The Yahoo group for Canine Cushings is highly moderated and quack treatment advocates are not represented. The owners there have developed the "start low-go slow" mantra for Trilostane treatment. Therefore, we started Fiona with 30mg once each morning (this is 1/2 the recommended dosage for her 58#) then tested ACTH at 2 weeks. The first week we took Fiona to work with us to monitor because I was still very nervous about the treatment. The post numbers showed improvement, but were still too high, so we added another 30mg in the evenings every other day and tested again at about 3 weeks. Again, the post numbers showed improvement, but were still high. She now takes 30mg twice daily and her numbers are great.

     

    The other thing I learned is that some dogs do not show immediate visible signs of improvement - which has been attributed to them actually experiencing "withdrawal" from having the excess cortisol in their systems. So, we've dial down our expectations of instant results.

     

    After just over 3 months of treatment, Fiona has normal water consumption and her energy level has improved. Fiona will be 10 in January. I would not elect no treatment unless the dog was significantly older or had other mitigating health issues - then I would try to maintain comfort with the many holistic approaches, I've read about but not fully researched. Fiona's only other health issue is hypothyroidism.

     

    By the way, I didn't ever catch what type of Cushings disease Misty has? Was an adrenal ultrasound done? Is the tumor pituatary or adrenal?

     

    Don't be shy about getting a second or third opinion and doing your own research. Good luck!

    When Nevada was undergoing treatment for cushings, I was told that Trilostane was not available in the USA. Had that been an option, I may have given it a thought. It's available right here in Phoenix...who knew??!! Just out of curiosity....what it the cost? Glad to hear your pup is doing so well. It's an ugly disease to deal with.

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Thank you everyone for caring! We're home and Misty is stabilized for now. She was in crisis and crashing. This morning late, she started staggering and losing her balance and was also not drinking. I called the vet and he told me she was in a crisis and to get her there. They stabilized her with several injections of Dexamethasone, both IM and SubQ. There were sevral other injections but right now I just can't think straight to remember it all. I have to stop the Lysodren and continue the Prednisone. Her blood pressure really dropped as well. I have to watch her closely and may have to bring her in for fluids unless she starts to drink. Obviously a new plan will have to be talked about on Monday. Yesterday's drop in water intake was a sign, only one day of meds or not. Again, thank you everyone!

     

    Yup....that's a classic crisis......it can scare the pooh out of ya! I'm surprized that it happened so quickly & while on the prednisone. The good news is that now you know what one looks like & you know how to deal with it. Having rescue prednisone handy saved Nevada's life a couple of times until we got her on a stable dose & then she did very well for a couple of years. My thoughts are with you.....give Misty a good hug from me.

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    We already have a bump in the road. I gave Misty her first round of meds at 6 this am. She has already slowed down a bit on her drinking. Not a lot, but a little. I'm calling the vet to report in and just watch to see what the rest of the day brings because I can't believe one dose has affected her already. Hopefully I'm not getting alarmed for no reason.

     

    Actually, a reduction in the water intake is what you want. You aim for normal intake. These dogs are obscessed with drinking and eating. The reduction is a good thing....... :colgate

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    My Nevada had Cushings for about the last 3 years of her life. I've ridden the medical roller coaster, so PM me if you need to talk.

    Nevada had some discomfort towards the end of her life. Cushings involves too much cortisone so initially it can mask arthritic pain etc. And remember, usually these dogs are older when they get Cushings. Once you start treating the Cushings, they can start to show those discomforts.

    Nevada had some thoracic back problems that began to cause her pain. At the end, my Vet feels that the pituitary tumors began to really grow & caused her to have neurological problems.

    The good news is that Cushings is very treatable, but requires a lot of careful, expensive monitoring and care. If I had to do it over again, I think I would make the dog Addisonian (my Vet agrees). Much easier to control.

     

     

    :huh What does Addisonian mean?

     

    Thanks,

    Sue

     

    Addisons Disease is the opposite of Cushings Disease.

    Any Experience With Cushings?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    My Nevada had Cushings for about the last 3 years of her life. I've ridden the medical roller coaster, so PM me if you need to talk.

    Nevada had some discomfort towards the end of her life. Cushings involves too much cortisone so initially it can mask arthritic pain etc. And remember, usually these dogs are older when they get Cushings. Once you start treating the Cushings, they can start to show those discomforts.

    Nevada had some thoracic back problems that began to cause her pain. At the end, my Vet feels that the pituitary tumors began to really grow & caused her to have neurological problems.

    The good news is that Cushings is very treatable, but requires a lot of careful, expensive monitoring and care. If I had to do it over again, I think I would make the dog Addisonian (my Vet agrees). Much easier to control.

×
×
  • Create New...