Any Experience With Cushings?

[Guest mzmazzei]

Forgot to mention one thing. The Trilostane did cause some reflux - which is easily eliminated by giving Fiona 1 20mg of Pepcid 1 hour before Trilostane. Since she gets her Soloxine 1 hour before meals, it was easy to add the Pepcid in the Greenie's pill pocket and OTC is inexpensive...

[CaliforniaGreys]

Hi Jill, I'm not sure if you ever got my email a few days ago. Misty's Cushings is pituitary.I understand your feeling about the Lysodren and I do believe the dose was too high for Misty to handle. At 52# she took 1250mg which is what is indicated for her weight. But obviously it was too much and she went into crisis the second day.Misty is also on Soloxine and meds for kidney disease. I know that the Trilostane id not FDA approved but I will obviously be having a discussion with my vet when he returns Monday morning.We may be doing the stimulation test on Monday, at this point I don't know.My concern right now is keeping Misty stabilized through the weekend and when the vet called me this morning to check on Misty, he told me they would have a tech available tomorrow in case I need them. Jill, thank you

[Guest greyt2love]

I've not been here much recently, but want to add my hopes and prayers that Misty is stabilized and that this treatment works to help her improve. She is such a lovely lady and I have my fingers crossed that all news is good news as you work through this .

[Guest mzmazzei]

Hi Jill, I'm not sure if you ever got my email a few days ago. Misty's Cushings is pituitary.I understand your feeling about the Lysodren and I do believe the dose was too high for Misty to handle. At 52# she took 1250mg which is what is indicated for her weight. But obviously it was too much and she went into crisis the second day.Misty is also on Soloxine and meds for kidney disease. I know that the Trilostane id not FDA approved but I will obviously be having a discussion with my vet when he returns Monday morning.We may be doing the stimulation test on Monday, at this point I don't know.My concern right now is keeping Misty stabilized through the weekend and when the vet called me this morning to check on Misty, he told me they would have a tech available tomorrow in case I need them. Jill, thank you

 

I did get the message, but since you'd already started Lysodren, I didn't want to add to your anxiety and prayed for good results. I've read about other dogs crashing with Lysodren, then waiting a few weeks and starting Trilostane with good results, too. There's a greyhound in Chicago - 88# male on 90mg of Trilostane daily that's doing well. I emailed with his owner when deciding about treatment for Fiona. I'm also amazed at all the smaller dogs in the 20-30# range taking 60-90mg daily with no adverse effects. I think the reason some avoid Trilostane is because the results are so individualized.

 

You can read many of these stories and get links to unbelievably comprehensive medical advice at:

 

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CanineC...AutoimmuneCare/

 

So glad Misty is stabilized. Sounds like the worst is over. Stay well

[Guest SoulsMom]

I don't have any advice, just thinking of you and Misty

[robinw]

i'm so glad the lovely Misty is eating. keeping my fingers and toes crossed for continued improvement, and loca is keeping her paws crossed as well .

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Thinking of Misty. If you'd like some additional nutritional yeast, I'll ship you our container. It was opened but it didn't help with Morgan.

[seeh2o]

Just checking in on you and Misty after work today. It sounds like she is very stable and holding her own. Good work, Claudia!

[CaliforniaGreys]

Thinking of Misty. If you'd like some additional nutritional yeast, I'll ship you our container. It was opened but it didn't help with Morgan.

Thank you so much, right now I have plenty. I remember it didn't help Morgan, I was sorry to hear that. If I remember correctly, he loved his roast beef!

[Batmom]

What a miserable scare. Sending scritchies and best thoughts to your girl.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Thinking of Misty. If you'd like some additional nutritional yeast, I'll ship you our container. It was opened but it didn't help with Morgan.

Thank you so much, right now I have plenty. I remember it didn't help Morgan, I was sorry to hear that. If I remember correctly, he loved his roast beef!

Yes, he's still eating a deli roast beef appetizer for every meal. It seems to get him going and then he'll eat kibble. He was down to 46 lbs. in August but is now 53!

[CaliforniaGreys]

Thinking of Misty. If you'd like some additional nutritional yeast, I'll ship you our container. It was opened but it didn't help with Morgan.

Thank you so much, right now I have plenty. I remember it didn't help Morgan, I was sorry to hear that. If I remember correctly, he loved his roast beef!

Yes, he's still eating a deli roast beef appetizer for every meal. It seems to get him going and then he'll eat kibble. He was down to 46 lbs. in August but is now 53!

53lbs...that's so good to hear. He has expensive taste that boy Please give him a hug from me!

[Guest Winterwish]

Thinking of you and Misty here too Claudia. Maybe for helping increase drinking,adding a little milk to her water? It doesn't have to be a bowl of just milk,it could be just some added to her bowl of water. You could also use a bit of half and half if that'swhat you have on hand. Hopefully Misty will smell the milk,even if it's just a little added,and drink more.

I hope you're feeling better tonite beautiful Misty.

[Guest zoolaine]

Wishing you and Misty a good nights rest. She is such a sweet girl, I know you will take greyt care of her.

[Jackandgrey]

Misty love, you drink and keep well sweetheart.

[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.

[CaliforniaGreys]

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?

Edited November 2, 2008 by cbudshome

[MarcR]

How's Misty doing this morning?

[patricia]

Checking in.

[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.

Edited November 2, 2008 by NevadasMom

[CaliforniaGreys]

How's Misty doing this morning?

Misty had a restless night but finally settled down. This am I think she forgot we changed the clocks and wanted me up at 4 I got her to eat but she's not herself. Anxious to talk to the vet in the am, I think for the first time in 12 years, him and I are going to disagree about where to go from here. Her water intake is still down but she is drinking enough to stay hydrated. Thank you for asking about her Marc. Hugs to the beautiful Joisey girls

[TheFullHouse]

Don't feel bad, mine got me up early too. Come on Misty, feel better sweet girl. Your mommy and quite a few others are very worried about you.

[Guest SoulsMom]

Wow, mine let me sleep in, now THAT'S a switch

 

Feel better sweet Misty. Update us when you can . . . . .

[Guest ChancesMom]

Well, believe it or not, I was the first one up this morning.

 

Claudia, I am sorry that Misty was restless last night. Did you talk to the vet tech this am? Please give her extra :kiss2 from her fur ebber His is just over the fact that she is not feeling well and this is from me . You know how to get in touch if you need to talk.

[MarcR]

Claudia, thanks for the update. I hope she's feeling a little better. Give her a hug from me.

 

Oh, Moe, Larry and Curly Honey, Nadia and Kara haven't figured out the time switch either.