Hi, my name is Kelly – and I have a best furry friend, named Chloe – who is a red Australian Cattle Dog, almost 12 years old, the apple of my eye, and diagnosed with (pituitary dependant) Cushings in March 2008. She is treated under the watchful eye of our wonderful specialist and his team, and they have been great. The first year of starting Trilostane treatment (60mg x 2 daily) was great and trouble free, breezed through all her tests. At this point, her levels became low and she was reduced down to 30mg – and then started showing symptoms of Addisons disease. She went into ‘remission’ for about a month before her Cushings symptoms started to return. After an ACTH stim test which came back negative – we had to start testing for other nasties, however a suppression test confirmed it was just a negative ‘negative’ – and it was just Cushings (better the devil you know I guess LOL!).

Since about August, she’s been a little erratic and has changed dosages a few times. She’s currently on 5mg once per day – a very low dose after a few close calls with Addisons. We thought she may have been in another remission, however off medication her levels started climbing quite quickly. She seems to be holding with the 5mg daily nicely at the moment. Since late last year when we were having problems with the dosages, she has been on the liquid form of Trilostane (makes it much cheaper when dosage needs to be adjusted).

So, close to 2 years after diagnosis – and apart from a few issues with getting dosages right, she is well. She’s just come off a course of antibiotics for a tummy upset (which had many Addisons symptoms so she was rushed to hospital). She had an ultrasound to check for any tumours on her organs (all clear – woohoo!), and all her blood work came back fine. So apart from the dreaded Cushings, and a bit of arthritis from 2 tibial wedge osteotomy surgeries on her knees, she is in top health (although her weight has been an ongoing issue for a few years now).

Anyway, with things being so up and down for us lately (hopefully will stay good for a while now) – I was recommended to come here and learn a bit more, and may even be able to contribute a little from the knowledge I’ve gained on our journey with a Cushinoid.

It will be nice to be amongst people who surely understand the roller coaster ride that Cushings can be and the financial strain it can bring. And it will be nice to actually chat amongst people who won’t ask… ‘what’s Cushings?... Never heard of it’ LOL.

I hope we make many new friends here.

If I can figure out how to post a picture, I would love to share my beautiful, brave girl with you all.

Have a great day all!

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