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Hey Laurie, this may already have been mentioned to you, but I have seen the recommendation made to avoid giving slippery elm within two hours of other medications. This is because the slippery elm may interfere with proper absorption of meds through the GI tract. Since the Dex was an injectable, this wouldn't have been an issue with it. But for oral prednisone, the interference might occur. Just a thought as to a possible explanation for decreased effectiveness.
Marianne
Good thoughts Lori but actually she has been on pred for less time than the dex. This time around its only been a few days and last time was also only about 4 days before we went back to dex. So im not sure what is best but i do know the dex makes her crazy the first day. I dont like putting her through that. Today she is doing well so it seems to be day to day. Ugh, i wish i knew what she was feeling!Quote:
Originally Posted by Harley PoMMom
Laurie
Thanks Marianne, yes i knew that so we give the pred about 2-3 hours before the slippery elm. 😊Quote:
Originally Posted by labblab
Looks like Charlotte now has CC. Its on her back so she cant really get to it and we have been applying neosporin. Her vet wants to put her on Baytril but im wondering how much that will help? Besides keeping it from getting infected, is it going to make it any better? Ive been reading through some of the threads here and have seen many dogs have cleared up on trilostane but Charlotte isnt on that anymore.
My understanding is that CC is caused by high cortisol levels, which im sure she has due to the prednisone she is on (currently 10mg twice daily). Her skin is very thin, her hair has thinned a lot and now we have the CC. The initial cushings signs we noticed, excessive thirst and ravonous appetite have not returned and the lethargy is still there but the last few days not as bad. She is more animated and interested in things than she has been in quite a while.
So it seems we have traded some old symptoms for some new ones and im not sure what we should do at this point. Her local vet doesnt think she can handle the trilostane and her Davis vet said we should put her back on it when she started showing signs of being cushinoid again. So im confused. She is doing well right now so i hate to mess with anything. Yet i sure dont want to see the CC get worse. Suggestions?
Laurie
Hi!
I thought I would jump on this thread instead of the thread about Abbie. So your dog is on 10mg of pred because of the lack of appetite? How much does your dog weigh? That large of an amount can make your dog feel bad.
I'm in your same boat trying to figure out why Gracie is so lethargic. It's a sign of too much pred as well as too little. Gracie (19lb) is on .5mg pred right now and is tired most of the time. I've tried a little .2mg booster, but it just makes her tremors worse with no increase in her energy. So, I don't know.....it could be the pred or it could be the pituitary tumor causing the lethargy and tremors.
Charlotte weighs 60 pounds and is on 10mg of pred twice a day. She was dianosed with pituitary cushings and put on 60mg of Vetyrol but after 6 weeks almost died so we took her off of it completely. She was put on dex then we switched her to pred and she is doing better now than she has been in a long time. She is still more lethargic than normal but much more alert and interested in things than she has been. She still has tremors but they are also less severe. Her appetite has increased a little but we still struggle getting her to eat. The big problem we are having now is calcinosis cutis. She had a few small spots on her back we were freating with neosporin but tonight while she was left alone for about 10 minutes she scratched them into a huge bloody mess. Im a bit freaked out and not sure what to do. We will have her wear a tshirt or her sweater tonight while we sleep and hopefully she wont make it worse. Ill be talking to her vet tomorrow and hopefully we can get this under control.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gracie123
As far as the pred goes, id love to get her off of it or at least reduce it drastically but right now i hate to make any changes since she seems to be feeling and acting so much better. Its really such a tricky balance. We definitely felt like 30mg a day was too much but will 10mg be too little? I guess we wont know until we try.
Laurie
Does the vet think your dog has become Addisons? My dog is typical Addison's now. Her adrenal glands were destroyed. She takes both pred and has her monthly percorten shot.
Were Gracie's adrenal glands destroyed by trilostane?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gracie123
Charlotte's last ACTH stim test was done about 5 weeks ago and she was right where they wanted her to be. Two days later she almost died. She couldnt walk and our local vet only gave her a 10% chance to make it through the night. He gave her a dex shot, cerenia, iv fluids and sent her home with a subq. She bounced back but we struggled to keep her from drifting off. As the dex shots wore off she would become so lethargic she didnt even want to get up or eat or drink. They dont believe she had an addisonian episode but suggested she had a macro tumor that was putting pressure on her brain. Our local vet also felt there may be something else going on, like cancer somewhere that we havent found. She has lost a ton of weight and now we have the calcinosis cutis to deal with.
The past week she has been on the pred only. We switched from the dex injections because we felt they were too strong. The amount we have her on (20mg a day) seems to be working well for her lethargy problem. She is acting much more like a normal dog, more active and appetite is a little better. But she still has mild tremors and now the CC. Obviously we need to find a balance of the meds but everytime we have lowered the steroid dosage she goes back to not eating and being extremely lethargic.
Laurie
Yes, Gracie is permanently Addisons. Her previous vet said Gracie was well controlled on Vetoryl for 2 months even though her symptoms of extreme thirst and panting never subsided. I did make the mistake of giving the next dose a few hours earlier and down she went. She was only on 10 mg. (Half the recommended dose for a 19 lb dog).
We had the ACTH performed 2 weeks post crisis.....close to 0 cortisol. And, her k continues to increase when the percorten starts to wear off. Did your vet check the electrolytes? Gracie was in the ER for 3 days straight on IV fluids.
Just got the results from her latest blood work.... UTI. Could be why she's been so tired lately....
Poor Gracie! Charlotte was on 60mg per day (30mg twice daily) for 6 weeks. She was tested 2 weeks post trilostane then again 4 weeks later. Her excessive drinking and urination stopped almost right away but she remained lethargic and her appetite went from wanting to eat all the time to barely eating at all. Her hair continued to fall out and her skin continued to thin. Her ACTH stim at 6 weeks was pre 1.6 and post 3.1. They were very happy with those numbers but 2 days later she vomited and colapsed and we ended up in emergency. Her cortisol hasnt been tested since then but i have a feeling its back up again. We see her local vet tomorrow. Not sure what he will suggest. I dont think he will want her back on the trilo.
Laurie