Jasper (12 yr old Mini Schnauzer) is now at peace

Thanks Leah, so good to hear from you. How are you doing? I think of you often and hope you are hanging in and healing. Yes, I am finding that lots of adjustments are needed to manage Addison's also. Jasper's last resting cortisol was still < 0.4 ug/dl which is practically 0. So it looks like he is going to likely stay permanently Addison's. I think my vet wants to wait another month to make the definitive diagnosis, she said something about the adrenals not recovering for a period of 4 months, and then they consider that it is permanent Addison's.

I feel that Jasper is going to need to stay on the 5mg daily dose of prednisone. It seems that every time we try to decrease it to 2.5 mg (which is the dose that my vet and the IMS say is what he should be on), he starts to not feel well and have problems. So I guess we will see. I worry about the effects of the higher dose on his liver. He continues to drink and pee a ton, otherwise seems to be feeling pretty good. Thanks so much for checking in on us Leah.

Hugs,

Tina and Jasper

Ok, I am finally getting back to post the lab results that Glynda asked about a while back. I got a verbal report for some of the values from my vet and posted those previously, but here is the complete report. This is a Mini (in house) CHEM blood panel, drawn on 10/22/12. This is the last time it was checked.

ALP 1869 U/L (20-150)
ALT 53 U/L (10-118)
BUN 5.0 mg/dL (7-25)
CRE 0.9 mg/dL (0.3-1.4)
GLU 110 mg/dL (60-110)
TP 7.9 g/dL (5.4-8.2)

It looks pretty good except for the ALP, which has been high, but has gone up quite a bit since the last time it was checked. My vet said it has increased due to the prednisone. Should I be worried about that? He has to be on the prednisone, but as I mentioned before, I am worried about the higher dose.

He had gone in on this day due to not eating. He broke with colitis the next day, went back on bland rice and hamburger diet, and a course of metronidazole. The pred was also increased back to 5 mg daily.

Tina and Jasper

HI Tina and cute Jasper!

I am not much help with the numbers or his condition, but wanted to pop in and say hello and wish Jasper a happy day :) and thanks for your support with my journey too, it is so appreciated
Trish and Flynn xx

I'm sure someone will be along to check the numbers for you.

Just wanted to say hi and hugs

Just wanted to send (((((HUGS)))) also.

I'll let the numbers people talk about that too. The only other thing I see is that the Glucose is at the high end of the normal range, but I'm not sure what that means...maybe something to keep an eye on?

So many of our babies here have the really high ALP values. It seems to go along with cushings and now with the prednisone might be a part of Addisons too. So, again something for those who have been through this part of the journey to comment on.

Okay, so I know nothing! ROFL But hey, Big super duper Hugs to you and belly rubs to Jasper and a tickle to Shelby too. :) It's friendly Wednesday!

hugs,
Sharlene

Hiya Tina! I'm doing quite well thanks, considering.... The pain is starting to ease and my heart is beginning to heal. Things get a little better as the days go by. The photos and canvas we ordered arrived yesterday. We totally overdid it by ordering too many:o, but I don't care, they are beautiful! I have her up on the wall in every room of the house, so I can see her precious little face every time I walk through the door.:)
Regarding Jasper's ALP, it's bound to be high due to the prednisone and unfortunately not much can be done about it. If it's any consolation, Maya's ALP was over 3000 for at least a year! The specialist said, "Yep, it's high, but no dog ever died because of a high ALP." The best thing you can do is carry on giving him milk thistle or some kind of liver support.The peeing and drinking are probably also side effects of pred, so you'll just have to keep those rags handy!:p
I know it's hard, but try not to worry about something you have no control over. You are doing a great job! You said yourself, he needs the prednisone, so your main concern right now is helping him feel better and if 5mgs does the trick....so be it!:) Maybe some time in the future he'll be able to come down a bit. Just make sure you give Jasper his pred on a full stomach. That way there is less chance of it irritating or causing ulcers in his digestive tract -which seems to be one of the main concerns about prednisone.
I'm glad he's feeling better!:)
Love n hugs, Leah

Tina-

I just read through your whole thread. Holy heck!!!!!! You and Jasper have been through a lot. I am so sorry your little buddy has had so many highs and lows. Geez! I sure hope he stabilizes soon. How in the world have you been emotionally? I would be a total wreck. You are a good Momma. Give that baby a big belly rub from me.

Hugs,

Ro

Hi Everyone,

Finally getting some time to get a little caught up on the site. Thank you Leah and Ro for the posts of support.

Leah, glad to hear you received the photos and canvas of sweet Maya. I bet the canvas is just beautiful. You can never have too many photos as far as I'm concerned. :) I think of you every day and hope that things continue to get better and you continue to heal. Hugs....

Ro, yes, my Little Man has been through quite a bit, and there have been many times where I have just been a wreck. The worst I think was when he was hospitalized for the second time in a week due to an addisonian crisis and also had HGE. He was so sick and it just seemed like a downward spiral was happening. I was terrified and had a pretty big meltdown then. There have been a few setbacks since then. I somehow force myself to be strong for him. He is very sensitive and knows right away if I am upset, so I have to hide a lot from him because I don't want him to sense that and worry. I always hide my crying because I don't want him to get upset. It is not easy. The belly rub was given and enjoyed, Jasper thanks you! :D

Last Friday 11/30 my vet checked in. Since Jasper was overall hanging in there and doing about the same, she wanted to give it another week on the higher prednisone dose to see if the drinking and peeing would decrease at all. He has been feeling comfortable on that dose, but the drinking and peeing have continued to be excessive and she wondered if it might still be a manifestation of the Addison's.

She called for an update on Friday 12/7. Jasper continues to seem to feel good, appetite is good, etc. but the excessive drinking and peeing continue. It has not decreased at all. My vet is not sure, but thinks it may be side effects from the prednisone and is recommending that we switch the prednisone to dexamethasone. (this was part of the plan after she consulted with the IMS if the symptoms didn't improve). She said some dogs that can be sensitive to prednisone and have sides effects sometimes do better on dexamethasone. She said the dex is more potent than the prednisone, so the dose will be quite small. Jasper's pred dose of 5 mg translates to about 0.5 mg of dexamethasone so that will be the dose that we start with daily. It is longer acting than prednisone so she is hoping that we will be able to decrease the dose after a few days, as long as Jasper continues to feel well. And of course hoping the drinking and peeing decrease. :rolleyes:

So I will start the dex tomorrow. The plan was to start it yesterday, but Jasper had an appt with the groomer and I didn't want to start a different med the same day. He got sick and stopped eating a few days after he was groomed the last time, but was on the lower pred dose then. Now he is on the higher dose and I gave him an extra dose last evening and his regular dose this morning, so I hope this is enough to counteract the stress from the grooming. Oy, it is so much to think about! :eek:

So that is the plan now. If anyone has any information, feedback, or experience with dexamethasone, I would greatly appreciate it. I have done some reading, but I am still a little nervous to do any kind of change. From what my vet has said and what I have read, it shouldn't be a big deal. But then again, we know that my little guy doesn't follow the rules, so I am a bit leery.

Hugs to all,

Tina and Jasper

Today is Jasper's second day on dexamethasone rather than prednisone. It may be my imagination, but he seems a little less perky than he was. His appetite is still good and he ate well tonight. That seems to be the first thing to go when he starts not feeling well, so I guess I will just keep an eye on things.

My vet prescribed the dexamethasone at 0.5 mg daily for 4 days, then decrease to 0.25 mg daily for 6 days, then decrease to 0.25 mg every other day for long term. I was originally supposed to start the dex on Saturday but delayed it because he was getting groomed on that day. Now this will put us starting the decreased dose on Friday, just before then weekend. I am a little nervous about that, I think I will call my vet tomorrow to see if she wants me to stick to the taper schedule since I started it later than we had originally planned.

I understand that dexamethasone is longer acting than prednisone, but does it start working just as quickly after each dose? I have searched on the internet but can't seem to find any information about this. So far there hasn't been a change in his water intake, but it has only been a couple of days. I am praying this med change helps with this.

Tina and Jasper