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Hi Tippers mom,
My girl is on a break from Vetoryl right now, but I too noticed the tremors and shaking while resting when she has been on Vetoryl. I learned here it was a possible side effect of vetoryl and I also called Dechra and they confirmed it also, so ugh, hate it when there are contradicting stories.
Hope this helps.
tight hugs to you and Tipper. xo Jeanette
Jeanette:
When Tipper goes for her ACTH at 1:00 I am going to ask the vet to call Dechra and find out why they are giving out different answers on these tremors. I hate to take Tipper for this test as she has episodes of the circle behavior afterwards, and it scares me. I am hoping all goes well.
Hi, Tipper's Mom,
I just spent time reading through your whole thread, and hope you're doing okay. I can tell that this whole experience has really rattled you.
Our baby has been tested and examined and scanned backwards, forwards, up and down, with lots of conflicting information, and it's so frustrating. Hang in there. I'm sorry to hear about all that you're going through.
Donna
Donna:
Thank you for your kindness. It truly touches me that everyone is so caring on here. I read your thread also, and you have really been through a lot too. I hope you soon get some definitive answers about Coco. This disease has aged Tipper, and me also. I see changes in her body that sadden me. She has a good quality of life for the time being, or I would not put her thru all this. I worry because I simply cannot do without her! She had another ACTH, bloodwork panel, and urine done today. I guess I will hear the results by Friday. I hope all is good for her sake, and for my sanity. I pray to God to take this horrible disease from her body and heal her. I pray for us all on this forum. Lets' hope you get some answers soon for your baby.
Hoping for all good results on this latest round of test. I know this is so hard on the entire family to go through this.
Hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Sharlene:
Thank you for thinking of my Tipper. I am awaiting the results probably today, at the latest Monday. I read something on hear that troubles me, and maybe you can tell me about this. Trilostane makes macrotumors grow faster?? I did not have an MRI on Tipper, but in my thread talk about my suspicions of this. I am worried now if she does have one that I shouldn't be using the Vetoryl?? There are so many variables with this disease, that it about makes you insane after you read all these things!! You are always second guessing if you are doing the right thing. If anyone can comment on this please do. Thank You all, I will let you know Tipper's results as soon as I get them.
Dear Tipper's Mom,
Here's a link to a reply in another member's thread that starts a conversation there about the risk of treatment causing a pituitary tumor to enlarge more rapidly.
http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/show...3374#post83374
If you scroll down through the replies there, you'll see that I worried about the same issue with my own Cushpup. Even though the risk may be real, I do believe that treatment decisions must be individualized for every dog, and quality of life factors must be weighed relative to symptoms. It is so hard when there don't seem to be easy answers, but we know that you are doing your best to make Tipper as comfortable as possible even in the midst of so many question marks.
Marianne
Marianne:
Thank you as always for the help. You never really know if you are doing right or wrong, and that is what is so unnerving to me. The vet told me if Tipper had any more circling episodes that she would need an MRI. If there is no cure for this I see no reason to put her through sedation etc. for an MRI. All you can do with the results is get a baseline of how large the tumor is. So what can you really do with that? Nothing, and my feeling is so why subject her to it. I am not so sure I would want to know how long my Tipper has left. It would just haunt me daily, and probably kill me to know. I am having a hard enough time dealing with this. I did however see a dog on YouTube that was doing a circling behavior exactly like what Tipper does and it was from Vestibular disease. I did read that these Cush dogs can get vestibular disease. I am praying it is that and not the macrotumor. I guess that is the only way for me to make it thru the day now is to hang onto the hope that is could be Vestibular Disease. Not that that is not bad in and of itself, but better than macro. It is a shame, but you have to hang onto what glimmer of hope you can, to get thru this. I had a bad episode with Tipper yesterday. Her allergies are acting up. The vet said the cortisol was masking it before. She gets them so bad, she will get raised welts all over, start a high temperature, and sometimes have anaphylaxis. She runs thru the house rubbing and hitting into the walls- it is extremely bad. Luckily I have dealt with this when she was a puppy and know the signs. She was on fire yesterday. I had to call the Vet and Dechra immediately and find out if she could have Benedryl with the Vetoryl. They both said yes. Dechra said only heart medications affect the Vetoryl. I put her in the tub in tepid water, then kept making it cooler. I finally got her under control. She is having a better day today, but still itchy. Does anyone know if these tremors she is doing at night will cause her any harm??? They do wake her up, but then she goes right back to sleep. Just wondering if I should be concerned about them. I try to be proactive and get a jump on things before new problems crop up.
My Cushpup suffered from some unexplained tremors, too, and this is a related reply that I just posted on another thread. Of course, I don't know whether Tipper's tremors are the same as my dog's. But for what it's worth, my dog's episodes seemed to bother me a lot more than they did him. Just as you say, sometimes they would actually jerk him awake when he was sleeping. But he would just ignore them and go right back to sleep. I could never see that they harmed him, but they definitely freaked me out!
Quote:
I just wanted to stop by to add a couple of thoughts since my own Cushpup was one who also suffered from weird tremoring episodes. Although I do not believe he was cold or in pain, it looked as though he was shivering across his shoulders. It happened most often when he was resting or even asleep.
In our case, I first noticed the tremors a couple of weeks prior to his Cushing's diagnosis. He was treated several years ago when the protocol called for higher doses of trilostane, and he was indeed started off on a very hefty dose. The tremoring became much more frequent and obvious shortly after starting on the trilo. It remained for a couple of months, but then stopped altogether.
We were never sure as to the cause. As the Dechra rep stated [to you], tremoring is now listed as a possible side effect to treatment. However, I think her answer is correct in that nobody knows whether it is actually caused by the drug itself or whether it is related to some as-yet-unknown mechanism associated with the Cushing's syndrome.
Since my own dog started the tremoring prior to the trilo, I can't solely blame the drug. However, the tremors did worsen right after he started on it. FWIW, his cortisol level was sky-high per his diagnostic ACTH test, and I have always speculated that the tremoring was related to the cortisol level itself -- maybe rapid changes in either direction. I've especially thought this might be true because we have had Lysodren parents report the same thing.
Anyway, I don't think the mechanism is yet understood either by Dechra or anybody else. But I just wanted you to know that other members have reported the same types of experiences.
Marianne
Hi everyone:
Tipper got her 4th ACTH results and they are as follows:
Pre- 4.6
Post 11.0
She was supposed to have a complete blood panel done- as she does every time she has an ACTH, but the Tech. messed up and forgot to send it. Bummer huh? Had to take Tipper back this morning for a blood pressure check- she gets one every Wed. so they drew blood again. Poor Tipper she has had it for this week. I hope all of you get your babies blood pressure checked weekly- it is extremely important, and I have been told this by 3 different specialists. I have to run in, and hand Tipper immediately to them and they hurry and take her pressure, before she has a chance to start getting anxious. Then I always weigh her. She has lost about 10 ounces in the last 3 weeks. I don't know if that is due to the low fat dog food or the disease. When should I be alarmed about it? She was 17 lbs now 16.6. I will have her blood results probably Friday, and will post them. Other than that she has been eating well, no pilling problems, no bathroom problems, no excessive drinking, or panting. I do notice changes in her body make-up however. She is still walking about a mile every day, and eagerly wants to go. Seems to be sleeping better, except for the tremors. As I said in a previous post my Vet did call the Vet at Dechra about the tremors. The Dechra Vet said that tremors are listed as a side effect, but they are not sure if it is actually the Vetoryl, or possibly joint pain. The cortisol had previously masked any joint pain the dog would have, so in a relaxed state, they could have a twinge of pain, and that could make the tremor or leg jumping. I hope all of your babies are having a better week than the last. It is about 70 today here in the North East and Tipper and I are going to take full advantage of it. God Bless you all and all your babies.