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Thread: Cushing information website.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    San Diego, Ca
    Posts
    2,133

    Default Cushing information website.

    To all my cushing parents, may this website give you the information you need. there are some updates on lower dosages for Trilostane and other updates. Please take the time to read. Also resources and info from the University of Tennessee.
    Hugs Sonja and Angel Apollo
    http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjcushings.html#start

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    rural central ARK
    Posts
    14,549

    Default Re: Cushing information website.

    Dilute urine (low specific gravity) due to excessive drinking.

    X-rays may show an enlarged liver and occasionally calcium deposits in the skin (calcinosis cutis, which feel like rocks and cause itching).

    ACTH Stimulation: No longer recommended for diagnosis, as its sensitivity is poor,....and it is the only test that can be used for dogs currently taking corticosteroids.

    A dog with at least three of the typical signs plus a positive test is considered to have Cushing’s,

    None of the tests are reliable for dogs with a known nonadrenal illness.

    Dogs with pituitary tumors have high ACTH levels, while those with adrenal tumors will have low or no measurable ACTH.

    Adrenal tumors can be seen on ultrasound 30 to 50 percent of the time.

    The best treatment for Cushing’s disease depends on the severity of symptoms,

    It (treatment) is not likely to prolong life

    Mitotane is convenient and relatively inexpensive, but it has potentially severe side effects. A chemotherapy drug, it works by selectively eroding the two inner layers of the adrenal cortex that produce cortisol while tending to preserve the outer layer that makes aldosterone.

    Mitotane is given once or twice a day during the "induction" phase to induce erosion of the adrenal glands.

    daily use (induction phase) is stopped and lifelong maintenance treatment once or twice a week is begun. The ACTH test can be repeated after about a month, then one to four times a year thereafter.

    Cost is its main disadvantage, though monitoring costs may be less than with mitotane.

    Trilostane seems to predispose dogs to increased adrenal toxicity from mitotane, so it’s best to wait at least a month in between if switching to mitotane. When changing from another drug to trilostane, wait a couple of weeks or until clinical signs recur.

    Side effects can include vomiting and diarrhea, but no “antidote pill” is needed. Just discontinue until side effects go away, then restart at a lower dose. (NO mention of the harsh effects of this drug on the liver)

    Because drugs can only relieve symptoms and cannot cure Cushing’s disease or slow its progression


    They also recommend avoiding licorice, borage leaf, and other herbs that stimulate adrenal activity.

    Mascara was placed on Energetix BioBalancer vitamins [no longer available], Rehmannia (a Chinese herb), melatonin spray, and essential oils

    Lysodren (mitotane) can be combined with melatonin and lignans to help lower sex steroid levels other than estradiol

    Caroline Levin, a registered nurse who has been researching SARDS in dogs for years, has a different name for atypical Cushing's. She calls it adrenal fatigue or exhaustion, caused by the adrenal glands becoming too tired to make sufficient cortisol.

    The bolded parts are some of the statements made in this article that are not clear enough and therefore misleading, that I question...or I flat know is wrong. For example, never, ever use essential oils on your pets. Cats do not have a specific liver enzyme required to process the oils and dogs have very little of this enzyme (who's name I can't remember for the life of me!). The EOs will remain in the body building to a toxic level. And treatment does NOT extend life? Really now?

    She seems to be recommending things like Cushex, too.

    Some good info but some not-so-good info, too, in my opinion. Others may feel differently. I know many folk who think if it came out of so-n-so's mouth it is solid gold. We need to learn to think critically and not simply believe anything we read no matter who the author is or where the info is found.
    "May you know that absence is full of tender presence and that nothing is ever lost or forgotten." John O'Donahue, "Eternal Echoes"

    Death is not a changing of worlds as most imagine, as much as the walls of this world infinitely expanding.

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