Re: Almost 8 y.o. recently diagnosed, a few questions
I haven't read your posts on the diabetes site but am familiar with Atypical Cushing's. That is what my Squirt started out with. Atypical is a form in which the cortisol is NORMAL but 2 or more of the intermediate hormones are elevated. The only place I know of that tests for this form is the University of Tennessee in Knoxville so if labs weren't run by them there can be no diagnosis of Atypical. The cortisol is the key - if it is elevated then the dog has conventional Cushing's, not Atypical. The intermediate hormones will be elevated in most cush pups so they aren't diagnostic in and of themselves for Atypical
UTK used to say that they preferred Lysodren for Atypical pups if the cortisol did start to rise. This is because Vetoryl/Trilostane has been shown to cause elevations in these other hormones while Lysodren controls them with the possible exception of estradiol. Estradiol can be produced in some odd places like hair follicles and Lyso works ONLY on the adrenal glands. So if this hormone is elevated then the only thing that reach it is the combination of lignans and melatonin. One or the other won't help.
I will be interested in hearing what the IMS plans for Paddy. I am very glad the extractions went well!
Hugs,
Leslie
"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.