Sarah
03-31-2011, 06:49 PM
Hi, just joined this forum because of questions about my girl's treatment. Tully is a 9-yr-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, she currently weighs about 27 pounds. (she weighed 30-32 pounds before, the primary symptom of her Cushings has been dramatic muscle wasting)
She was diagnosed with Cushings last week, and the vet (internal medicine specialist) put her on trilostane. 60 mg, 2x daily, which she had ordered for us from Wedgewood Pharmacy.
Now my concerns are first off, that I flat out can't afford to keep up that kind of treatment. 60 ct of the 60 mg trilostane from Wedgewood was $142 ($10 in shipping costs). I wish I could afford to spend $142 a month on medicine for my dog, I love her, but my budget isn't going to stretch that far for long.
My other big concern, though, is that the dosage seems really high to me for a dog this size, based on information I've found here, and on other sites on the internet. Of course, I'm not a vet, and mine may have had good reasons for her prescription. I tried calling yesterday (after the meds arrived and I had time to see what the dosage was, and look up what a usual dose was), the vet I've been seeing is off for a week, but the other internal medicine specialist said that this was on the high end of an appropriate dose and I could try using half that if I wanted. Which is what I'm doing, until I get a chance to talk to the vet I saw.
I'm just wondering what dosages other people have had, and been successful with, and if anyone else has used such a high dosage. Also, if anyone knows of a more affordable source for this medication. Or should I request that we use lysodren instead, would that be more affordable? I know my vet uses trilostane because she feels it is safer, but I would think using some medication is better than no medication.
Possibly also relevant... my dog has been a little unusual in her presentation of Cushings. The 3 vets at my usual practice, and the internal medicine specialist, didn't think she had it. She hasn't had the usual hair loss and was not pot bellied (possibly developing now). She was still enjoying her usual walks. She also didn't have elevated liver enzymes, which the specialist tells me 95% of Cushings dogs do. She has had a ravenous appetite, but that was a bit difficult to distinguish from her usual high interest in food. Pees a lot, but she's done that for years, and we had decided it was psychosomatic because she had no other symptoms of anything. She just started losing muscle mass last summer, and seeming not quite as enthusiastic about agility or her ball. The specialist vet did a urine test (creatinine/cortisol?) to rule out Cushings before pursuing an autoimmune disorder. She said a number over 13 would indicate there might be Cushings, Tully's was 258. So, we did an ultrasound and an ACTH stim, and determined that she has pituitary-based Cushings.
She was diagnosed with Cushings last week, and the vet (internal medicine specialist) put her on trilostane. 60 mg, 2x daily, which she had ordered for us from Wedgewood Pharmacy.
Now my concerns are first off, that I flat out can't afford to keep up that kind of treatment. 60 ct of the 60 mg trilostane from Wedgewood was $142 ($10 in shipping costs). I wish I could afford to spend $142 a month on medicine for my dog, I love her, but my budget isn't going to stretch that far for long.
My other big concern, though, is that the dosage seems really high to me for a dog this size, based on information I've found here, and on other sites on the internet. Of course, I'm not a vet, and mine may have had good reasons for her prescription. I tried calling yesterday (after the meds arrived and I had time to see what the dosage was, and look up what a usual dose was), the vet I've been seeing is off for a week, but the other internal medicine specialist said that this was on the high end of an appropriate dose and I could try using half that if I wanted. Which is what I'm doing, until I get a chance to talk to the vet I saw.
I'm just wondering what dosages other people have had, and been successful with, and if anyone else has used such a high dosage. Also, if anyone knows of a more affordable source for this medication. Or should I request that we use lysodren instead, would that be more affordable? I know my vet uses trilostane because she feels it is safer, but I would think using some medication is better than no medication.
Possibly also relevant... my dog has been a little unusual in her presentation of Cushings. The 3 vets at my usual practice, and the internal medicine specialist, didn't think she had it. She hasn't had the usual hair loss and was not pot bellied (possibly developing now). She was still enjoying her usual walks. She also didn't have elevated liver enzymes, which the specialist tells me 95% of Cushings dogs do. She has had a ravenous appetite, but that was a bit difficult to distinguish from her usual high interest in food. Pees a lot, but she's done that for years, and we had decided it was psychosomatic because she had no other symptoms of anything. She just started losing muscle mass last summer, and seeming not quite as enthusiastic about agility or her ball. The specialist vet did a urine test (creatinine/cortisol?) to rule out Cushings before pursuing an autoimmune disorder. She said a number over 13 would indicate there might be Cushings, Tully's was 258. So, we did an ultrasound and an ACTH stim, and determined that she has pituitary-based Cushings.