Hello all (7 y/o Pom) - Lysodren

[Heidi'sFaith]

New member here. I'm probably going to ramble so bear with me a bit.

I am sitting waiting to go and pick up my 7 year old Pom from the vet's office. They are running tests to find out if she has Cushing's. In the past few weeks I thought I was noticing some trouble with her eyes, a few stumbles and such. Back in Jan I took her to her vet and was telling them that she had gained quite a bit of weight, about 2 lbs since November of the previous year. They told me the general thing about watching her food intake, etc.

I done that and she still gained weight. I notified them and they gave me the same advice so I changed vets. I took her in and we done some blood work and everything looked fine. So I restricted her diet further and started monitoring.

A few weeks ago I started watching her very closely on her vision. Over the past weekend I noticed a significant change. I took her to the vet on Monday and they said she had retinal degeneration with possible Cushing's, to bring her in and they would do some more testing on her.

I took her in this morning at 8 and will pick her up in a little bit. I am nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof. I hope w/ everything I have that it is not Cushing's. I've done some research online and it scares me badly. I can deal w/ the blindess and make modifications but I don't want to loose my Heidi.

So that is our story so far. I'm sure I'm leaving bunches out but I wanted to say hello and use some of this nervous energy.

Thanks,
Faith

[Harley PoMMom]

Welcome to our family, I am so sorry for the circumstances that brought you here but so glad that you found this forum. These people are amazing...very knowledgeable about cushings...years of collective experience with this disease...you have come to the right place.

Please get copies of all tests that are done on Heidi and post the results here for us. The more information we know about your precious girl the better our feedback will be, ok?

Cushing's is one of the most difficult diseases to get diagnosed. Not one test is 100% accurate and there are other illnesses that mimic some of the same symptoms as Cushing's. One thing I want you to know is that Cushing’s is a treatable disease. Delivery of competent and humane medical care by a skilled GP and/or specialist experienced in the diagnosis and management of Cushing’s has a significant impact on patient survival and well-being. With proper medical management, close monitoring and owner observation, most Cushingoid pets can live to their full life expectancy, with complete or partial resolution of clinical signs, and good quality of life!

We all know how frightening that word "Cushing's" is when one hears it for the first time but when one educates themselves about this disease it does become less scary. And remember we are here to help you and Heidi in any way we can so please do not hesitate to ask any questions.

Love and hugs,
Lori

[Heidi'sFaith]

Welcome to our family, I am so sorry for the circumstances that brought you here but so glad that you found this forum. These people are amazing...very knowledgeable about cushings...years of collective experience with this disease...you have come to the right place.

Please get copies of all tests that are done on Heidi and post the results here for us. The more information we know about your precious girl the better our feedback will be, ok?

Cushing's is one of the most difficult diseases to get diagnosed. Not one test is 100% accurate and there are other illnesses that mimic some of the same symptoms as Cushing's. One thing I want you to know is that Cushing’s is a treatable disease. Delivery of competent and humane medical care by a skilled GP and/or specialist experienced in the diagnosis and management of Cushing’s has a significant impact on patient survival and well-being. With proper medical management, close monitoring and owner observation, most Cushingoid pets can live to their full life expectancy, with complete or partial resolution of clinical signs, and good quality of life!

We all know how frightening that word "Cushing's" is when one hears it for the first time but when one educates themselves about this disease it does become less scary. And remember we are here to help you and Heidi in any way we can so please do not hesitate to ask any questions.

Love and hugs,
Lori
Thank you so much for the warm welcome, Lori. Lori is the name of one of my best friends, btw..lol

We are back from the vets office and she does have Cushing's. From what the vet thinks we are diagnosing it at a very early stage of it. She done the test that takes all day. Her beginning number was 3.7...after the dosage at noon she was at 1.6...then this evening she was still at 1.6. My vet said that if she she was normal the second reading would have been lower or at 0.

I had her glucose level checked as well and it was at 78.

My vet said that she was conflicted about diagnosing her with Cushing's at first but conferred w/ a more experienced vet at the office and said that they should start her on a very low dose of Lysodren. Then I take her back in for more testing on next Tuesday to see if things are going well.

She gave me some signs to watch for in case Heidi goes into Addison's and she also put Heidi on a dose of Predizone to help prevent that during the loading stage, I believe.

Her eyesight is going slowly but steadily. Right now, she still enjoys doing all the things that she normally did and I'm trying to stay positive. I had read so many horror stories about this disease that I cried most of last night and yesterday afternoon. My vet said that with close monitoring, me being observant and the right med combo she didn't see any reason why Heidi wouldn't live out to a normal life expectancy.

[frijole]

Hi and welcome from me. I hope you check in soon because I really want you to read this information. I am no expert in this particular illness but we see it from time to time here. It is called SARDS. Sudden Acquired Retinel Degeneration Syndrome.

Dogs sometimes are diagnosed by mistake with cushings when they actually have SARDS. Based on what you have shared about the eyesight I encourage you to go to a specialist ASAP because you have a chance of saving your dog's sight I believe.

Please read this and let us know what you think. Thanks! Kim

http://k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213

[Heidi'sFaith]

Hi and welcome from me. I hope you check in soon because I really want you to read this information. I am no expert in this particular illness but we see it from time to time here. It is called SARDS. Sudden Acquired Retinel Degeneration Syndrome.

Dogs sometimes are diagnosed by mistake with cushings when they actually have SARDS. Based on what you have shared about the eyesight I encourage you to go to a specialist ASAP because you have a chance of saving your dog's sight I believe.

Please read this and let us know what you think. Thanks! Kim

http://k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213
The vet talked about SARDS first when I saw her and then she wanted to do the testing for Cushing's. I will call them tomorrow and see if I can get a referral to a specialist. I had read that article somewhere in my search in the last few days.

I will call her in the morning and get an appointment. Thank you for referring the article to me. I hope I can save some of her sight but I think she has lost quite a bit of it already. She is pretty apt at getting around except in the last couple of days. I wonder if she had already mapped out her area, the house, yard etc and I didn't notice it until it was too obvious...?

[mytil]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Here is a link that goes into more details about Lysodren and what is called the loading process. http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181.

When you can, let us know how much Lysodren was prescribed?

Terry

[Harley PoMMom]

My vet said that she was conflicted about diagnosing her with Cushing's at first but conferred w/ a more experienced vet at the office and said that they should start her on a very low dose of Lysodren. Then I take her back in for more testing on next Tuesday to see if things are going well.

She gave me some signs to watch for in case Heidi goes into Addison's and she also put Heidi on a dose of Predizone to help prevent that during the loading stage, I believe.


Using prednisone and Lysodren together during the induction or loading phase is not the normal protocol that is followed by a vet/IMS that is knowledgeable and experienced with the treatment of Lysodren. This has me really concerned.

Prednisone mimics cortisol in the dogs system, so when one is trying to load their dog on Lysodren the predisone may mask the symptoms of their dog being loaded.

Also, usually the normal protocol is to start a loading dose of 50 mg/kg/day, divided and given BID (twice a day).

I strongly suggest that you seek the advice of an IMS. Many of us here have had to get an IMS on-board because our regular vet did not have the experience with Cushing's like an IMS will.

Please keep us posted.

Love and hugs,
Lori

[Heidi'sFaith]

Hi and welcome from me too.

Here is a link that goes into more details about Lysodren and what is called the loading process. http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181.

When you can, let us know how much Lysodren was prescribed?

Terry

Terry,

Thank you for the welcome.

She was prescribed about 62.5 of Lysodren twice a day. I will read up on that link too, thank you :)

[Heidi'sFaith]

Using prednisone and Lysodren together during the induction or loading phase is not the normal protocol that is followed by a vet/IMS that is knowledgeable and experienced with the treatment of Lysodren. This has me really concerned.

Prednisone mimics cortisol in the dogs system, so when one is trying to load their dog on Lysodren the predisone may mask the symptoms of their dog being loaded.

Also, usually the normal protocol is to start a loading dose of 50 mg/kg/day, divided and given BID (twice a day).

I strongly suggest that you seek the advice of an IMS. Many of us here have had to get an IMS on-board because our regular vet did not have the experience with Cushing's like an IMS will.

Please keep us posted.

Love and hugs,
Lori

Lori,

I don't know what an IMS is but I do have the number for a vet in a larger town that brought her out of a liver infection a couple of years ago when a different local vet didn't know what to do. I will try my best to get her there this morning.

Her dose of Lysodren is about 62 mg. They only had it available in 500 mg tablets and cut them down. The vet wanted her to take that twice a day but I've only given her one dose of it and it was the smallest one that was in the bottle. I didn't give her the dose of Prednisone because of the reading I did here last night.

I do know there is an eye specialist at the new vets place. Because her numbers were so borderline w/ Cushing's I will be taking those tests in with me as well.

I will give them a call as soon as they open and then update when I know something more.

Thanks :)

[Harley PoMMom]

IMS = Internal Medicine Specialist :) IMS' usually handle many, many more cases of difficult diseases, like Cushing's, unlike one's ordinary vet does.

When I was loading my boy, Harley, also a Pom! he was getting 250 mg 2X a day for his weight of 23.5lbs. This came out to 46.81 mg/kg, split and given BID.

How much does Heidi weigh? And is her dose of Lysodren to be divided and given twice a day?

Love and hugs,
Lori

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Faith,

Welcome to you and Heidi! :)

When our vet first said the word "Cushing's", I thought my heart would stop beating. Squirt is the light of my world, she is my heart-n-soul dog and the very idea that she was seriously sick was just about more than I could handle.

I started researching online immediately and the more I read and the more folks said to me, the worse I became. By the time I found this amazing bunch of folks, I was a total basket-case! :eek: I couldn't understand the simplest of things from any source. All I could think was that my baby was going to die. I cried for weeks on end! But once I got here, these wonderful folks took my hand and gently led me along until I could breath again.

As I learned more about Cushing's and the treatments available, the fear started to leave and I became much more hopeful and confident. Over three years later, Cushing's is no more frightening than the common cold. If I can come to this point, anyone can! :p

Please ask all the questions you have and we will do our best to help you understand. Cushing's is one of, if not THE, most difficult canine condition to diagnose. Thankfully, it is also a very slowly progressing condition so you have plenty of time to make absolutely sure that you are dealing with Cushing's, what form, and the best treatment approach for your baby. Rushing into treatment and vets who don't/won't follow protocols for diagnosing and treating the disease put our babies at the greatest risk for complications, IMHO.

Education is vital when dealing with Cushing's. You are Heidi's first and last defense, her only voice, her advocate, and the more you know the stronger you will be in these roles. I realize what a daunting prospect that sounds like right now, but you will be amazed at how much you have learned in no time. So use the group, ask lots of questions and let us help you learn. :)

I am so glad you found us and look forward to learning more about you and Heidi as time passes.

Hugs,
Leslie and the girls

PS. The Kate Connick site has some good info on Cushing's that is easy to understand plus she has a great list of common signs seen with Cushing's that you can use as a guide. I also found the Newman Veterinary site helpful even tho it is a bit more technical than Kate's. Here are links to those two sites so you have something to do in your spare time. :p

Kate Connick*
http://www.kateconnick.com/library/cushingsdisease.html

Newman Veterinary*
http://www.newmanveterinary.com/CushingDiag.html

[Heidi'sFaith]

My update. Heidi has an appt with the eye dr but it's 2 wks away. That was the soonest I could get.

He said that with the numbers as borderline as the test yesterday showed he was not positive meds was the right way to go and he wanted to do some more testing on her. He took her back to do an ultra-sound and some more blood work. She hadn't eaten yet by that time.

He came back and said the ultra-sound showed some liver damage but that was accounted for because of the liver infection she had about 2 years ago. He said that all other organs looked normal.

He said that all the blood work was within normal limits and that it was during the test by the previous vet. He said he did not think she had Cushing's at all. The panting that she was doing a few weeks ago was explained by weight gain. She has lost .4 lbs from her highest weight from the diet that we've put her on.

She is not drinking anymore water than normal, nor urinating any extra. He said that he did not medicate for Cushing's unless the extreme thrist was present.

So, I made the appt for her eyes and then I made an appt in late May for them to repeat the blood work to make sure about the Cushing's.

I hope I've made the right decisions....