Can stress bring on Cushings symptoms???

[Lori Tuffy's mom]

Tuffy, my beautiful 10 year old Australian Cattle dog, has just been dignosed with pituitary caused Cushings. We just finished extensive testing, an ultra-sound which showed enlarged adrenal glands but no tumors, and a liver only slightly enlarged and kidneys still OK. The interesting thing is that the onset of the polydipsia/polyuria,which are his only real symptoms, began a little over a year ago. This coincided with the departure of my domestic partner of 8 years who went to go visit his parents in another state and shortly thereafter met someone else and decided not to return, which was very traumatic for Tuffy, not to mention myself.
We had originally adopted Tuffy at 18 months, and when we got him he was in a backyard alone with a bucket of water, anxious and stressed, panting and drinking water profusely. It took several months before he began to act like a normal happy dog, and he spent the next 8 years primarily with my ex and his dog 24/7. Not only did he feed them, he walked and ran them daily and even slept with them most of the time and took them everywhere he went. Being a recording artist he did not have a day job so took this on voluntarily. Anyway, after he and his dog left, Tuffy seemed depressed and anxious and began reverting back to the state we first found him in, so I wasn't too alarmed. But over the year his water consumption has escalated, and since and it was now close to 3 gallons a day, I could no longer ignore it. Luckily, I am still in contact with my ex who is currently putting together a CD to sell as a benefit to help pay for Tuffy's treatment.
My question is this: does anyone else have a dog with a cushing's diagnosis and symptoms that seemed to coincide with some sort of trauma or loss?? Curious....

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Tuffy,

So sorry for the reasons the brought you to us but glad you found your way here.

I have never heard or read of any stress or trauma that causes Cushing's. Cushing's originates from a tumor that is either on the pituitary and/or adrenal gland, and can be created from prolonged use of any type of steroid, which then it is called Iatrogenic Cushing's.

I was wondering if you could get copies of all tests that were done on Tuffy and post any abnormalities that are listed. Also is Tuffy taking any herbs/supplements/medicines? Could you tell us how much Tuffy weighs? Does Tuffy have any other health issues? Does Tuffy have a ravenous appetite? Does he have skin/hair problems?

Cushing's is one of the most difficult diseases to get a confirmed diagnosis for because not one test is 100% accurate at diagnosing it and other non-adrenal illnesses can create false positive results on all tests for Cushing's. Any kind of stress, pain, etc. does make a dog's system produce more cortisol so if Tuffy was really stressed when the Cushing's test was performed then a positive diagnosis of Cushing's can be questionable.

Please know we are here to help in any way we can so do not hesitate to ask all the questions you want.

Love and hugs, Lori

[doxiesrock912]

Stress can certainly affect any illness but it does not cause it. Cushings dogs often have or develop a myriad of other health issues before the disease is properly diagnosed because it's easy to confuse the symptoms with something else until they're quite obvious.

Stress can affect the test results by making them a little higher than they would be, but when I asked Daisy's IMS vet how much stress could affect the tests, she said that it wouldn't be enough of a change to make the Cushings diagnosis incorrect.

[Harley PoMMom]

Stress can affect the test results by making them a little higher than they would be, but when I asked Daisy's IMS vet how much stress could affect the tests, she said that it wouldn't be enough of a change to make the Cushings diagnosis incorrect.

I don't agree with your IMS, and neither does Dr. Peterson who is a renown Cushing's expert. Here's a quote from Dr Peterson's blog:


Stress and other factors to avoid when performing the LDDST
It is important to remember that "stress"activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, leading to increased secretion of both ACTH and cortisol. In some normal dogs, the stress response may override the suppressive effects of the LDDST to produce a false-positive test result.


http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/2012/05/helpful-tips-to-improve-accuracy-of-low.html

[Lori Tuffy's mom]

Hi there, and thanks so much for the quick replies about Tuffy.
As to tests, blood test showed ALK Phosphate at 459 and platelet count of 607, T4 very low at <.5 The UCC test was very elevated at 49 hence the ultrasound. The adrenals were enlarged with no signs of calcification, liver only slightly enlarged. His urine was very dilute, specific gravity at 1.001.
His weight is 66 now, and was 55 before all this started, so overweight but no pot belly as yet, and no apparent skin or coat problems so far. For the record, he has ALWAYS been ravenous.
At this point I have been giving him lignans from flax hull meal and 3mg of melantonin twice a day, not to mention 2 tablets Nutri Pet bladder Control twice a day and 500 mg of glucosamine. The vet has prescribed soloxine for low thyroid,
however I decided not to start after finding this may resolve with treatment for cushings. The vet would like me to try Trilostane first, but I thought I would wait a few months until it's obvious the melantonin and lignans aren't having an affect. I understand that normally just works with atypical cushings, but thought I would give it a try.
I have Tuffy's chart here if there are any other readings that might help.....