Has anyone used Adrenal Harmony Gold for Dog Cushings

[najnelson]

My 11 year old doxie was just diagnosed with Cushings. The medication is more than I expected. I have found this on line with some saying it's a wonder Alternative help and others saying it doesn't work. My vet doesn't think it will work, but I do believe in Alternative medicines, at least to try.
Have any of you used it and how did it go>

[judymaggie]

Hi and welcome to you and your pup! With regard to the use of Adrenal Harmony, here are comments offered to another member by one of our administrators, Lori about Cushex and Adrenal Harmony drops:


Regarding the Cushex, unfortunately I have seen no truly effective alternatives to Rx medication when the goal is to lower cortisol levels significantly enough to eliminate/control the internal and external symptoms and damage caused by the disease. Cushex and Adrenal Harmony Gold have no controlled clinical testing whatsoever to back up their claims (we know this because we have contacted the manufacturers and we have been told that no testing has been done). However, we have had some members who told us that the drops worked very well in controlling symptoms but only for a short time period.

Regardless of what route you decide to take, we will do our best to support you. In that regard, we can offer the best guidance if you would give us some details about your dog's road to a Cushing's diagnosis. In order to fill in the gaps and help us understand your dog's disease process, please post the results of recent lab tests. With regard to blood tests, you need only post the highs and lows along with the stated range. Some urine tests will also have such highs and lows and others will have numbers (such as dilution factor). Please also provide us with the results of any tests that were done to diagnose Cushing's, i.e., ACTH (in addition to the 7/16 results), LDDS, ultrasound.

What symptoms did you and/or your vet see in your dog that led you to test for Cushing's? Is he/she being treated for any other conditions? If so, what other medications does he/she get?

There are some cost savings measures that can help save you a lot of money with regard to the Cushing's medications. One is to use compounded trilostane. Another is to purchase brand name Vetoryl from a pet pharmacy whose high volume allows them to sell the product at a much lower price than that which most vets use. I do a combination of both -- I get 10 mg. Vetoryl capsules from California Pet Pharmacy and 4.5 mg. compunded trilostane capsules from Diamondback Pharmacy. Some vets are hesitant to authorize prescriptions from a compounding pharmacy due to a study that was done a few years ago that showed variations in strength in compounded trilostane from eight online pharmacies. If you are contemplating compounded trilostane, I highly recommend Diamondback Drugs as they are definitely a trusted pharmacy used by many, many members over the years. I've included a link for both pharmacies below:

http://www.californiapetpharmacy.com/vetoryl.html and

http://www.diamondbackdrugs.com/

My vet is very cognizant how expensive this disease can be and is more than willing to contact these pharmacies and provide prescriptions.

Looking forward to learning more about your pup (name?)!

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

As Judy mentioned there are ways to save money, like using compounded trilostane rather than the more expensive name brand. At 1mg/1lb starting dose, I'm guessing that compounded would be reasonably priced for you through a pharmacy like Diamondback that many of our members use. (you can call them and find out the exact price and they mail the medication to you)

I think that what we've seen is that some members who have used adrenal harmony saw a decrease in symptoms for awhile, most end up having to go the medication route.

The more you can tell us about your furbaby the better feedback we can give, and we do like details. :)

[najnelson]

Hi all,
I already love this group.
My baby is Tink, an 11 year old black and tan,and getting grayer, doxie.
I don't have the exact numbers but her initial cushing blood work came back, 2.6 or something around there. She had the sonogram on Monday and it is not a tumor but her adreanals are enlarged.

I have contacted Diamondback and they were 1/2 the price of the pharmacy that the Vet recommended. His concern was that he doesn't know the quality control with the on line pharmacies but will go with what I decide.

Has everyone always been happy with the Diamondback quality. It seems so, but would like to know if there are any con's about it.

She is thirsty all the time, goes through 2 medium sized mixing bowls of water each day, has gained 6-7 pounds, has the pot belly, is thinning hair and I'm beginning to notice a few more missteps than normal.

Thanks for all your help and advice and looking forward to being a part of this group.