Alopecia X and Cushings ( black skin disease )

[ChihuahuaMama]

Shirley is our white/brown 5lb Chihuahua. We don’t know exactly how old she is but Vets thinks she's about 10-12 yrs old. She was diagnosed with Cushing’s about a month ago when we started noticing her legs turning black and hair falling out. She has been on 2.5mg of Trilostane for the past month. She was on Trilostane about a week, then had an ACTH Stim test. Vet said her numbers showed improvement so we’ve kept her on the low dose. We had another ACTH Stim test today and will get the result back on Monday…

My question is: Does anyone else have Alopecia X as a symptom of Cushing’s?
Does it ever get better?

I almost feel like since she started the Trilostane the black skin and hair loss has gotten worse! Anyone have any experience with this? :confused:

[joalgopa]

Welcome to the forum! I'm not sure what is the difference between Alopecia X and other types of hair loss, but dog's with Cushing do suffer from hair loss. When using the right dose of trilostane you will notice that Cushing symptoms will slowly fade away but skin and coat issues are the last ones to improve, it may take a few months ,so we have to be patient with that.

[labblab]

Hello, and welcome from me, too. We’re really glad you’ve found us! We are aware of the diagnosis of Alopecia X, but typically it is a separate diagnosis in and of itself as opposed to being connected to Cushing’s. Can you tell us whether Shirley suffers from any symptoms other than the black skin and hair loss? Cushing’s typically involves a number of other symptoms including excessive thirst/urination/hunger, panting, pot belly, hind-end muscle weakness, seeking out cool spots, etc. There are also certain laboratory changes that are consistent with Cushing’s including elevations in liver markers and cholesterol, as well as very dilute urine.

If Shirley suffers solely from the skin and coat changes, it seems possible to me that Alopecia X is the sole diagnosis. If so, trilostane remains a valid treatment for that condition. But I’m hoping we can learn more about why your vet is additionally suspecting Cushing’s.

And one last question: is Shirley’s thyroid level within normal limits? Low thyroid can also cause problems with skin and coat, so I’m just wondering whether that’s been checked out in detail.

Marianne