New Member -- Cushingoid Myelopathy

[VAB]

Hi, my almost 17 YO Toy Poodle was officially diagnosed with Cushing's (pituitary) early 2019 and has been on compounded Vetoryl (currently 2.5 mg SID but, has been on 2.5 mg BID) for most of that time. Last week a neurologist diagnosed him with Cushingoid Myelopathy (both front legs especially the left are very stiff, walks sort of peg legged). Fortunately, his hind legs are weak but, he can walk. The neurologist said he sees this in Cushing's dogs but, none of the internists I have seen mentioned it. We are seeing an internist tomorrow to discuss this plus Daniel's most recent bloodwork. Has anyone else dealt with this condition or heard of it? Thank you.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Daniel!

Gosh I am sorry for the reasons that brought you here but so glad you found us and we will help in any way we can. On the forum we have seen a few cases of dogs that have Cushing's with myotonia being a side effect from that disease.

From this article it seems that:
Treatment for myotonia can also be directed at stabilizing the muscle fiber membrane. Drugs used for this purpose include procainamide, quinidine and phenytoin (5,6). Serum levels of carnitine were reportedly reduced in a human patient with congenital myotonia (18), and supplementation with L-carnitine might help to alleviate muscle weakness in metabolic myopathies in dogs (19) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4535507/

Please let us know what the internist says, and good luck!

Hugs, Lori

[labblab]

Hello and welcome from me, too — I’m so glad to see you and Daniel here on the forum! I’ll come back again later on when I have more time to post, but I wanted to at least stop by this morning to greet you ;-).

Marianne

[labblab]

Hello again. I wanted to stop back by, but unfortunately I don’t have much to specifically add about Daniel’s neurological issues. “Pseudomyotonia” is such a rare complication of Cushing’s that we seldom see it among our members, and I really don’t know whether or not there have been any recent treatment breakthroughs. So in this case, after meeting with the specialists, you may actually be able to pass on some much-appreciated information to us, rather than vice versa. Here’s an older article that we’ve offered as a link in the past, but as I say, hopefully there have been advances in knowledge and treatment since that time.

https://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/2011/02/q-pseudomyotonia-in-dogs-with-cushings.html

We’d be most interested, though, if you’d care to tell us more about Daniel’s overall Cushing’s journey, any traditional symptoms that he may have exhibited, and whether or not the trilostane has been helpful thus far. I surely understand why the myotonia is a primary issue for you right now, but we’d also be happy to offer our support re: the more common challenges presented by Cushing’s.

Marianne