Please help

[jayvee]

I understand that this a forum for diabetic dogs--I registered with you when you were hosting the cushings forums temporarily. I've tried to register with that forum with no luck so I'm hoping that maybe someone here might be able to give me advice. My BC/Aussie mix is 14 and was diagnosed with Cushing's last month. She had been on a maintenance dose of lysodren for about 2 weeks and seemed to be doing relatively well--and then she stopped eating altogether about a week ago. Had a whole battery of blood tests done and found her cortisol levels were okay, kidney, liver function was normal. I don't think my vet knows what to do at this point--said maybe the pituatary tumor was causing her problems. She has weakness in her legs and is congested. She didn't want to even drink water but I've managed to coax her to. She was lethargic and seemed depressed-she seems to be a little better in that regard yesterday and today, but is still not eating. She's off all medications now--she was taking the lysodren, prednisone and eye drops because her eyes were pus-filled. She WAS doing real well prior to this and was amazingly healthy despite her age. I'm at a loss now as to what to do. Please let me know if any of you have any suggestions. Thanks so much.

Joan

[We Hope]

Re: Please help

Joan,

While we can't really offer any advice on Cushing's here, I've contacted k9cushings.com and advised them of your registration difficulties. Someone should be in touch with you either via e-mail (the address you used when you signed up here) or via PM from this board.

Kathy

[Harley PoMMom]

Re: Please help

Joan,

Joan is registered here. She was in the "users awaiting e-mail confirmation" queue, so maybe the registration confirmation e-mail ended up in her spam folder somehow or there was some kind of glitch in the import process.

Anyway, I just manually approved her membership here, so she should be able to post here now.

by acushdogsmom

Honey, go to the http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/member.php?u=127 and they will try to help you there.

[Lucygoo]

Re: Please help

Joan....
The symptoms you describe sound a lot like what my Lucy went through, and she indeed had a very large pituitary tumor that was removed last week in a study here in Los Angeles. Is she having any neurological symptoms as well? Like acting confused, sort of zoning out kind of thing? Any muscle spasms? Lucy was hunching her back like a cat.
Of course they'll need to do an MRI first to confirm it's a tumor, which is very expensive, and a personal decision. I had it done because Lucy's only 11,
and in otherwise perfect health.
Then from there I had a couple options, like radiation or a Canadian drug they're trying out, or palliative care to make her feel better for a few months, at which time I would have had to put her down.

First I would immediately get her back on prednisone. That helped Lucy a lot. It took down the swelling and inflammation in her head, gave her an appetite, and just made her feel a hell of a lot better. She was about 45 lbs and was on 20 mg a day. The only drawback is she'll be drinking water and peeing constantly, but she'll start eating and feeling better.

I have a thread in K9cushings.com....I know it's long and excruciating, but it might give you a better idea of things. I know what you're going through...it's the worst thing in the world. Anxious to hear what's going on

Take care,
Gina and Lucy

[acushdogsmom]

Re: Please help

Joan,

Please come over and join us at the k9cushings site:

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum

Your membership has been approved and you should be able to post there now.

Just login over there, and start a thread in our Questions and Discussions Forum, and I'm sure you'll be getting lots of replies.

[frijole]

Re: Please help

Joan

I hope that you have found your way to the new site and managed to get registered. Since I didn't see a post yet I wanted to make sure to ask a question here just to be safe....

You mentioned that the cortisol numbers are fine. All the signs (lack of hunger and thirst) point to cortisol numbers being low. Please go to the lab report (if you have a copy - if not call the vets office) and get the 2 numbers on the report. The 2nd number is the number we are looking for.

I too would be inclined to try a little prednisone to see if it perks your dog up. I just wanted to make sure that the cortisol numbers are in line.

If you still cannot get logged into the new forum send me a PM here with the user name and password you want to set up over there and I will see you get set up ok.

Glad you found us!!!
Kim

[k9diabetes]

Re: Pandy has crossed the bridge

Sweet Pandy crossed the bridge on May 26, 2009.... Godspeed to her and deepest sympathies to John and Joan.

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/show...?t=500&page=19

Natalie