Cushings, allergies, and newly diagnosed diabetes

[Raysaint]

Re: Cushings, allergies, and newly diagnosed diabetes

Whenever I’ve done a dose increase, it can take weeks to see some consistent change in numbers. You may have to give it more time, his numbers aren’t crazy bad. Adjusting to a new dose is different for every dog.

Drinking after eating is common, can have nothing to do with blood sugar. My dog goes to his water bowl 4-5 times the first hour after a meal, then hardly ever the rest of the day.

Nadir times are also different for most dogs and can change after a dose change. My dog’s nadir is between 2:30 and 3:30 now, and back to a bowl type curve. Not long ago he had a weird mountain type curve with nadir before noon.
It’s a weird disease.

The latest curve you show, it looks like there’s room for a slight dose increase. If 6 gave numbers too low, maybe 5.5 might be worth a try for a while.

[katy1]

Re: Cushings, allergies, and newly diagnosed diabetes

I'm new to this forum posting so I apologize for not having an appropriate reply to the previous post.

Hi Everyone,
I wasn’t sure where to post this, so this is where I decided to land and I’ll see what happens. I have a 10 yr. old mini-schnauzer who has been diabetic for a year and was just recently diagnosed with Cushings.
As far as her diabetes, she is currently on 6 units of insulin 2x per day and is on Glycobalance wet dog food. She is currently at about 17 lbs.
Several months ago, she began drinking more water and getting a pot belly. At the same time, we were also dealing with our other mini-schnauzer’s ( now deceased at age 14) lymphoma. I finally took Annie to the vet for a complete check and asked him to run a complete CBC as her liver enzymes had not been checked in about a year. Her liver tests came back off the chart, sorry I don’t have the exact numbers now, and her glucose was also extremely high. At that point we went from 10 units 2x a day to 15 units 2x a day and we discussed the possibility of Cushings. My husband and I had to be out of town the week of Feb. 11, 2019 and Annie was to be boarded at the vets anyway, so we gave the OK for him to run all appropriate tests and by the 15th, we had a confirmation of Cushings. He started the dosing process with 375mg daily and was also doing periodic stim tests. When we returned several days later, she was still not fully dosed so we left her at the vet hospital so he could also monitor her glucose which was very unstable. Our vet has had quite a bit of experience with Cushings pups and told us if he could get her fully dosed on the Lysodren that we would also see a dramatic decrease in her blood glucose. That is exactly what happened. After three weeks in the hospital her cortisol level had dropped from 17.5 down to 2, and they had been able to stabilize her glucose and had taken her from 15 units of insulin 2x per day down to 5 units.
She has been home for over a week now and she went in today for a glucose curve. It was higher and he upped her insulin to 6 units 2x per day. I wasn’t able to talk to him when we picked her up but one of his techs was questioning me about her food intake and I mentioned she was getting her “treats” again which she did not get while in the hospital. Long story short, I received a long lecture on treats and now she is not supposed to have anything other than her dog food. No sugar free anything or even green beans! They kept telling me that she will be fine without any treats but I’m still in shock. She has always had a small treat of something appropriate after her shots and now I don’t know what to do excpt what I’m told to do. I’ve had mini-schnauzers for over 45 years, one was diabetic, but I’ve never encountered Cushings before and the effect it has on a diabetic dog.
I posted at first on the Cushings forum but they sent me here. The two conditions are so connected one really can’t discuss one and leave out the other.
So after all the above babble---is there anyone on this forum with a dual diagnosis pup I can talk to? Bless you all and your beloved pups. Take care. Karen

[MikeMurphy]

Re: Cushings, allergies, and newly diagnosed diabetes

I'm new to this forum posting so I apologize for not having an appropriate reply to the previous post.

Hi Everyone,
I wasn’t sure where to post this, so this is where I decided to land and I’ll see what happens. I have a 10 yr. old mini-schnauzer who has been diabetic for a year and was just recently diagnosed with Cushings.
As far as her diabetes, she is currently on 6 units of insulin 2x per day and is on Glycobalance wet dog food. She is currently at about 17 lbs.
Several months ago, she began drinking more water and getting a pot belly. At the same time, we were also dealing with our other mini-schnauzer’s ( now deceased at age 14) lymphoma. I finally took Annie to the vet for a complete check and asked him to run a complete CBC as her liver enzymes had not been checked in about a year. Her liver tests came back off the chart, sorry I don’t have the exact numbers now, and her glucose was also extremely high. At that point we went from 10 units 2x a day to 15 units 2x a day and we discussed the possibility of Cushings. My husband and I had to be out of town the week of Feb. 11, 2019 and Annie was to be boarded at the vets anyway, so we gave the OK for him to run all appropriate tests and by the 15th, we had a confirmation of Cushings. He started the dosing process with 375mg daily and was also doing periodic stim tests. When we returned several days later, she was still not fully dosed so we left her at the vet hospital so he could also monitor her glucose which was very unstable. Our vet has had quite a bit of experience with Cushings pups and told us if he could get her fully dosed on the Lysodren that we would also see a dramatic decrease in her blood glucose. That is exactly what happened. After three weeks in the hospital her cortisol level had dropped from 17.5 down to 2, and they had been able to stabilize her glucose and had taken her from 15 units of insulin 2x per day down to 5 units.
She has been home for over a week now and she went in today for a glucose curve. It was higher and he upped her insulin to 6 units 2x per day. I wasn’t able to talk to him when we picked her up but one of his techs was questioning me about her food intake and I mentioned she was getting her “treats” again which she did not get while in the hospital. Long story short, I received a long lecture on treats and now she is not supposed to have anything other than her dog food. No sugar free anything or even green beans! They kept telling me that she will be fine without any treats but I’m still in shock. She has always had a small treat of something appropriate after her shots and now I don’t know what to do excpt what I’m told to do. I’ve had mini-schnauzers for over 45 years, one was diabetic, but I’ve never encountered Cushings before and the effect it has on a diabetic dog.
I posted at first on the Cushings forum but they sent me here. The two conditions are so connected one really can’t discuss one and leave out the other.
So after all the above babble---is there anyone on this forum with a dual diagnosis pup I can talk to? Bless you all and your beloved pups. Take care. Karen

Hi and welcome to you and Annie. Hopefully one of our moderators will see this post and create a new thread for you.

There are several members that have dealt wit both Cushings and diabetes. Hopefully, they will chime in.

In the meantime, what type of insulin do you give her? Do you home test? Most of us here home test and find it invaluable in determining how a dog’s BG reacts to many different situations, including the effect of treats.

[katy1]

Re: Cushings, allergies, and newly diagnosed diabetes

Hi Mike, thanks for responding. She is getting Novolin for her insulin. I do not test at home. I'm honestly afraid to do it. I had another diabetic pup years ago that I had to test at home and it was a nightmare for me. My vision is not very good but I also know improvements have been made over the years. I need to read the postings on testing and maybe that will give me courage to try it again. I also have no problem working with my vet and one of his techs to feel more comfortable. Right now, I'm just so freaked out by this whole cushings on top of diabetes thing I can hardly wrap my head around it. Sorry if that was TMI for a post. Karen

[Raysaint]

Re: Cushings, allergies, and newly diagnosed diabetes

I think the scariest part is finding a spot to get blood, but there are enough acceptable spots that I’m sure you can find one. Then, testing is relatively easy, provided the dog is comfortable.

It’s really worth the effort. You’ll look back on it and wonder why you were afraid. Trust me.

[Judi]

Re: Cushings, allergies, and newly diagnosed diabetes

My dog had cushings and diabetes for 3 1/2 years. When we got her cortisol down with Lysodren her insulin needs also dropped a lot. We also got the lecture from her eye doctor about no treats.

The vets come from the right place because they've seen so many unregulated dogs and cushings and diabetes together are a delicate balance.

But for us, I decided Jenny got to be a dog. She was a small dog so I cut her treats into thirds. She got duck jerky after her insulin shot and freeze dried liver when I left the house.

I figured we could adjust her insulin accordingly if I was consistent with the treats.

We never had perfect regulation but we had many months of her feeling like her perky bossy little self.

Your dog is allowed to be a dog.

I definitely recommend learning to test at home. I didn't learn for over a year because Jenny ran so high. Then we had the test for her Cortisol in December, everything looked great. In January her insulin needs started dropping from 3.5 units to .5 units. At one point her blood sugar was 40.

My Mom was dying and it was my busy time at work so I tested her blood sugar, adapted with the insulin and didn't get her cortisol tested till April. It was nonexistent. Big whoops

On the bright side she got to spend the last 18 months of her life without Lysodren. We gave her prednisone for awhile and then just the insulin.

So, sorry for the long response but I'd encourage you to figure out how to test. The cushings makes the diabetes more unstable.

good luck!

I'm new to this forum posting so I apologize for not having an appropriate reply to the previous post.

Hi Everyone,
I wasn’t sure where to post this, so this is where I decided to land and I’ll see what happens. I have a 10 yr. old mini-schnauzer who has been diabetic for a year and was just recently diagnosed with Cushings.
As far as her diabetes, she is currently on 6 units of insulin 2x per day and is on Glycobalance wet dog food. She is currently at about 17 lbs.
Several months ago, she began drinking more water and getting a pot belly. At the same time, we were also dealing with our other mini-schnauzer’s ( now deceased at age 14) lymphoma. I finally took Annie to the vet for a complete check and asked him to run a complete CBC as her liver enzymes had not been checked in about a year. Her liver tests came back off the chart, sorry I don’t have the exact numbers now, and her glucose was also extremely high. At that point we went from 10 units 2x a day to 15 units 2x a day and we discussed the possibility of Cushings. My husband and I had to be out of town the week of Feb. 11, 2019 and Annie was to be boarded at the vets anyway, so we gave the OK for him to run all appropriate tests and by the 15th, we had a confirmation of Cushings. He started the dosing process with 375mg daily and was also doing periodic stim tests. When we returned several days later, she was still not fully dosed so we left her at the vet hospital so he could also monitor her glucose which was very unstable. Our vet has had quite a bit of experience with Cushings pups and told us if he could get her fully dosed on the Lysodren that we would also see a dramatic decrease in her blood glucose. That is exactly what happened. After three weeks in the hospital her cortisol level had dropped from 17.5 down to 2, and they had been able to stabilize her glucose and had taken her from 15 units of insulin 2x per day down to 5 units.
She has been home for over a week now and she went in today for a glucose curve. It was higher and he upped her insulin to 6 units 2x per day. I wasn’t able to talk to him when we picked her up but one of his techs was questioning me about her food intake and I mentioned she was getting her “treats” again which she did not get while in the hospital. Long story short, I received a long lecture on treats and now she is not supposed to have anything other than her dog food. No sugar free anything or even green beans! They kept telling me that she will be fine without any treats but I’m still in shock. She has always had a small treat of something appropriate after her shots and now I don’t know what to do excpt what I’m told to do. I’ve had mini-schnauzers for over 45 years, one was diabetic, but I’ve never encountered Cushings before and the effect it has on a diabetic dog.
I posted at first on the Cushings forum but they sent me here. The two conditions are so connected one really can’t discuss one and leave out the other.
So after all the above babble---is there anyone on this forum with a dual diagnosis pup I can talk to? Bless you all and your beloved pups. Take care. Karen