This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Endocrine System » Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID): Equine Cushing's »
  Discussion on Cushings and Insulin Resistance
Author Message
Member:
Mosttime

Posted on Monday, Sep 13, 2004 - 9:33 am:

Hi Dr. O,
My 19 year old TB was diagnosed with Cushings after marked weight loss during the winter of '02-'03. He had no other Cushing's typical symptoms at that time, but his dex-supp test was off the charts. He was and still is in fantastic health and condition otherwise. Most people won't believe he is 19 going on 20. He was up'd to 2 ml pergolide per day about 3 months ago, as 1.5 ml was only just helping and his dex-sup numbers still were not completely normal. He is due now for a check to see if 2 ml is working. He recently is showing mild symptoms like poor shedding out this summer and possible fatty deposits on rump area. I have two questions. I recently read an article that referred to insulin resistance as a Cushings problem and a possible cause of the fatty deposits. It recommended a supplement called CARB-X by MVP, which has 6000 mg magnesium per serving in it. Are you familiar with this supplement? My horse is already on Command Complete, which has 1000 mg magnesium in it. If I were to also feed the CARB-X, would that be too much magnesium? My other question is I have also heard about a new product call REVERTOL by Figuerola Labs as a new "treatment" for Cushings. Do you (or anyone out there) know anything about this? Would it replace, supplement or interfere with the Pergolide? It is MORE expensive than the Pergolide, so it seems impractical, unless it really worked. I plan to discuss with my vet about it certainly before making any changes, but am curious for more information. Thanks in advance for any info!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004 - 8:15 am:

Hello Carole,
You will find the mechanism of insulin resistance and a disucssion of the use of magnesium in the treatment of Cushingnoid horses and insulin resistance explained in our article on Equine Diseases » Endocrine Disorders » Cushing's SynDrOme and Pituitary Tumors. Also we discuss some of the hormonal therapies available for Cushingnoid horses.

It seems everytime we turn around there is another new hormonal therapy for Cushingnoid horses. Often these have many anecdotal praises and some non-controlled clinical reports. I know of no well conducted scientific reports that supports their use and as I find them will put them in our article on Cushings in Horses.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC