ACTH Levels

[poiuytrewq]

My two little guys are both on pergolide. Ones been on it years, the other 18 months or so at a guess.
In the past I've suspected if things are not quite right, generally one will get a little footy and so would be tested and have doseage adjusted if needs be.

This time they have both been on fire, Doing really well and looking good- One is fat and rather hairier than normal but completely sound and very active, his signs something wasn't great was he just gets slow to lead in or out over hard ground, rather than looking sore. He has been jogging in and out this summer.

Anyhow, got them tested just as routine, I got sent free test vouchers and to my shock both were high. I'm not really sure what acceptable is and so don't know how bad these results were but one is 103 and the other 225 (or similar)
I was told to up the dose quarter each and to retest in 6 weeks.

Then last week the old pony who i look after's vet was here and i mentioned testing her and he said, which makes perfect sense to me, why? If she is happy and sound and showing no real sypmtom's just keep going as we are. He said he thinks there are a lot of horses and ponies on higher than needed doses and in his opinion it was best to only test and up the dose if problems arose.

I've always tried to keep it as low as possible, not only cost wise but I do find the older one in particular starts leaving food and being a bit "meh" about life sometimes and when i drop or give a little break he comes back good.
I thought they were fine on what they were getting and I'm having no issues with getting them to take it (currently)

What do you think? If it's not broke don't fix it? maybe just test and adjust by your eye, or do you want to know the figures and balance it all perfectly?

nb- what is normal range please?!

 

[Tiddlypom]

nb- what is normal range please?!

These are the normal ranges. My vet prefers to keep the levels within the normal ranges. Just over normal is one thing, but 225 is high by any measure. Normal level is never higher than mid 50s even during the peak of the autumn rise, which is about now.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Thanks. I wonder why he’s suddenly gone so haywire.
I’d honestly thought things were going so well. They both appeared to be on top form this summer.
I’ve been very careful re. Grazing and muzzling, bringing them off the grass for the day.
So annoying!

 

[Highmileagecob]

A few articles I have read have linked Cushings and diabetes. When the weather is cold, blood sugar levels plummet as the body uses more energy to keep warm. I wonder if this has any effect on ACTH levels too?

 

[94lunagem]

Then last week the old pony who i look after's vet was here and i mentioned testing her and he said, which makes perfect sense to me, why? If she is happy and sound and showing no real sypmtom's just keep going as we are. He said he thinks there are a lot of horses and ponies on higher than needed doses and in his opinion it was best to only test and up the dose if problems arose.

This is my vets approach too, which works for us

 

[Hackback]

My horse's levels went up a lot last year, however he couldn't tolerate the increased dose (from 1 1/2 to 2 tablets) of Prascend as it gave him the squits. So after some trial and error we put him back down to 1 1/2, with the agreement of my vet, and so far he seems fine. I don't even know if I'm going to get him tested this year. It would be interesting to see if his levels have stabilised, or even gone down I suppose, although I doubt that would happen.

I understand the ACTH test is not the most accurate so do wonder if last year's reading was a true representation of his condition, or just a one off spike.

(He has never had laminitis or been overweight so lammi isn't really a concern for me atm.)

 

[slimjim86]

Mine was tested in the summer, both vet and I expected most likely borderline as her only symptoms were muscle loss ( retired anyway so expected) and took extra treatments for her ear mites so thought her immune system might not be the best. She came back at over 330, put her on 1 tablet daily and 3 weeks later she was low 20s, vet was astonished. We discussed dropping to half a tablet but he said hold over till mid November and be clear of the danger zone then we'll lower dose and retest in January.