Posted by Racer on June 5, 2004, at 16:46:47
In reply to Re: SLS, how are you?, posted by SLS on June 5, 2004, at 15:05:05
Now, my only knowledge about Cushing's is having had a horse who had it, but I know that there were a few drugs being used pretty effectively for it in the land of vets. Since that's related to cortisol, and I imagine cortisol is related to depression, I've wondered myself if those drugs that block the overproduction of cortisol might help with my own depression. You probably already know much more than I do about it all, but I'll offer this anyway.
Cyproheptidine was being used in a lot of horses, because it really seemed to improve things for them. The actual studies done were really inconclusive: one study showed that it helped about 15% of the horses on it, another showed it to be about 60% effective. All this is as of about 1997, so I don't know of any more recent studies. (But it was also showing HUGE results for some other weird 'syndromes' that were popping up all over the country. My favorite was "photic head shaking" -- sure, it may start physical, but it still becomes a behavior issue at some point. The cyproheptidine relieved the head shaking right away for all but a few horses, and for those few dental work usually resolved it.) So, it might be worth a thought.
The other drug used a lot was pergolide. Again, I suspect you already know a lot about it, but all I know is that it's expensive for 1200 pounders. It does seem to work really well in Cushingoid horses, though.
I'm so sorry I can't offer any real help, Scott, but I'm still sending you my best wishes. And my thanks and gratitude for your help with my own issues.
poster:Racer
thread:354022
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040602/msgs/354081.html