#cushing's

New myasthenia and chronic illness themed art for Valentine's Day! I've made black and white background versions for each because I wasn't sure which one most preferred. Feel free to let me know in the comments!

I hope you like it 🖤

gettingvetted here.

Cushing’s Disease is an overproduction of the hormone cortisol by the adrenal glands, either due to a tumor on the adrenal gland itself or due to a tumor in the pituitary gland which stimulates the adrenal gland. Since the disease is essentially an excess of steroid, it presents like a high dose of steroid administration would: excess drinking and therefore excess urination, muscle wasting, a “pot bellied” appearance, a poor hair coat, excessive panting, and possible heart damage.

Diagnosis is typically through one of two ways. Older vets will typically use an ACTH stimulation test - this uses a stimulating hormone (ACTH) that causes the body to produce cortisol. In a normal dog, ACTH administration causes production of cortisol, but then that cortisol causes negative feedback in the brain to then decrease production of more cortisol (so the cortisol production starts low, then peaks after ACTH administration, and then decreases again). In a dog with Cushing’s, the body does not respond to that negative feedback so the cortisol level starts high, gets higher, and returns to that lower (but still high) level. Meanwhile, younger vets (including myself) will often use a low-dose dexamethasone suppression (LDDS) test. With this test we give the dog a shot of a different steroid called dexamethasone, which in a normal dog would cause cortisol levels to become very low because cortisol production is suppressed by the dexamethasone in that negative feedback loop (so the cortisol levels would start normal, get low, and return to normal). In a dog with Cushing’s, the negative feedback once again does not work so the cortisol level doesn’t change (so it would start high and stay high).

I am working on refunding commissions. I took quite a few in the summer, when people were helping out with my sweet Janie (she's doing great!), and was able to fill most of them. But there were several long ones I have not been able to complete, because I became exhausted and ill. I thought this was something minor that I could work through, but it isn't.

I have been to the ER twice with crisis level blood pressure and run from specialist to specialist, and am now awaiting testing for Cushing's Disease or Syndrome. This is caused by a tumor on the pituitary or adrenal glands and causes out of control blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain, and loss of muscle mass, among other symptoms (all of which I have). When I get home from work, all I can do is get in bed, and I haven't been able to write at an acceptable level for long commissions.

If you don't hear from me in the next few days, please send me an ask or message and we will set up your refund.

vet-and-wild here.

Cushing’s disease, otherwise known as hyperadrenocorticism, is caused by an increase in cortisol. Addisons, otherwise known as hypoadrenocorticism is caused by a decrease in cortisol. When you give a medication for Cushing’s to decrease cortisol production, it’s possible to go too far and cause iatrogenic (caused by the medicine) Addison’s because you dropped the cortisol production too long. I won’t say that it’s super common, particularly because most vets will start at a lower dose and go up if needed rather than starting high, but it does happen. Cushing’s is a manageable disease but it does require fairly frequent monitoring to make sure an animal’s cortisol levels are within an acceptable range. A dose may need to be adjusted up or down depending on test results and clinical response.

gettingvetted here.