Posted by Racer on February 8, 2000, at 17:47:44
In reply to Re: more on cortisol-Scott, posted by glenn on February 8, 2000, at 17:10:07
OK, this may sound awful, but please take it in the spirit in which it is offered:
My horse has a benign tumor on her pituitary gland which causes Cushing's Disease. This is basically a huge flood of cortisol into the bloodstream all the time. The two drugs used to treat it are both human drugs: pergolide, which is a parkinsons drug, and the ever-popular Periactin. (Off the subject: has anyone here ever heard of Periactin being used for allergies? It *is* an antihistimine, after all...)
The studies on Periactin (ciproheptidine) show mixed results. Most studies say that there is some improvement in between 35% and 85% of the participants. The studies vary widely, and no one has been able to reproduce the results of any other study. That's the bad news. The anecdotal evidence is that it really does help about half the horses put on it. That is, it helps to the point that the vets treating the horses, who don't see them every day and don't have the sentiment involved, can see an improvement.
The Pergolide is supposed to arrest and even reverse a lot of the damage done to the adrenal feedback loop that causes the overflow of cortisol.
Good luck to you, and I think (from my experience with my horse) that there is a strong link between cortisol and mood.
poster:Racer
thread:20696
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/20794.html