Hi Stephanie,

I think the first thing I would want to know is what was the issue with the blood.  Was there a mix up, ie was the sample really King's?  Could there have been a mix up anywhere along the line from your vet through to Cornell?  Everyone makes mistakes, but you have a right to know if the blood you sent is actually giving you accurate results.  At the very least, I would ask both your vet and Cornell to repeat the lab work on a fresh sample, free of charge.

That said, if the the sample was spun and frozen within 4 hours, and stayed frozen, the sample should be accurate.  Since ACTH degrades quickly, the problem with blood not properly handled is that it gives a false low ACTH, not a false high ACTH.  So if the blood was not properly handled, you would expect to see the ACTH too low, not too high.  Really need one of the vets to comment, but based on King's symptoms, I would increase his pergolide.  Did you see any decrease in symptoms when you increased after the August results?  

Yes, there is a place where you can check the potency of your pergolide.  http://www.eagleanalytical.com/sitecontent/578/potency/category/462/about-testing.aspx 

You might also be interested int his recent conversation:  https://ecir.groups.io/g/main/topic/4369383#205468 

Please update King's CH so we can see everything in one place.  It's not just helpful for us, but for you as well, to see everything in chronological order.  Here's a recent post from LeeAnne with important details about how to update your CH:  https://ecir.groups.io/g/main/message/205480   And filling out a CH on the other horse that came back with an elevated ACTH would help us to help you sort things out there as well.

Deep breaths Stephanie!  And the wine--that's good too :)  Hang in there while we help you get this sorted out.

March 2011
EC moderator/Primary Response