Here are Carrera's lab results. I am trying to post a case history for her but am having computer problems on my end. She is a morgan mare foaled 2/17/1993
glucose 111 (71-113)
insulin 93.17 (10-40)
leptin 11.66 (1-4)
ACTH 46.6 (9-35)
She is not on pasture and her hay is balanced as Shawnee's is.
Those lab results confirm she is extremely IR and also PPID. Good that she is not on pasture and on a balanced diet. The leptin tells you she is IR at baseline, not that is only due to her ACTH levels being higher than they should be.
Need to get a script and start her on pergolide as that ACTH will continue to rise for at least another month and as she is already having issues you don't want things to snowball.
OK. I will ask the vet for an RX for pergolide. I am having trouble understanding the "Leptin tells you she is IR at baseline". Shawnee's leptin was in the normal range so he was not IR at baseline. What is the difference between Shawnee and Carrera with the different Leptin levels.(Shawnee was 2.89 and Carrera 11.66)
At baseline is the way an individual is genetically programmed. Leptin is a hormone that tells the body to "stop eating, you're full" by suppressing appetite. It isn't influenced by diet as quickly, or in the same way, that insulin is so gives a better indication of WHY an individual is IR. Levels that are within the normal ranges tell you that the individual responds to the signals properly while levels above the normal range says that more hormone is being produced in an effort to get the body's attention to stop eating. Carrera's level is almost 3 times the high normal level, while Shawnee's is middle range of normal. Carrera is a Morgan - a breed high on the list for being born IR - so it is not a surprise.
