Chastetree berry during the seasonal rise

ACTH levels experience a seasonal rise in autumn. With it, you see increased symptoms of PPID (AKA Equine Cushing's Disease). One of the prominent symptoms that you see is the loss of topline in a horse, with the spine more prominent and the back muscles appearing to have wasted away. You also usually see a sagging pot belly, along with a shaggy coat. Your horse is on pergolide (Prascend), but it’s apparently not getting the job done.

What are your choices?

 Increase the pergolide amount: The important part is to control PPID, even during the seasonal rise. To control the ACTH levels, the Equine Cushing’s and Insulin Resistance group (ECIR group), found that you may have to increase the pergolide by 50%, or even two-fold to achieve the control that you seek. However, because this is already October, and you are behind the curve, you may not be able to get control until the ACTH levels naturally start dropping. This can occur in October/November for horses with early PPID, or Dec. for horses with more advanced PPID.

 Work with your vet to switch to Cabergoline: This is an injectable that is administered every 10 days. It’s useful for horses whose levels don’t come down sufficiently with pergolide.

 Add chaste tree berry: Sometimes, the horses need a little more control, but you don't have access to pergolide or an increase in pergolide. How can you help your horse? For some horses, the addition of chaste tree berry may be helpful. Again, you may not see meaningful improvement until after the seasonal rise.

Chaste tree berry has investigated for the use in Equine Cushing's for over 20 years. During that time, there have been trials which indicated that it helps the horse’s well-being with improvements in a horse’s coat, body condition, and overall demeanor.

At the same time, research has shown that it doesn’t lower ACTH levels and that the PPID continues to advance. It doesn’t stop it in its tracks. Cases have been cited on the ECIR group that demonstrate that if it’s used early in the course of the disease (instead of pergolide), it becomes more difficult to gain control of the ACTH levels when switching to pergolide as the disease advances.

Don’t be fooled.

There are some advertisements on Facebook for a “natural” Cushing’s disease treatment using herbs. One of the main ingredients is chaste tree berry. In an advertisement that I saw, it recommended weaning your horse off pergolide and using their product instead. I see two issues with that. First, at the time of year that the ACTH is the highest, your horse needs MORE support, not less support. The second issue is that only you and your veterinarian should determine whether your horse should be on medication or not.

What to do?

Make informed decisions. The treatment for your horse should
be based on informed decisions between you and your veterinarian.

We try to do the best we can for our horses. Knowing the drawbacks and options is one way that we can.

Disclaimer: Statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition.

©Joan Kulifay 2024

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