From:
"Amanda"
Date: 2009-02-04 17:49:34 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Lupron dosage, sources and storage
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I am a chemist that works on creating pharmaceutical formulations like
this, so hopefully I can explain this well enough...
As previously mentioned, depot formulation means is releases drug over
time. 1 mon depot = releases drug for one mon, 3 mon = releases drug
over 3 mon. As previously guessed, there is an initial "burst" of drug
released from the depot when administered and it is quite possible
that with the longer depot formulations, there is a bigger burst. It
is critical that everyone understand the way Lupron works, as that
will help people understand why the longer formulations may give what
appears to be better results. Lupron is an LHRH agonist. These means
it actually causes the body to release MORE hormone initially. It is
this "flood of information" that actually causes the body to stop
producing the hormone. So,if we look at the 1 mon formulation, this
means in that first week there is a done of hormone present, so you
will not see much of an effect. You may even seen the opposite. But,
after that initial flood of hormones, your body stops producing them,
so you will see an effect. Meanwhile, the depot is still releasing
drug so your body will continue to scale back its hormone production.
If the amount of drug in the system falls below a certain threshold,
then the body will start producing the hormone again. So, with a 1 mon
depot, you need an injection every mon, on a VERY timely basis to
prevent the body starting up. With a longer depot formulation, the
drug being released stays above that threshold for a longer period of
time, thus putting off the injections to say every 3 mon or 4 mon.
Again, re-injection before the drug drops below that threshold is
critical.
So, if you are still following me here, people may see the "best"
results with a 3 mon depot being injected every 4 mon because it keeps
the body from ever dropping below that critical threshold.If one
wanted to achieve the same effect with a 1 mon depot, it should be
given every 3 wks instead of 4-5 weeks (which I am sure given time and
money, that is usually what happens with people).
I hope that all made sense. Feel free to email me directly if you have
more questions. I love talking pharmaceutical chemistry! And I love
ferrets, so I guess I can be of service. :)
regards,
Amanda and her Izzy B
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "Karen McCabe"
<cinnamon_sprite@...> wrote:
>
> >>I have, however, seen very good results with 500
> > > mcg's of the 4 month depot in smaller ferrets... when given
every 3 months.
> >
> > That doesn't make sense to me. Isn't giving 500 mcg every three
months
> > even less than giving 200 mcg every month?
> >
>
> I don't understand it either, Katharine. All I know is that it works
> (at least for my ferrets). Perhaps it has to do with the way it's
> released into the body? Perhaps the 4 month releases more initially
> and that does the trick? I'm taking guesses, I really don't know.
>
> Karen McCabe
>
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/