ANOTHER Adequan Question

[buzul]

Leather and JB gotcha ,that makes sense then !

[beau159]

@buzul

this has been asked a few times before and i did read some of the old posts but thought to revive this one more time ~ adequan became available in canada only recently so maybe there are a few more insights .

i started my 34 year old on a round of adequan over the winter to help with arthritis and age related mobility issues.i did stretch the IM injections to 10 days instead of the 4 and she made it through another winter allright.she looks good and seems content and happy.

i am debating whether to go the “maintainance” route ( i know there is some discussion about the value of that ) and do one im injection per month or to wait it out until the fall and do another full round ,provided the mare is doing still fine of course.

Depends on your horse, and depends on what your vet says.

My horse Red has a multitude of issues including heel pain. His xrays are clean in terms of the navicular bone but obviously in discomfort. He doesn’t need it for his angles or anatomy but he is kept in a 3 degree wedge pad with shoe on his front feet, because that’s what helps keep his heel pain under control. In 2019, I put him on Adequan. We did the loading dose and then my vet and I decided to give him a maintenance shot once a month. For him, I could tell for the 1 week after the shot, he was much less stiff and he didn’t need to “warm up” out of the stiffness. Obviously, Adequan is quite expensive. The following year in 2020, my vet and I decided to try off-label pentosan. It’s really cheap and if it didn’t work, well, then I would just put him back on the Adequan.

WOW did the Pentosan work for him. We did the loading does, and then I kept giving it to him every 2 weeks. It took a couple months I would say but then it dawned on me he was no longer stiff. Ever. Not even for warmup. One time during the winter, the weather was bad so I waited 3 weeks to give him his shot. Mistake. I could tell immediately that he was stiff again. So ever since then, he gets the pentosan shot every 2 weeks and we NEVER miss.

He feels amazing amazing. Never stiff. Back to barrel racing. Back to jumping. I am selective on where he competes and make sure it’s in arenas he likes and I know he will do well. This year he will be 16.

So, it’s really a matter of trial and error and finding what works for your horse.

Along with his pentosan, he gets coffin joint and hock injections once a year (usually in the spring) and when we start going hard (roughly May to Oct) he also gets Equioxx daily.
I also purchased a PEMF blanket system last fall and I think that is helping him feel real good too.

[buzul]

wow that is quite the success story beau159 ! that is awesome things have worked out so well for your horse - while it is a different issue your horse has,it is still good to know that the drug was working my vet and i have looked into pentosan but his opinion was to try the adequan first.since i can do the IM injections myself and would have to get the vet out for each shot of pentosan IV,at the end of the day the adequan is cheaper - plus maybe the prices are different in the US …thank you for sharing and yes i have heard this many times now,trial and error to see what works for each specific horse

[Leather]

@JB

Yeah, “loading dose” is a common term with Adequan (guilty!) but it’s really not appropriate

MSM can have a loading dose of 20gm for 7-10 days and then back to the maintenance of 10gm daily.
Bute can have a loading dose of 2gm twice a day for a couple days, then backing down to a maintenance of 1-2gm a day (just examples, don’t nit-pick)

That gets the chemicals into the system faster to get blood levels up more quickly, then you back down to maintaining.

That’s not how Adequan works. It’s singular dosing protocol is 1x4x7. Some people use that as a “loading dose” and then “maintain” with monthly shots or whatever

LOL - I’ve probably called it a loading dose too even though I know better.

As noted, loading dose implies that there is an approved maintenance dose to follow afterwards, but for Adequan that doesn’t exist. The only approved protocol is a repeat of the series.

That being said, since the FDA doesn’t regulate the practice of medicine it is (generally) within a veterinarian’s purview to utilize an approved drug in an off-label manner such as a 1-4-7 series followed by a monthly dose.

[beau159]

@buzul

wow that is quite the success story beau159 ! that is awesome things have worked out so well for your horse - while it is a different issue your horse has,it is still good to know that the drug was working my vet and i have looked into pentosan but his opinion was to try the adequan first.since i can do the IM injections myself and would have to get the vet out for each shot of pentosan IV,at the end of the day the adequan is cheaper - plus maybe the prices are different in the US …thank you for sharing and yes i have heard this many times now,trial and error to see what works for each specific horse

No, pentosan is given IM as well. And I buy the big bottle so it works out to $8.45 per shot. Dirt cheap.

So I am not sure what kind of information your vet is giving you on the pentosan???

Obviously nothing wrong with sticking with the Adequan if it is working for your horse but of course know there is another option!

I’ve looked at the Adequan studies. I know they say the 2 loading doses a year but they also haven’t studied anything different (like giving it once a month). It is true that the medication stays in the system for approximately 4 days which is why the company recommends giving a shot every 4 days. But there is zero reason for why they chose a series of 7 shots in the study. Hypothetically, if you were rich beyond belief, you could just give your horse a shot of Adequan every 4 days forever. That’s one of the reasons why (at the time I was using it for my horse) the vet and I agreed to do the loading dose and then give it once a month thereafter.

[buzul]

i am so sorry - i had pentosan mixed up with legend ! yes pentosan is given IM as well,you are right.it sounds very promising and might be something we could try out.not sure if it is available in canada ? adequan was made available only in jan 2022 .will asl my vet about it ~ in the meantime ,anybody in canada knows the answer ?

[JB]

@Leather

That being said, since the FDA doesn’t regulate the practice of medicine it is (generally) within a veterinarian’s purview to utilize an approved drug in an off-label manner such as a 1-4-7 series followed by a monthly dose

Absolutely! And even use drugs not approved for the species, as long as there is due diligence in considering at least its safety. SMZs is a prime example - not approved for horses.

@beau159

It is true that the medication stays in the system for approximately 4 days which is why the company recommends giving a shot every 4 days.

That’s true, and it also encourages to body to do things to support joint health, and to stop/slow down things that can be degrading joint health, for longer than the 4 days past the last injection. The whole “loading dose” is to ramp up those things as much as possible, to hopefully provide many months of improvement

[beau159]

@buzul

i am so sorry - i had pentosan mixed up with legend !

Now I have never used Legend for my horses but my understanding is that Legend is shorter acting. So for example, it could be something you could give your horse right before you go to a long hard weekend show, or something of that nature. But perhaps not as good for trying to manage something long term. At least that is how I have had it explained to me.

[buzul]

right,not the best choice in our case with a 34 year old .but i will keep the pentosan in mind !