Ashki – new thread

[Vally]

I’ve never heard of Tick Tock Tea!!! I’m not a great sleeper either. I sleep very lightly and wake heaps of time during the night. My favourite for when I cannot fall asleep is Rescue Remedy Sleep. I’m now looking for a hops pillow Sheena.

The pinker gums are a great sign Tamara.

Love Vally & Bingo

[admin]

Tick Tock Tea – Original Rooibos Redbush Tea – caffeine free hand picked – sorry Vally, my mistake, I’ve just looked at the box & it’s not Australian, it’s South African! Close!
http://ticktocktea.com/

Workers who pick hops always nod off to sleep – worth a try finding some dried hope on the net?

Love Sheena x

[Tamara]

I am the same way Sheena, I really need 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep so this is quite challenging. There were a few months there where I was getting better sleep when Ashki was on a lower dose of Pred and he didn’t need sucralfate or to go out at night and it was fantastic. I am definitely going to look for hops to put in my pillow, thank you. And look for Tick Tock Tea too! Always good to have options, I say. Ashki is feeling better, I think with the switch to famotidine. I wonder if the omeprazole was reacting with something. Anyway, he is more active and playful and his gums and tongue are looking pinker to me. We’ll go early next week for another pcv.

Vally, I have gotten to be such a light sleeper since IMHA, if Ashki moves at all I usually wake up. Here’s hoping hops can help us both.

Hope you all have a good weekend-
Love,
Tamara and Ashki xoxox

[admin]

Hi Tamara

Glad the famotidine is a better option for Ashki & he’s feeling better. I can’t tell you how happy I am – I think famotidine is a much better, safer drug. Please let us know about the next tests as soon as you can – we all think about you & I am wishing with all my heart that you will see an improvement.

I suspect you won’t sleep properly until you are totally happy with Ashki’s results – we seem to grow an extra ear, enhanced 6th sense & extra movement detectors with IMHA! I promise I was the same. I still am, actually. If Worzel is not himself, I wake up all the time to check he’s OK.

Hope the hops work – have a nice weekend too!
Love & cuddles from me & the boys xxxxx

[admin]

Hi Tamara and Ashki. Just thinking about you two and hoping you’re getting some sleep Tamara and Ashki’s tummy is continuing to feel better. I give Sadie famotidine too and it’s wonderful.

Love and hugs and overall good thoughts being sent your way,

Linda and little stinker Sadie

[admin]

Hi Tamara

I hope you’ve managed to catch up with some sleep? I saw some Tick Tock Tea in the shop the other day and thought of you! I’ll happily send you some if you like. Rooibos tea is quite popular here so perhaps it is quite easy to get in the US also. I had years of sleep difficulty which finally started to resolve when I stopped shift work and could get into a better routine. Easier said than done when you have Ashki’s medicine regime, I know. I also used to find listening to some relaxation exercises when I went to bed was quite helpful.

How is Mr Ashki doing? The drugs site with the interaction function sounds brilliant and I must check it out. Well done for checking it all out.

I’m sorry to hear about all the drama at the vet’s with the staff leaving. That must be quite stressful, but hopefully will be fully staffed soon?

I do hope all is going well.

Lots of love,

Mary and Mable x

[Tamara]

Hi all, I have good news to report — Ashki’s hematocrit is up 2 points to 27! I am thrilled. He had a couple of days where he seemed like he wasn’t feeling as well, and I was worried of course, but his tongue looked much pinker to me. Today he is clearly feeling better. His liver may be struggling a bit though, apparently there are target cells present (?), and this can indicate that. I don’t have a copy of the bloodwork yet, I’ll call and get it tomorrow.

Other good, interesting news — our internist uses generic cyclosporine, a specific Czechoslavakian (sp?) modified kind that she has used with no problems at all. A colleague of hers did tests of cyclosporine levels, comparing Atopica to this generic, and they were comparable, with the generic seeming to be better absorbed in some dogs. Anyway, we are going to switch Ashki over and that will save me a lot of money. Also, apparently here in the States Walgreens has a Pet Prescription Plan that gives you 40% off human meds for your pet, so I’m going to look into that and I’ll let you know those costs vs. Costco.

I am sleeping better! I changed Ashki’s pred to 30mg in the m orning and 10mg later and apparently that change allows him to make him through th enight without needing to go out, so I have had 3 nights in a row of about 6 hours of sleep or so, mostly uninterrupted. It’s wonderful.

Mary, I am going to look for rooibos tea, I’m sure I’ve seen it, and I’ll give it a try. I also listen to sleep music, it seems to help. I’ll have to give some relaxation exercises a try one of these days. It sounds like things are getting squared away at the vet office, thank goodness. Sheena, I ordered some hops from Amazon, they should be here in a few days. Linda, thank you so much for your good thoughts and wishes.

Love to you all, and Ashki sends lots of wags and sloppy kisses –
tamara and ashki xoxox

[Vally]

Tamara, what wonderful news. I’m sure that in itself will help you sleep a bit better.

It’s great when you can save some money – this is by no means a cheap disease. Bingo however has no qualms about using my credit card, while I’m desperately budgeting one card to another and swapping them round to get better interest rates, Bingo never seems worried about it.

I was getting my cyclosporine through the specialists, when I found a new local vet (haven’t changed specialist, just the general vet), she couldn’t get me the brand cyclosporine, so she wrote me out a prescription. Well, at the chemist, the price was a third of what I was paying at the specialists!

Keep up the good work Ashki.

Love Vally & Bingo