Bingo next phase

[Vally]

Thanks Sheena. I needed to hear that. I’ll dread the next skip-a-day, but I really want to try and get him down to every second day.

I did remember Worzel having to do a quick drop, but I couldn’t remember what sort of problems he went through with it.

I asked for the weather to cool down, well you should watch what you ask for. My baby nephew (24) was married yesterday and in a day the weather has dropped by 20 degrees (C). We all froze our little butts off in our short sleeveless hot outfits. Perhaps Bingo has also felt the temperature change. He’s always been very sensitive to heat, wind, rain, humidity, blagh blagh blagh.

No further seizures or “episodes” to date. He has good colour and is yelling at me at this moment for FOOOOOOOOD.

Lots of love, Vally & Bingo

[admin]

What a shame about the wedding, Vally – I thinks it’s called Sod’s Law. I know my knees let me know when it’s cold & damp, so maybe Bingo has noticed the difference too. If Bingo is eating lots – GOOOOOD & bounding about – GOOOOD – how much would we have paid to see them like this during the worst phases of their illnesses? Anything we had! Keep being a little whizzabout, Bingo. We love to hear you’re on good form.
Love Sheena, nearly Whizzy again Worzel & Lazybones Ollie xxx

[Ruth]

Sounds like he’s doing really well!! I’m so pleased for you both!! I hope you managed to enjoy the wedding despite the cold! Keep it up Bingo!! Xxxxxx

[Patrice]

Vally,
Use caution with true licorice. It does modify the thyroid and can do so in unpredictable ways if you are also supplying thyroxine. I would skip that for now. I need to re-read some notes from Dr. Dodds about this, but I do remember the caution. We just found that Cassie, due to a small weight loss, was actually on too high a dose of Soloxine! So she was experiencing HYPERthyroidism. So we had to get a new, lower dose, prescription!

The same caution applies to iodine. Kelp is the culprit for most dogs, sometimes being put in dogs foods and supplements. Dr. Dodds demonstrated at her workshop I attended how excess dietary iodine can actually “speed up” an autoimmune attack on the thyroid gland. Kelp has a very high content of iodine (that is variable depending on where it is harvested.)

During the lunch break we all stood around the door prize table reading the labels of the supplements. We found some had way too much iodine in them (kelp) and Dr. Dodds told us to either not use it or to use this sparingly. I am very cautious with Cassie’s diet now to avoid any kelp.

I think Bingo may be experiencing some problems with the reduction of prednisone and it may be causing him to have too low an amount of cortisol in his body. At this point you can either talk to the vet about not continuing so aggressively with the reduction or you might actually testing Bingo’s adrenal function to see if he is responding properly.

I don’t like to see any dog suffer during these decreases. I know for a fact that Dr. Dodds has advised that some dogs just can never go off a low dose of prednisone the rest of their life. Bingo may be one of those. There is no stigma attached to this, it is precautionary and something she routinely advises.

I feel very badly about how he is responding. I urged you to try the decreases and I know your vet did too. I once had to take prednisone for a severe allergic reaction. The weaning process was DREADFUL. I felt like I was going to die, I was so weak and washed out. It was over two weeks before I returned to somewhat normal. And I only took prednisone for a short period of time!

Please let me know what you do.
my best, patrice

[Vally]

First of all, Bingo is great this morning. No issues other than having an mum who is too slow to get his food down on the floor for him. I’m very relieved this morning as yesterday morning he had the smaller dose of 1/8th of a 5mg tablet. Today is big dose day!!! So I will go ahead and skip it tomorrow and see how he copes overnight and into the morning before he gets his big dose again.

Patrice, I am completely okay with him remaining on prednisone. His vet and I are both of the opinion that it’s important that he be comfortable and happy. If that means staying on the drug, so be it! It’s just a matter of seeing where we stop. His vet’s words “A little prednisone keeps an old boy happy”. The original intention had been to stay on 2.5mg daily, but as he looked so good at that, we thought we’d try and take it lower, then lower. So I’m thrilled at this point that he’s now on 0.9mg (average) without taking into account the current skip a day testing which brings it down to a whole 0.8mg (average).

Licorice – I found that it stops cyclosporine working – so that’s out in any event.

Kelp – He does take a supplement which contains kelp and spirulina. The spirulina I had read was a problem with cyclosporine, so I cut this supplement down. I didn’t know about kelp though, so I may just drop the supplement completely now.

Perhaps we need a herbal warning set up somewhere here too because I know that’s one of the first things I look to for help with any problem, dog or human. We all want the miracle cure and be able to ditch the drugs but the herbs themselves need a lot of research as (as you point out) they can, on occasion do more harm than good.

Ruth, thank you so much for your comment. Yes it was a lovely day. My nephew was totally relaxed the whole day and enjoyed himself.

This disease has certainly left a scar which hurts at times. Any little thing (and it is minute when compared to the early day battles) and it’s panic stations again. Yes Sheena we would have paid anything to see them bounding about and grumpy because he’s NOT getting his sixth treat for the morning.

Lots of love, Vally & Happy – or maybe that’s Happy & Happy

[Vally]

Oh and the dope fell off the bed last night!!! Why does he love to terrify me sooooo.

[admin]

Hi Vally

Glad to hear your boy is back on form!

Patrice’s experience with pred withdrawal is the same as mine. I have in the past had some acute asthma attacks & each time I withdrew, I felt AWFUL! It was like someone had punched you if they just touched you lightly. I have a bit of a niggle with my borderline low thyroid & keep trying “natural remedies”, so thought I would try an iodine supplement from a plant root. I instantly felt really ill for about 4 days! Dizzy, sick & lethargic & my blood pressure shot up – of course I read about the possible side effects beforehand, but you always expect it won’t affect you like that – stupid woman I am. In my opinion, supplements etc ARE drugs. A lot of drugs come from plants even now, e.g. aspirin from willow bark & cyclosporine is from a fungus. I would be very careful with anything & sometimes I know I sound very cautious with others on here about the supplements they use – they ARE drugs & this is my reasoning behind it. We should all be checking interactions & side effects before giving them to our pets or taking them ourselves. I think we will see supplements more tightly regulated in the future. The UK are stopping some iron supplements currently available without a prescription because people are making themselves ill taking it when they don’t actually need it – regular blood tests are needed whilst taking these supplements, so the doctors can monitor people’s levels – we know that as our IMHA pets are sometimes given certain iron supplements until they are better & then they must be stopped. In an ideal world, nothing would have side effects, but even supplements do. There aren’t many drugs that don’t have side effects either. So, it’s not easy & I would generally choose “conventional” medicine because of the rigorous testing & research that has to be done to licence them.

Anyway, if Bingo has to stay on a small dose which some dogs do, as Patrice & Dr Dodds say, that’s the way it is. I know you won’t worry about this because there’s no need to at small doses.

Keep it going Bingo – You know you need that extra biscuit!
Love from Auntie Sheena, Worzel & Ollie xxx

[admin]

Bingo, you ARE a worry for you Mum – try & stay away from the edge of the bed in future!