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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Help for symptoms
| Hello, everyone. Was hoping you might have thoughts on how to help my lab, Raven, with some of the side effects. She's currently on 25 mg of prednisone 2x/day and 50 mg. of azathioprine every other day. She's been on this for about 2 weeks now. All the side effects were explained to me, but they are coming to light now. On Friday, Raven threw up about 4:30 in the morning -- just that one time, but she's been licking her lips a ton since then. Vet recommended 15 mg of pepsid, and they seems to have helped a bit. Last night, she wet her bed for the first time. Have you all found other ways to cope during this initial phase of the disease? She's snoozing next to me now...looks so thin...breaks my heart. Also, someone mentioned Dr. Dobbs -- I can't seem to find out who this is on the site or his/her e-mail address. Would love to know who this valuable resource is. Thanks in advance...all of you have been such wonderful find in the last week. Sharon |
| Sharon |
| Sharon, Darcy seems to be doing better since they took her off the Azathioprine and lowered her Prednisone, but she's having a problem absorbing the Cyclosporine. The Azathioprine and Prednisone were believed to have brought on her pancreatitis, but the blood transfusion couldn't be ruled out either. She was licking or smacking her lips, then throwing up when the pancreatitis started. Be sure to keep an eye on Raven for those symptoms. Dr. Dodds email is: hemopet@hotmail.com She's located in California. I wish you and Raven the best and will say a prayer for you. Karen |
| Karen NC |
| Sharon, Here is a link to Dr. Dodds website. http://www.hemopet.org/ Dr. Dodds is beyond wonderful and so giving of her time. It is too bad your Vet didn't suggest something for Raven's gastro protection sooner. It is extremely hard to watch what the drugs do to your baby but remember most of what you see will be reversed when you can get them off the meds. Keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| My vet recommended using 1 20mg Omeprazole daily for Matilda - since the beginning of her diagnosis. This is the over-the-counter drug for people. He felt it offered as much protection and more cost effective. Matilda never threw up through all her meds. She did, however, wet the bed consistently for quite some time. Eventually, I realized that the oder from her urine was just too strong, and we tested, and sure enough she had a urinary tract infection. She was on antibiotics off and on for the urinary tract infection. I will say that I would recommend always running the screen to see what type of infection and what drugs it is sensitive to - as the one Matilda had was not sensitive to the drug of choice - which means we would have been giving her something that did not help her. Anyway, we eventually changed her diet to a low protein until we could get the UTI cleared up. |
| Jeanne Texas |
| excessive licking is a sign of nausea. |
| Courtney SLO |
| Hi Sharon, All of the symptoms you mention are standard for those meds, we have gone through the same. Tiggs got a shot of Cerenia for nausea, followed by a five day pill course until he could get a little bit stronger. He also had to wear pull-ups (the kind for toddlers) and I would just wrap them around his waist, and then put a towel under him. We were getting up a lot to let him out, but we were all losing sleep, and it's just the Pred that makes them leak and dribble. It definitely gets better once the dosage is lower. You will also probably start to notice significant muscle wasting around the hind legs and the head, as well as a pot bellied appearance. My dog Tiggs, was about 60 lbs, then lost about 10 lbs during the initial onset, and is now up to 70 lbs (heavier than he has ever been thanks to Pred and some home cooked meals!), but his head is very skeletal, the occipital bone on his head makes him look like a Tyranasaurus Rex, and his cheek bones are very noticeable. We will be thinking of you and Raven, and she should continue the Pepcid, it protects their tummies. Also, antibiotics will help if she has any infection obviously, but a good preventative for bladder infections before they occur is dried cranberries sprinkled in their food. Best of luck, melissa and tiggs |
| melissa slc |
This thread was discussed between 19/10/2008 and 20/10/2008
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