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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Lola update- med help!
| Hey everyone! Sorry we haven't posted in awhile, we took a trip up to Long Island for a wedding, and Lola was so well behaved! (kinda) So we got her blood taken last thursday (the 11th) --and the results were O K -- I just had several (understatement) questions that I am hoping you guys can help me out with. I'm not sure if I told you guys but we drove a few hours to see a traditional/homeopathic doctor in north jersey to see if she could help out- first positive doctor we have had thus far! Just not sure if I am totally a believer yet, but I am keeping an open mind. First I want to list lola's latest blood results, and then the dosage she is on for her medicine, because although I like her new doctor, she hasn't been here from the beginning and didn't seem to be that informed on the meds that Lola's is on, and I don't know when to decrease/change any..Lola is only 4 lbs, and she already has luxating patellas on both of her back legs (very common in chihuahuas) and being that she is only 2, I am afraid she is going to develop problems that young dogs shouldn't. I just want her to feel good and be happy. CBC from this week compared to the week prior: Absolute reticulocyte 8/11 = 406,100 -(8/4 = 280,380) Reticulocyte Count 8/11 = 15.5 -(8/4 = 10.5) Corrected reticulocytes 8/11 = 8.2 -(8/4 = 4.9) Retic production index 8/11 = 4.1 -(8/4 = 2.5) WBC 8/11 = 5.4 -(8/4 = 3.5) RBC 8/11 = 2.62 -(8/4 = 2.67) HGB 8/11 = 8.2 -(8/4 = 7.2) HCT 8/11 = 23.8 -(8/4 = 21) MCV 8/11 = 91 -(8/4 = 79) MCH 8/11 = 31.3 -(8/4 = 27) Autoplatelet 8/11 = "decreased"- 48,000 -(8/4 = "adequate") anisocytosis 8/11 = "moderate" -(8/4 = "moderate") Polychromasia 8/11 = "moderate" -(8/4 = "moderate") Neutrophils 8/11 = 76 -(8/4 = 77) Lymphocytes 8/11 = 16 -(8/4 = 14) Absolute neutrophil seg 8/11 = 4104 -(8/4 = 2695) Absolute lymphocytes 8/11 = 864 -(8/4 = 490) Monocytes 8/11 = 6 -(8/4 = 6) Eosinophils 8/11 = 1 -(8/4 = 2) Absolute Eosinophil 8/11 = 54 -(8/4 = 70) Basophil 8/11 = 0 -(8/4 = 1) Absolute Basophil 8/11 = 0 -(8/4 = 35) Okay SO, her RBC keeps creeping down, yet the WBC went up and the production of cells seems to be very much present. Also, her HCT and HGB have gone UP for the first time in weeks.. Her platelets are low again-- and I am not sure what medicine is supposed to help with this..is it prednisone? Now I am going to list her meds and doses--I basically am curious as to whether or not she is taking to little or too much of anything..I know none of us are doctors, but it seems at times that we are more in the know with this particular disease along with the meds. Last week the herbal doctor said that she believes the underlying problem is congenital (which she believes come in threes) --she said lola's are 1) open fontanel 2) the back knees and 3) autoimmune --now i thought that an open fontanel was normal on a chihuahua as many websites suggest, but she said it is not, so i will go with her. She added a few natural meds to Lola's daily list--- Gui Pi Tang, Epimedium, and Forti Flora- the first two are to help the underlying cause and the forti flora is a common pro-biotic --she also gave us something called yunnan baiyao pill that we could use in case of emergency bleeding--apparently soldiers used to take them if they were wounded and bleeding, and people still take them for bleeding. Med list and dosage: all given in 12 hour intervals Pepcid:1/10th of pill AM ONLY Thyroxine: .025 AM & PM Sucralfate: .5 mL AM & PM Prednisone: 5 mg AM - 2.5 mg PM Cyclosporine (atopica): 10 mg AM & PM Clavamox: .5 mL AM & PM Pet-Tinic: .75 mL AM & PM Doxycycline- .1 mL AM & PM Gui Pi tang- 1/2 powder capsule twice daily Epimedium- 1/2 powder capsule twice daily Forti Flora- 1 packet a day Milk thistle- 3-4 drops 4 times a day any recommendations?? thank you all, and I hope everyone is well!! Christina & LOLA |
| Christina New Jersey |
| Hi Stranger, Hope you were able to enjoy your trip. Not much of a believer in things that have rules like "come in threes." Although I have seen many things come in threes, I have seen just as many come in 2's and 4's. No doubt there is value in homeopathy to help, but ther are times when it will most certainly not be enough. I too like positive people and hope you find some help from her. It is easy to make anything sound positive, too bad the usual vets you see don't understand this. I would be happy the HCT is up and the RBC difference is insignificant (2.62=2.67). It looks like reticulocyytes are up and that's good. Platelets down, of course we want them up too. Anything that suppresses the immune system would help with recovery of all cell types from an attack. You are going to see slower results too, because the attack is at an eariler stage of development. Cyclospsorine and Prednisone should shut down the immune system. Thyroxine is to replace thyroid insufficiency. Doxycycline (tick infection) and Clamavox are antibiotics. Did you test for ticks or is this still cautionary? If that (tick induce infection) is what was/is causing the bone marrow problem with generating platelets. The rest just protect, or help with normal functions. The pepcid should preceed both prednisone doses, as it only protects while it is there, so one of your dosings of pred is unprotected. It would be nice if you could reduce the other dose of pred to lower as well, but maybe you want to see a bit more increase in other values first. Maybe a bit more patience before, but pred if effective, is usally lowered to prevent damage, if cyclosporine is working. Still thinking about you guys and praying for you both too. Richard & Dog Dylan |
| Richard Burnaby |
This thread was discussed between 19/08/2011 and 20/08/2011
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