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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Update to the 'Ernie and phenobarb' saga
| Spoke to vet this afternoon and much to my surprise he was very open to the idea that phenobarb could be responsible. he asked me to bear with him while he looked again at all Ern's records. He called me back about an hour later and agreed with everything I suggested. He believes Ern DOES have AIHA, but that the likely trigger is phenobarb. He says it's such a rare reaction that it simply hadn't occured to him, but having looked at everything again it fits perfectly, and explains all the anomalies we've been seeing. So the plan now is to get him off phenobarb asap! Unfortunately we can't just stop it cold turkey but he'll be weaned off it over a month or so. I suppose I should be grateful that in Ernies case it now looks like we know what triggered his AIHA, and by removing the trigger it will at least give him a far better chance of a full recovery. Sue |
| Sue Northants UK |
| Great news Sue :+) You must be feeling so much better now. Tricia |
| Tricia UK |
| Sue, Glad to hear your Vet recognized that we don't just look for stuff on line to make their life miserable. In this case it obviously may say Ernie's life. How come your Vet wants to wean him off the Pheno instead of substituting another drug now? Keep up the good work and know that your voice is Ernie's voice. Penny |
| Penny Lytle Creek Calif |
| Sue, Looks like you have got a good vet who is prepared to listen. Good luck and keep getting better Little Ern. We go back next week for our next check up with Jasps and Mum has her next chemo too... so an eventful week next week! Jackie and Jasper |
| Jackie pembrokeshire; west wales; uk |
| Sue, that's positive news. Too bad you can't just discontinue the pheno cold turkey. Anyway, good for you for speaking up on Ernie's behalf - and good luck to Ern. Please keep us posted. deb and Duck |
| Debbie BC Canada |
| Thanks to everyone for the support. Penny, in answer to your question : There is obviously no question that he HAS to come off the phenobarb, but Herman feels that replacing it with another drug and dealing with initial side effects could be more of a risk to Ernies health that leaving him without it. Apparently potassium bromide is more often used as a combination drug along with phenobarb and isn't always terribly effective on its own anyway. Also if we put him on another anti-convulsant now it would have to be largely guesswork to get the dose right. His AIHA and pred dosage make it impossible to get an accurate reading of other drug levels in his blood. Before starting phenobarb Ernie was averaging one fit every 6 - 8 weeks, and most of them were very mild, less than 5 mins. For this reason Herman feels that right now the AIHA is far more of a risk to his life than the occasional fit. The plan is to get him off phenobarb and continue treating the AIHA, then simply see what happens with his epilepsy. If it becomes an issue then we'll readdress his medication at that point. Since his fits were so infrequent and so mild before medication I'm wondering if there are any homeopathic remedies that might help while he's not on any medication. I'll be trawling message boards on epilepsy websites this afternoon and hoping that they are as helpful and supportive as the people on here. |
| Sue Northants UK |
| A positive step forward Sue,well done and best wishes to Ern. |
| Hilary Hampshire |
This thread was discussed between 05/12/2007 and 07/12/2007
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