Pred

[Guest CyndiW]

Are shaking and trembling side effects of pred? We lowered Alex's dosage from 30mg/twice daily to 15mg/twice daily. That was great for several days. The panting, hind-end weakness, trembling/shaking, teeth chattering, and incontinence almost all went away. He still had some light panting and trembling. However, the trembling/shaking are worse than ever tonight. The oncologist said I need to try to keep him at that dosage one more week before we go to 15mg/once daily but it is hard seeing him like this. Do you think it is just the pred or something else such as chemo side effect, neurological problem, etc.?

[Guest houndlover]

I don't have any experience with chemo but it sounds like it is probably a side effect to the pred. Did he have this symptom before he started on the meds? I had Billy on pred for a while for seizures and finally had to stop b/c the side effects were just like the ones that you described above and he was on the lowest dose that they give the hounds. Maybe someone with more experience with the pred can give you better info. I'm sorry that you and Alex are going through this though.

[tbhounds]

Those sound like Pred side-affects, however, that's a pretty low dose that you are giving. Might be worth a phone call to yor vet if they are concerned.

[DaisyDoodle]

I know pred makes me anxious when I take it. Maybe that's what's happening with your pup.

[Burpdog]

Could be although I've not had that side effect in my guys. Call the neurologist back. Maybe he needs to see him.

 

Why is he on pred?

 

[lovinggreysslp]

Our hound who took pred had the panting, incontinence, some rear leg shaking when the pred dose was high. With our boy, even 15 mg a day was "high" for him as his body just did not handle pred well. I agree though that a call the the vet to check would be a good idea.

[patricia]

Cody has been on pred for over a year with no problems. My Angels were both on pred with no problems either other than initially more water intake and urination.

[Guest michael_roberts]

We had some of the same issues with Noza and Pred. She was on a high dose for a neck injury last summer. She panted, paced, shivered, and whined. She couldn't be still long enough to sleep. It was horrible. She was also so tense that she was making her injury worse. Unfortunately it took us several days to realize what was causing it. We stepped her down fast, and she was fine. A few weeks ago when she had her stroke, she was again put on a high dose. The neurologist commented that Noza would have periods of agitation and "puffing". The neurologist thought (and confirmed) that Noza's blood pressure was spiking during these times; I thought it was likely to be the Pred.

 

I have a good friend with MS that on occasion takes high doses of Pred. She said she actually likes it because she gets a huge rush of energy and feels excited-almost euphoric. She said she hates stepping down the doses because she crashes and gets depressed. I can say Noza's condition on Pred was never anything close to euphoric, more like intense anxiety.

[Guest snowberry]

Herbie had shivering attacks, panting for hours at a time, and so on, for doses over 10mg a day. (The first week on 40mg a day I thought we'd killed him, but the vet kept telling me the symptoms were largely psychological... ) There is something in humans called steroid psychosis, and I am convinced greys can experience something similar:

 

http://www.drrichardhall.com/steroid.htm

 

Each dog is different, and what one grey tolerates well, another grey can't cope with. If you can, keep a diary of symptoms, and talk through with your vet!

 

Edited to add: Herbie was better when he received the full daily dose in the morning - when it was split, morning and evening, he was much worse in the evenings.

Edited February 21, 2008 by snowberry

[Pepsi2004]

When I take pred, I can't sleep and get the shakes , so it sure could be that.

 

[Guest greytpets]

Prednisolone is quite a strong drug, its very likely its a side effect of either having to much or for too often. The only side effect Ive noticed from it is increased appetite; which was really helpful when my boy was dieting *sigh*

 

Def. speak to your vet I know its not a drug that should be given for long periods (over a week or so) at a time.