Depo-Medrol Injections For Ls - Who Has Tried It - Experiences?

[Rickiesmom]

For those whose hounds have had the Depo-Medrol injections recommended by Suzanne Stack for LS, what has been your experience?

 

- Did it work well,

- No effect,

- Adverse reaction?

 

Thank you so much for your help.

[Batmom]

I have not but I believe Hubcitypam and KennelMom have, so you might PM them if no one else speaks up.

[galgomum]

We used them for our boy Tex, the relief for him was instant, within 2 hours we saw him walking better and he was free of pain.

[Hubcitypam]

They were magic for Rex. His lasted longer than most and in the big picture were very reasonable...It has been several years ago but I believe it was around $70 plus office call. He went from unable to get off the couch to bounding up the steps.

Contrary to some reports I never had any problem getting several greyhound savvy vets to give Rex Depo and we did give Buddy one and there was no beef from the vet on that one either. It did not work as well on Buddy, but it either works or it doesn't.

A VERY greyhound savvy vet told me if people had trouble getting a vet to do it seek out an older vet.

[FiveRoooooers]

For Pal, the relief was within 24 hours. They kept him going for a very long time.

 

eta, our vet is definitely not old.

Edited December 10, 2013 by FiveRoooooers

[fliggie]

Could someone link me to more info on this please? Thank you! Mary Ann

[Rickiesmom]

Suzanne Stack's article on lumbosacral stenosis.

 

She has a number of other useful pieces on the same website.

[GeorgeofNE]

People should note that there is no science behind this (meaning that any reports of it working are anecdotal only), and Dr. Stack was actually taught this by a track vet which her article on it actually says. She didn't invent this.

 

None of the vets around here will do it.

 

I was told the same thing as stated by someone above, "Find and old vet--they might do it" but given the number of vets I spoke to about it, one who did her surgical residency in Jacksonville at the same clinic where some top racers go when injured, and who owns greyhounds, I chose not to pursue it.

 

If you think I'm nuts, speak to a neurologist. Any perceived relief a dog gets is only from inflammation being relieved by the steroids in the back (wherever the shot is given). It has nothing to do with the actual compression of the nerves in the spine, which is what LSS is. It's simply not possible to do anything to the inside of the spine from the outside.

[Hubcitypam]

Dr. Stack WAS NOT taught by a track vet though she used to be a track vet herself at the now closed Valley Race Park in Harlingen, TX. The article DOES NOT state that Dr. Herron was ever a track vet. Suzanne was taught by Dr. Mike Herron who was a professor at the Texas A&M Vet school for 32 years and served time as head of small animal surgery. He also bred and raced greyhounds for many years - his dogs were some of those with the "Dox" prefix.. He is a legend in Texas. He was the one that first diagnosed Rex. He is retired from the University and is in private practice. People outside of Texas vet community refer to it as "Dr. Stack's technique" because Dr. Herron doesn't have a website widely circulated around the greyhound adoption community.

Ask MDs and DVMs about Chiropractic and most will tell you it's a load of bull and there really is no solid clinic evidence that it works but millions have received relief from it. Three of us above (and I believe KennelMom) have seen Depo work...and as mentioned before my vet from Ohio State is fine with it.

Edited December 9, 2013 by Hubcitypam

[NeylasMom]

If you think I'm nuts, speak to a neurologist. Any perceived relief a dog gets is only from inflammation being relieved by the steroids in the back (wherever the shot is given). It has nothing to do with the actual compression of the nerves in the spine, which is what LSS is. It's simply not possible to do anything to the inside of the spine from the outside.

Relief is relief.

 

My orthopedist, who is young and on the cutting edge of his field, will give steroid injections when LS has progressed far enough to warrant it. We're not there yet thankfully, but we briefly discussed it as a tool in our arsenal.

 

Before doing them though, you might consider physical therapy (for Zuri, we found strengthening his core muscles took the strain off of his hind end), treating for muscle tightness and spasms (Zuri's groin muscles and to a much lesser extent the muscles along his spine get REALLY tight sometimes from compensating and a 10-day course of Robaxin will usually clear it up; I will also put him on it preventatively when I know he's going to be doing something more strenuous), and/or Gabapentin, possibly in combination with another pain med.

[Batmom]

Anti-inflammatory injections won't change the bone structure but they sure can reduce inflammation of nerve roots and other tissues in the area.

[Burpdog]

Isaac had 3 of them. I think the vets, once they read where the shot is administered, understand a bit more about it. I think some of them think it goes in the spine, which it does not.

 

The first one brought him lots of relief for a few months. The second one for a few weeks and the third one, not much at all.

[kikibean]

The first dog I wanted to do the shots on was a foster who had been being seen by a specialist. He flat out refused to do the shots because he said they wouldn't work. I took the dog to my vet and asked him to do it. He didn't think it would work, but agreed to do it because I was really insistant. Those shots kept Benji going for 2-3 years, and my vet has become a firm believer in them and has given them to many greyhounds.

 

I tried them with my old girl Mimi and she had no response to them at all. Most I have know have had relief from them.

[fliggie]

Suzanne Stack's article on lumbosacral stenosis.

 

She has a number of other useful pieces on the same website.

Thank u.

[GreyTzu]

People should note that there is no science behind this (meaning that any reports of it working are anecdotal only), and Dr. Stack was actually taught this by a track vet which her article on it actually says. She didn't invent this.

 

None of the vets around here will do it.

 

I was told the same thing as stated by someone above, "Find and old vet--they might do it" but given the number of vets I spoke to about it, one who did her surgical residency in Jacksonville at the same clinic where some top racers go when injured, and who owns greyhounds, I chose not to pursue it.

 

If you think I'm nuts, speak to a neurologist. Any perceived relief a dog gets is only from inflammation being relieved by the steroids in the back (wherever the shot is given). It has nothing to do with the actual compression of the nerves in the spine, which is what LSS is. It's simply not possible to do anything to the inside of the spine from the outside.

.

[Guest KennelMom]

Our vet did this with our LS boy based on Dr. Stack's article. He said, it'll either work or it won't. Won't cause any problems if it doesn't. It made a HUGE quality of life difference in Caesar. It gave us a couple more GOOD years with him. He literally went from virtually immobile to loping around the yard in a couple days. Eventually he stopped responding to the shots and we had to say goodbye.

 

We also tried it with Champ who was questionable in his diagnosis of LS...It made zero difference in him. Ultimately, he just had age relate weakness...perhaps secondary to long term untreated Ehrlichia and muscle wasting from prednisone treatment in years prior.

 

If I had another LS dog, I'd try the shots again in a heartbeat.

 

...Our vet isn't old. In vet school he actually studied under one of the vets that helped write Care of the Racing Greyhound. I honestly don't care why it works (or why it shouldn't)...I only know it worked for our boy and gave us more time with him. Worth it to me.

Edited December 10, 2013 by KennelMom

[Hubcitypam]

I believe the title of this initial post was "who has tried it?" and not "who that has never tried it and wants to bash it".

Edited December 10, 2013 by Hubcitypam

[Guest Liz_in_PA]

My vet was willing to try it but insisted on waiting five days for the NSAID to wear off and at that point dash was in agony and I couldn't make him wait any longer. So if you're considering it, I would talk early rather than at last minute.

[celbee]

Faster had LS by symptoms (never had a diagnostic workup for it). We wanted to try the injections about a year before we actually did. The first time we asked our vet about it, he just never got back to us. Then we decided we really wanted to try it ... faxed him the article and said "will you do these injections for us" and he said no. So we asked around until we heard that a local holistic vet would give them. Another local gh owner had worked with this vet and she was willing to give the shots; the shots were very helpful to this dog and gave him several weeks of relief each time. The effects were not magical for Faster, but we believe that they did help him. And we so wish we had tried them sooner for him. When Janet started to show similar symptoms (could have been LS, could have been hind end weakness due to old age), we took her to this same vet and got the injections for her. This vet also did acupuncture and we had a couple of treatments of that.

 

Medrol/ corticosteroids remain a big black box of medical effects.... they do many more things than are currently understood... Since LS is not that well understood, either, to me it is entirely possible that the local reduction of inflammation by the steroid injection could have an indirect effect on the LS. We looked on it like KennelMom's vet did: it will either work or it won't. And if doesn't work, it does not cause harm. It is basically an intramuscular injection... it is not close to the spinal cord and there is not a great risk of injecting the spinal cord. And, in in the overall scheme of vet care, it's not that expensive.

 

Would we try it again. Yes, we will.

Does it make a difference in every dog. No.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Carol

[NeylasMom]

I believe the title of this initial post was "who has tried it?" and not "who that has never tried it and wants to bash it".

[Hubcitypam]

Wendy - did you mean to make a statement in response to the mistruths posted earlier which included Dr.. Herron being a "track vet" instead of a high ranking university professor? I'm just wondering if there was a glitch somehow. You must have been meaning to respond in some way but there was no response.....

Edited December 10, 2013 by Hubcitypam

[GreyTzu]

Wendy - did you mean to make a statement in response to the mistruths posted earlier which included Dr.. Herron being a "track vet" instead of a high ranking university professor? I'm just wondering if there was a glitch somehow. You must have been meaning to respond in some way but there was no response.....

 

Just practicing my quotes.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Tried it once on Morgan but it had no effect.

[greylyn]

Our vet had never heard of it so I gave her the link to the website several years ago; she checked it out and was willing to try it . Then she went off to have a baby! She passed the info off to the other vet in the office and after reading it carefully, she was also willing to try it. I think it helped Kieran for the first few injections but was less effective after that so we discontinued the shots.; Kieran died at 13.5 years old so she'd had a good life with no other serious health problems.

 

Our current two GHs are 9 and 6 years old and do not appears to have any back or joint issues. I hope it stays that way for a long time!

[Rickiesmom]

Thank you everyone who has shared their experience. I was asking in view of increased back-end problems in my whippet Rickie, who will be 15 1/2 at the end of the month.

 

The neurologist caring for him was not opposed to this treatment, but felt he would benefit from wider-spread anti-inflammatory effect. She has prescribed Prednisone, but we are also looking into Medrol, which may have milder side effects.