Anipryl And ? ,,doggie Has Ccd (Anyone Ever Used This Drug)

[greyhead]

I absolutely do remember your pit-bull fight, Ron, and was appropriately impressed!

 

Just to elaborate what I said before, our Shane was having the same symptoms as your Leia. Like you, we thought some form of anxiety, be it from CCD, environmental, whatever. We even had a pest-control guy come out to see if we had carpenter ants in the walls! We were giving some pain meds, because we know he has pain issues, but I'd been backing off on them, for fear they were making him anxious. Finally, we saw a cardiologist and found that his heart is basically sound (although the vet had thought it a bit large), and he recommended we up the pain meds and add more. That has solved the problem. Also, melatonin helped get him correct his sleep/wake cycle back to normal over the course of a week, but after that it seemed to do more harm than good, so we stopped it, and all was well.

 

Really, if the vet ultimately finds her heart is strong, I'd change tactics and try treating for pain -- even if the x-rays don't show the source -- rather than for anxiety or cognitive dysfunction. (Yes, I'm a psychologist by training, now retired.) Pain absolutely does create anxiety, especially in a being that can't tell anyone what's wrong, and each reinforces the other. Treating anxiety doesn't usually relieve pain, but treating pain relieves both pain and anxiety. That's the bottom line. And I hope it turns out to be just that simple. (And ruling out thyroid issues is never a bad idea.)

Edited June 6, 2014 by greyhead

[Guest FordRacingRon]

BTW,,I said she vet put Leia on xanax,,,she put her on Valium. I wanted Valium, she wanted xanax but since they are the same type of drug she went my way. Leia , after the pills hit, had a nice comfortable night.

[CharlieRhea]

Hi FordRacingRon

My 12 yr old German Shepherd female has "Sundowners" It typically began as the sun was setting and she would pace, not come to us, which was

highly unusual, generally a nervous wreck. I took her to my vet because I wanted Rhea, my GSD, to be comfortable. I had asked about a

sedative but my Vet suggested a supplement. It has worked wonders! It is called Zylkene and is casein and magnesium. It took about 3 days to get into her system. She gets 1 capsule daily. She has always been a little noise reactive even when young but she is much better. She now

sleeps comfortably and is not drugged. I suggested this to a friend whose young rescue is always nervous. Her dog will now go up to people, she NEVER did before. She is still skittish but the Zylkene helped immensely.

I get it through my Vet, $50.00 a month for the highest dose 450 mg. You can buy it online also, it is not a prescription but so far my Vet is less expensive. Please try, it can't hurt. It has been available in UK and I believe Canada for awhile but new in the US. Best of Luck!

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Hi FordRacingRon

My 12 yr old German Shepherd female has "Sundowners" It typically began as the sun was setting and she would pace, not come to us, which was

highly unusual, generally a nervous wreck. I took her to my vet because I wanted Rhea, my GSD, to be comfortable. I had asked about a

sedative but my Vet suggested a supplement. It has worked wonders! It is called Zylkene and is casein and magnesium. It took about 3 days to get into her system. She gets 1 capsule daily. She has always been a little noise reactive even when young but she is much better. She now

sleeps comfortably and is not drugged. I suggested this to a friend whose young rescue is always nervous. Her dog will now go up to people, she NEVER did before. She is still skittish but the Zylkene helped immensely.

I get it through my Vet, $50.00 a month for the highest dose 450 mg. You can buy it online also, it is not a prescription but so far my Vet is less expensive. Please try, it can't hurt. It has been available in UK and I believe Canada for awhile but new in the US. Best of Luck!

If it is her heart my guess is that will not stop her sundowners so I will put this in the toolbox in case. Thanks.

[CharlieRhea]

If it is her heart my guess is that will not stop her sundowners so I will put this in the toolbox in case. Thanks.

My apologies, I didn't realize her heart might be involved. I must have misread something. All My Best to her

[Guest FordRacingRon]

My apologies, I didn't realize her heart might be involved. I must have misread something. All My Best to her

No worries,,her heart wasn't involved on page one and if it turns out not to be a heart problem,,we are back to the brain disorder.

 

Today, with no drugs of any kind,,she has been perfect. But we are closing in on 5 pm,,,start time.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Well my dog seems to respond to Valium. Yesterday was the first day she spent the entire day being Leia for a couple of months now. My DW and I were thinking ,,if she actually has two problems what will we do. If it is CCD and an enlarged heart,,where do we go from there? But,,don't borrow trouble,,one day and step at a time.

[cmc333]

Good for you and your vet for finding something that works for Leia. And if there is heart problems, you'll figure out what works then. Just enjoy Leia for Leia right now.

[NeylasMom]

I'm glad to see you are on the right track. Before reading about the potential heart issue, my suggestion was going to be to get her off all of the meds and start from scratch. Even if it is a cognitive issue, if the medications were addressing one problem but creating a new one, they're not the right drugs (or at least dosages).

 

Hoping you can find something that is easily managed for a long time to come.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Well, 1300 bucks later (chest xrays and ultrasounds)and what I learned was, Leia's heart is the right size, her valves are a little used but not so much for an 11 year old so no heart. The abdomen US showed virtually everything normal except for a slight thickening in a very small part of an intestine that we could narrow further if we did extensive testing,,again do not have that kind of money for an 11 year old.

 

Her thyroid showed a t4 value of .4 so just a titch under what I believe is lower range normal for a grey so not it either.

 

So we are back to the brain. I can't afford and MRI which is what I think they will want,,,so then my vet suggested just a consultation but to that I ask, why(?). If it is a tumor, we can't do anything about it. That only leaves the Alzheimer's again so back to square one. YOu could but a medical tag on what she has but if the meds we are using work,,,,why fix it?

 

So this thread has sort of gone back to the beginning except now our orders are to go ahead and start the Anipryl if we want, and use Valium for her nerves which works really well. . And I will say, the Valium makes her darn near perfect except for maybe 30 minutes a day. And for reference, she only takes 15 mg of Valium a day,,,pretty low dosage but just enough.

 

My original reason for starting this was to find out what she can take with Anipryl and the Valium was suggested and now is being used.

Edited June 11, 2014 by FordRacingRon

[tbhounds]

I still think you should see a neurologist even if you decline the MRI recommendation. There may be other treatment plans available that your GP veterinarian may not be aware of. I do believe it's worth the consultation fee.

[NeylasMom]

I agree.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

I still think you should see a neurologist even if you decline the MRI recommendation. There may be other treatment plans available that your GP veterinarian may not be aware of. I do believe it's worth the consultation fee.

Still on the fence. I will say the specialist we saw was an internist who did the abdomen US,,and she had a cardiologist do the heart US (Leia has a shaved belly!) and I told her about goign to the neurologist and she said at this time she is not even sure what this will buy us. She said to re-start the Anipryl and keep a daily log of what Leia does and eats and she wants us back in a month to see the log. that will be the time to decide about a neurologist or not. She shares the complex with the neurologists.

 

For 6 days now Leia seems to be a lot calmer since we started give her the Valium only. Yesterday she only took 7 mg at 5pm (1 1/2 pills) and 5 mg at 10. So 2 1/2 5 mg pills for the day which seems like very little to me.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

So,,onto the neurologist. I really do not think this will buy us anything but in order to continue getting valium from any source this is what I have to do. My regular vet will be glad to write the script for as long as we need it,,once the 200 dollar neurologist says it is okay to take it and the anipryl.

 

YOu know over the years you watch your doggies continually change and adopt different habits. I sometimes almost wonder if this is just the way she morphed into old age.

[Guest BiancasMom]

A neurologist may have a better idea of what medication may work better for her. Sounds like perhaps an anti-convulsant (seizure medication) may help her out instead of Anipryl and Valium. I agree with tbhounds that often neurologists will know something other DVMs might not be aware of or even other specialists. That is why they are specialized in that particular field.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Well for those interested.....we did see the neurologist and he did do the office tests minus the MRI as form what he saw, she couldn't have a brain tumor. After listening to what we told him about her he isn't even sure she has CCD,,this could just be her version of old age. I told us to continue what we were doing saying the ANipryl would take a month anyway to see if it helps.. However........

 

....she had diarrhea pretty badly a few days ago so we stopped her pills (except the Valium) and her special dog food. She was on Hills Prescription B/D but that has corn in it. I am thinking between that, the canned dog food and the medication she has the wall. So of course as experienced grey owners we went to the rice/chicken/bland diet and have her up and running again a few days ago.

 

But once we got her over the him we decided to just give her the Anipryl and her Valium and feed her like the old days,,,subtract the Hill's and the brain supplements we have been giving her. She seems to be more settled now then ever,,only panting for maybe 2 hours a night,,,,and she seems to be a lot better.

 

So I guess we just keep doing what we are now and see what happens next week. I guess when they get this old it is just one day at a time.

[carronstar]

Thanks for the update. My girl just passed the 11 1/4 mark. I go by small goals now since she is a CRF girlie. She also pants but not as much as Leia. Hugs to your girl.