Depo Medrol -- How Fast Is Improvement? 2Nd ?, Post 11

[greyhead]

We need to hear from people who have gotten Depo Medrol shots for their greyhounds. Shane got his first shot last Friday. How fast have you seen improvement?

 

He clearly feels relatively fantastic compared to before the shot! But there's still some stumbling. (In fairness, Friday night was a nightmare due to a bad reaction to his first -- and last -- Trazodone. So Saturday he was sleeping most of the time, and it probably shouldn't count as a day in evaluating the effect of the shot!)

Edited July 2, 2014 by greyhead

[Batmom]

I'll let others answer re the depo Medrol.

 

What happened with the trazodone?

[Hubcitypam]

Dr. Stack says 48 hours and I've found 48-72 to be true for my guys. Be aware it works great on some dogs and not on others.

[greyhead]

I'll let others answer re the depo Medrol.

 

What happened with the trazodone?

Due to LSS pain, hookworms, and insecurity, Shane has been having terrible anxiety at night. He was jumping up every 20 minutes, panting, pacing, etc. He had had a paradoxical reaction to Xanax previously, so this time we thought we'd try trazodone, since some people said their greys had done well on it. Well, not this one! He had *acute* panting/pacing/dis-ease from 10 pm to 4 am and then had to sleep the whole next day and didn't eat until 3:45! (The vet said she herself had a terrible reaction to it, including leg cramps and racing thoughts, but hadn't wanted to mention it because she didn't want to turn us off to trying it.)

[Batmom]

Thanks for the descrip. Poor bug. Hope he has been more settled since then!

[greyhead]

Dr. Stack says 48 hours and I've found 48-72 to be true for my guys. Be aware it works great on some dogs and not on others.

 

Thanks, Pam! We're hopeful, and he is definitely happier and feels better, but the continued stumbling is of some concern.

Thanks, Jey. I went out and got a DAP diffuser plus their spray. I don't know if that's why, but he has been doing fine since he recovered from that spell. He's able to sleep two floors below us instead of in our room for the first time in weeks! I don't know what else there is left to try of a medicinal nature. But he's seeing a neurologist on Thursday, so we'll ask about that along with everything else.

[Hubcitypam]

I can't even take 1/2 a trazadone without a horrible reaction. My sister ended up in the ER twice before she told her doctor it wasn't a good idea.

[greyhead]

Tell ya what, I'm never giving him another downer except as a quarter of whatever the recommended starting dose is! For all I know, though, he can't take downers.

[macoduck]

How about Zylkene? It's a natural product available online and my vet has been recommending it.

[greyhead]

Thanks, Ducky, I'll look into it!

[greyhead]

Dr. Stack says 48 hours and I've found 48-72 to be true for my guys. Be aware it works great on some dogs and not on others.

 

I probably didn't ask enough questions in my first post! A secondary question is: after getting the DM shot, did you keep your dog(s) on other meds, such as gabapentin and tramadol?

 

Pam? Anybody else?

[Hubcitypam]

No I did not. The shots helped him so much there was no need, but every dog is different. He literally went from not being able to get down off the couch to bounding up the back steps. He was just the ideal depo patient I guess - I could easily tell when it was wearing off.

Speaking of depo Barkley finally got seen for his horrible allergies yesterday. Course of treatment - depo shot and by golly it worked like a charm.

[Batmom]

If you get to a place where you have to give him something with sedating effects (including, for our dog, tramadol) -- we had much better results giving 1/2 the recommended low-end dose, waiting 60-90 minutes, then giving the other half. If we were giving more than the recommended low-end dose, we still started with half of that low end, then maybe half the remaining amount an hour later, and the rest an hour after that. Hard to do if no one's home but it made it possible to medicate the dog, which sometimes beat the alternatives ......

 

Hope your boy is comfortable or at least on the road to improvement.

[greyhead]

Good idea, Jey! Fortunately, Shane does okay on 50 mg. tramadol at once; don't know if he could tolerate more at once, though. He takes it 2-3 times a day, as he does the gabapentin. The vet that gave the DM shot said to go ahead and keep him on all that, for now anyway.

 

I just wonder if the steroid shot works so well for some dogs that nothing else is needed or if it's common to continue other pain meds. I'll probably have to go ahead and comb through the archives to get a sense of that. The vets around here mostly haven't worked with a lot of greyhounds.

Wow, Pam, that's great about Barkley! I had no idea DM was given for that too. And thanks for the info about how easy it was to tell when the DM was wearing off!

[KF_in_Georgia]

I think you want to continue the other drugs he's normally getting, if for no other reason than to avoid withdrawal symptoms. Both gabapentin and tramadol say not to stop abruptly.

[greyhead]

Thanks, Kathy. I think I'd heard that about gabapentin, but I didn't have a clue about tramadol!

[EllenEveBaz]

On first depo medrol shot, Nutmeg took 48 hours to show some definite improvement, and kept on improving for another 24-48 hours. The 2nd shot, she showed definite improvement within 12 hours, and continued improving for another 24.

 

We've kept Nutmeg on her gabapentin and tramadol levels, as the vet advised.

 

The shots help her a lot in mobility and I hope pain, but don't get rid of all of her symptoms. The fecal incontinence, for example, continues to slowly get worse.

[greyhead]

Thanks so much, Ellen. This is very useful info for me and probably will be for others when they have to go looking for info on Depo Medrol and LSS!

[tbhounds]

This is a bit off topic but, thought it might help you with whether or not to continue meds. There has been a bunch of chatter lately by some pretty well known respected veterinarians that Tramadol really hasn't been helping to control pain at the doses we have been currently schooled to prescribe. The new thought is you need to use at least 10mgs/kg. Most clinicians currently use a4mg/kg dosing.

So, 50mgs given to an average sized hound apparently really isn't making a difference in helping to control pain. Hope this helps.

[greyhead]

Thanks, tbhounds, that's interesting and good to know. Of course, how much tramadol sensitive GH's can take is a whole 'nother question, huh? But we'll ask the neurologist about it later today!

[GeorgeofNE]

Steroids don't actually do a thing for the compressed nerves in the spinal column--so unless your dog's issue was related to inflammation AROUND the spine, you won't see any change at all.

[Batmom]

The nerves don't get compressed all by themselves. They get compressed because various things around them are inflamed / swollen / etc. That is why Depo Medrol helps in many cases.

[greyhead]

Shane has been doing much better since the shot! The neurologist says we'll know when to give him another Depo Medrol by when Shane's condition declines again. I'm aware that it doesn't repair nerves per se, but targeted decrease of inflammation is a huge help.

 

He gave us a bunch of options for things to add, stepwise, including Sam-e and omega-3's, prednisone (no thanks), NSAIDs (probably not), amantadine -- and much more! So far I'm adding the Sam-e, which is for his brain function and may help joints. The neuro isn't sure we don't have cognitive problems too.

 

He thinks that when we had the terrible time on Trazodone, it was because it combined with the tramadol he'd already been taking, to produce serotonin syndrome!

Edited July 16, 2014 by greyhead

[EllenEveBaz]

Give Shane a smooch on the snout from us. How is the stumbling?

Edited July 8, 2014 by EllenEveBaz

[greyhead]

Thanks, Ellen! He'll get a smooch on the snout as soon as he comes back from the walk he's on with DH!

 

The stumbling is all but gone -- very minimal -- and only happens now when he has been laying in one spot for too many hours. He does that when he's being re-treated for worms and it knocks him out!