Gabapentin For Back Leg Weakness?

[nessa]

Does that help?

 

Shana clearly has a weak back end but mostly noticeable when standing still, or standing to eat and her back end sinks down as she eats. Getting up from the floor is sometimes a process to get her legs under her, but not always and she makes no indication of pain when doing so.

She "jogs" in the yard and still jumps into the car ( with us catching her back end if need be to make it in safely). She goes for 1-2 walks a day and very much wants to go on those walks.

She has been getting up on her sofa and my husband has been carrying her up the stairs at night.

 

She is on Fresh Factors and advanced joint health supplements and does very well on those.

 

She does not have LS, I guess she has arthritis? But is she in pain? I am not sure, she gives no signs of this, just stiffness and weakness?

 

I read a lot of old posts regarding these symptoms and I saw a lot of people mention gabapentin.

 

Would gabapentin be of help at this time? With Rymidal ??

 

Thanks for any thoughts on this!

[Walliered]

My two have been on Gabapentin for about 2 years now. They take 200mg in the morning and 200mg at night. It definitely has helped both of them. But, that is all they take, so don't know anything about Rymidal.

[nessa]

Why are they on it? How do you see it helping ?

[GeorgeofNE]

What makes you say she doesn't have LS? Those are pretty classic symptoms.

 

Gabapentin helps with nerve pain. It would not help for arthritis (unless the bone on bone action was causing nerve pain) or weakness. If your dog has arthritis, truly, an NSAID would help a great deal.

 

Has her lower lumbar region been x-rayed?

[greysmom]

Gabapentin can help if there is pain in the nerves, or if there is some neurological component to her challenges. It's a seizure drug for humans, and used off-label for dogs. It won't really make a difference if it's arthritis or other age-related issues. A combo of an nsaid and a pain med would probably be more effective.

[greytpups]

I give Ben monthly cartrophen injections for his rear end weakness but since we just started, I can't tell if it helps yet.

[EllenEveBaz]

I've read that 1) gabapentin works only on nerve pain; and 2) that it is used for chronic arthritis pain.

 

My dear Nutmeg had what we assume was a combination of arthritis and lumbar stenosis. The vet said it would take an MRI to definitively determine LS, and since I decided to treat the symptoms and not opt for surgery, I didn't spend the money for the $ MRI. I think she had a happy last couple of years. Nutmeg was first on glucosamine only, then glucosamine and tramadol. I chose not to go with an NSAID like rimadyl, even though it is effective in reducing inflammation and pain. (Tramadol is regarded as safer for the stomach and kidneys than NSAIDs like rimadyl and meloxicam, and Nutmeg had a history of a little kidney wonkiness.) Later, we added gabapentin, and that did seem to help the rear end weakness. In Nutmeg's last six months, she also got shots of another neutriceutial, depo-medrol, which helped significantly for months.

 

A different kind of help was an assistance harness from God's Greyts https://www.etsy.com/shop/godsgreyts . Nutmeg didn't seem to even notice it was on, and she wore it 24/7. We didn't need it often, but when we did, it took hardly any effort at all to lift her with it.

 

Hugs to you and Shana.

[nessa]

Thanks so much EllenEveBaz! The confusing thing is she doesn't look to need a harness yet, still does everything she always did, slower of course except for a sinking back end when standing. At 14 we are not going to do MRIs or X-rays as she would not tolerate that stress. I have not tried Tramadol after Misha had such a bad reaction to it, - I am scared to try it?!

I just want to do what is right for her!!!