Help - amantadine dosing question for Larry

[RaineysMom]

our Larry is doing very badly since Sunday with his LS and other issues and our vet is adding Amantadine to his current gabapentin/tramadol/meloxicam meds.  He is to get 200mg every day and my question is, would it be better for him to give the 200mg (2 100mg pills) at one time, once a day, or 1 100mg pill every 12 hours for twice a day?  Our vet doesn't Rx it much so wasn't sure which way would be more beneficial to give.

I want whatever will be the best for him.  He is a big #89 boy and will be 13 on Monday    I don't know if he will make it to see his birthday.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited February 19, 2020 by RaineysMom

[KF_in_Georgia]

I'd ask the vet. I know the drug comes in Extended Release formats.

Does the label hold any clues? Like "take one pill, 2x daily" or something like that?

[Remolacha]

Yes, ask your vet. As I recall, when Sallie was taking it she was taking it two or three times a day (five years ago, my memory is a little vague), but hers was for osteo pain.

[RaineysMom]

7 minutes ago, KF_in_Georgia said:

I'd ask the vet. I know the drug comes in Extended Release formats.

Does the label hold any clues? Like "take one pill, 2x daily" or something like that?

 

3 minutes ago, Remolacha said:

Yes, ask your vet. As I recall, when Sallie was taking it she was taking it two or three times a day (five years ago, my memory is a little vague), but hers was for osteo pain.

our vet wasn't sure which way would be better as she doesn't prescribe it much so that's why I'm asking for advice here, from anyone that might have used it before.  She said I could do either way but didn't know which was was more beneficial

[Remolacha]

Well, my non medical professional opinion is that unless it is specifically a once a day med, spaced out through the day is better.

[Victor]

I found the following:

“Data from recent pharmacokinetic studies indicate that twice daily dosing is probably more effective than the traditional once daily dosing in dogs“

https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/gabapentin-and-amantadine-for-chronic-pain-is-your-dose-right/

[RaineysMom]

1 hour ago, Victor said:

I found the following:

“Data from recent pharmacokinetic studies indicate that twice daily dosing is probably more effective than the traditional once daily dosing in dogs“

https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/gabapentin-and-amantadine-for-chronic-pain-is-your-dose-right/

that's the only one I found online too....  

Edited February 19, 2020 by RaineysMom

[NeylasMom]

This is my favorite article on pain meds and it has a section on Amantadine:

http://www.vasg.org/newer_options_for_chronic_pain_management.htm

It says once daily, but this article is fairly old at this point. My understanding though is that Amantadine doesn't do much for pain on its own, but rather enhances the effectiveness of NSAIDs so my thought is I would give them together, so give the Amantadine once or twice daily depending on your nsaid  frequency. Unless there are side effects, in which case splitting the dose is probably better. So yeah, i don't know, thinking out loud. 

[RaineysMom]

33 minutes ago, NeylasMom said:

This is my favorite article on pain meds and it has a section on Amantadine:

http://www.vasg.org/newer_options_for_chronic_pain_management.htm

It says once daily, but this article is fairly old at this point. My understanding though is that Amantadine doesn't do much for pain on its own, but rather enhances the effectiveness of NSAIDs so my thought is I would give them together, so give the Amantadine once or twice daily depending on your nsaid  frequency. Unless there are side effects, in which case splitting the dose is probably better. So yeah, i don't know, thinking out loud. 

he takes 3.75mg meloxicam at 6:15am.  I am doing the 2 x day, not sure if that's the right way to go  some say that, others say once.  I give up.  

[NeylasMom]

8 hours ago, RaineysMom said:

he takes 3.75mg meloxicam at 6:15am.  I am doing the 2 x day, not sure if that's the right way to go  some say that, others say once.  I give up.  

Just try and see. You can always switch to once daily if you don't like how twice daily is going. I haven't used it since I tried it for Zuri's bone cancer. I don't recall how I was dosing it. I do remember not being confident it was doing a whole lot and feeling like it caused a weird side effect or two. Hopefully your experience is different. 

[cleptogrey]

emily was on amantadine with her metacam. it was once a day from what i remembered. it's used to boost the effectiveness of the NASID, which is only given once a day. but that was when they first introduced the drug as part of a pain relief cocktail. the article above  states "Data from recent pharmacokinetic studies indicate that twice daily dosing is probably more effective than the traditional once daily dosing in dogs²⁴ and cats.^2"

^{try it 2xs daily for a couple of days and see if there is a marked difference?}

^{she used it as part of her pain relief from OSTEO. gabapentin was added in at the end.}

Edited February 20, 2020 by cleptogrey