Gabapentin- itchy dog & joint pain. Safe for impa? Anyone have experience using

[Jo CIMDA]

Wow!  That is fantastic news.  I have a huge smile on my face.

I am so glad you and your baby girl are well and back home with the family.  I bet Pepper was beside herself to see you.

Zara Louise is a lovely name.

Don't over do it! Let others take charge for a while.

Thank you for letting us know. Congratulations!
Jo
 

[BrookeR]

Hello' I haven't been on here for a while as I've been pre-occupied with a baby that doesn't sleep
On the positive Pepper has been a lot less time consuming & easily maintained. I've barely had to do anything to her other than her pred. I've been able to drop back her baths to 1 every 2 weeks & haven't had to do the crazy upkeep of vacuuming, mopping, washing etc.
She gets an ear infection maybe once every month or two but I have been able to manage this with a week of easotic.
I just wanted to drop back in and update on her progress. She is doing better than she has in a long time. She looks great and has lost some weight & is looking in top condition. Everyone keeps commenting on how fantastic she looks and how full of life. They cannot believe she is 9 and how well she is getting around considering how bad she has been. She has been running around crazy all the time like she used to when much younger.

I have her down to 5mg of pred a day, but have decided to leave it at this dose, as we are just about to come into summer here. She will need something to help her allergies. Peps vet and I feel that summer is her worse danger period in terms of relapse for the impa. Whether it's seasonal or if it's when her allergies get out of control we can't be certain. But we have been monitoring her bloods & they look good to keep her at this dose until after summer. Also my vet is due to have a baby at the end of November so we don't want any relapses to happen while she is off.

I have accepted that pred is going to be a way of life for Pep now. Seeing how happy & fantastic she is doing, makes the decision easier. She is getting more quality of life & that's what I want for her.
The steroids seem to work a lot better for her at this low dose than cyclosporine did. She was still in pain on it & it was costing a ridiculous amount more of money:

Hopefully now I can get my daughter sorted & sleeping better. But I'm so so happy at how well Pep is doing. Thanks again for all the help and advice everyone has given me along the way to get her to this point.

[Jo CIMDA]

That's great news.  It is so good to know that Pepper is doing well.   If the 5mg of pred suits her, and keeps her on an even keel, then it is right to keep her on this dose.  Much better this way than relapsing over and over again.  I also think pred is a better drug than the Cyclosporin, but they all have their place and are necessary at times.

I do hope you can get some quality sleep.  I remember this well when my second child was born.  He didn't sleep through the night until he was 17 months old.  Not that I am wishing this for you, but it happens and his problem was largely down to his teeth all wanting to come through at once.

Many thanks for the update on Pepper.  Wishing you all well.

Jo

[BrookeR]

Thanks jo. I find Peppers demeanour/appearance to be the best way to judge her. Right now she looks and seems better in herself than she has in a long time. Even before she got impa, iin her terms of her weight & allergies. So I do believe leaving her as is for now is the best thing to do.

My son slept through the night from the second week I brought him home from hospital. Zara is now just over 6 months old & still mostly up every 2 hrs. She is lucky to sleep even an hr in the day time as well. Considering the lack of sleep she has, she is actually a very happy baby. That is before the last few days. She has been crazy chewing on her hands & anything else she can get in her mouth for many months now. She drools lots & has the red cheeks (all the signs of getting teeth), but still no sign of anything!
The last few days she has been irritable, which is unlike her. She is also particularly rashy in her cheeks & plucking at her ears, even making them bleed. I really hope we see some teeth soon. Did your son end up getting teeth all at once?

[polly]

Hi Brooke, Good to know that Pepper is doing well. Hope all goes well with the baby Zara's teething too. I haven't been on this site for ages either. Jasper is  doing well. Completely off pred now and fully recovered from  cruciate ligament surgery despite a few bumps along the way.  He is again able to do his voluntary work as a pet therapy dog at a local hospital.

[BrookeR]

Oh that's fantastic polly, so glad for you and jasper!
That is really great he is volunteering as a pet therapy dog. I always thought pep would be great doing that too. As we used to take her into the nursing home when my pops were in their with dementia & they loved seeing her. She was such a good girl when we took her there too.

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi Brooke and Polly

What is so great about this forum is when people don't post for a while it is usually because their dogs are doing well.  After all the terrible months and sometimes years of worry it is hoped that the owner reaches a stage, when their dog is doing well, where they can look at their dog each morning and say 'Yep, you are fine' and get on with their day.  It appears that you have both reached that stage and that is a result!

Off subject:  My son was a nightmare and would only sleep for about 20 minutes between feeds and by the time he was 6 months he had 4 teeth and they kept coming, and he had them all by the time he was 17 months.  Sleep deprivation is an understatement! My apologise to other members for this indulgent post.

Jo

[Gracie n Bo]

Hi Brooke,

I'm new to the forum and just trying to catch up on who everyone is and what their dogs are struggling with, etc. I am happy to see that Pepper is doing better than when you originally posted. I skimmed through this thread and I didn't see that you got a lot of answers to the original question about Gabapentin, so I thought I'd tell you what my experience has been with it. I am in the US, and I guess it is prescribed here more often. My Gracie has severe IBD and can't tolerate NSAIDs, so when her arthritis and spondylosis developed the vet put her on Gabapentin. She has done beautifully on it. I never see any indication of arthritis pain any more, and she has never had any side effects that I am aware of. Of all the medications she takes, that is the one that I am least worried about. If this question comes up for you in the future I would say give it a try. Gracie has benefitted from it and suffered no ill effects.

[BrookeR]

Hi Gracie & Bo,
Welcome to the forum, it is a great place. I have found it so valuable to get feedback from others who have been in the same or similar positions. Especially when dealing with immune mediated diseases, which aren't very common and hard to find info about where I am. The forum is a fantastic support network & has helped me keep it together a number of times.

Im glad to hear the gabapentin worked for you. We tried the gabapentin with Pep when she relapsed from IMPA & unfortunately she still could not walk and was still in lots of pain after taking it. We have had to go back on steroids & are now on a dose of 5mg (18kg) per day.
She is doing the best she ever has. We are right in the middle of our hottest summer in history here and I am pretty much not having to do anything for her in terms of her allergies. I am only bathing her once every 3weeks maybe.  Every month or two she gets an ear infection which clears up with 5 days of easotic.

We have just had our first course of antibiotics since her diagnosis with IMPA, Its been two years of being terrified to give her antibiotics & trying to avoid at all cost. But she got a really bad urine infection & we had no other choice. We tried a different one with her that she hadn't had before after researching those least likely to cause a reaction. She also is allergic to cephalexin (amongst many other things) & breaks out in hives from it. So that was another worry other than the risk of impa. But we have survived through the antibiotics without a problem and she is doing great!.
Her only other problem is when we have consecutive really hot days she has a little trouble getting up and gets a bit limpy of an afternoon. The heat must cause her joints to swell and pain her. But she wakes up the next morning fine.
I thought arthritis was supposed to be bad in the cool, but she is the opposite. I have read some reports saying that people with rheumatoid arthritis complain about the heat causing pain though. Does anyone else experience this with their dogs?
I had hoped to get her down to a lower dose of steroids but if we decide to try reduce her it wont be until winter.

Thanks for checking in on me. I have been meaning to come online and give an update as it has been a while.
I'm still struggling with a baby that doesn't sleep though So I've been a bit short on time.

[Jo CIMDA]

That's a lovely update Brooke.  I am so pleased that Pepper, on the whole, has the AI problem under control and is managing to enjoy life.  Urine infections and ear problem can happen in a healthy dog, so as long as this can be controlled it is very acceptable, - so great news.

Sorry about baby not sleeping though - it doesn't last forever!!!!

Jo