Spoke too soon!!! :(

[newf4u]

Well I guess I jinxed myself, talking about how well Ben is doing. Unfortunately he just went through a bout of Grand Mal Seizures again...the poor guy had 4 Grands in 9 hours, it was really hard on him. He had the last ones back in October and was put on Phenobarbitol. Our vet wasn't sure if he had epilepsy or if they could've been caused by low blood sugar because his sugar levels were very low that time. Anyways we weaned him off at the end of January to see how he would do, and well I guess we now know. We had a really rough night with him last night, the last one he had was at midnight and the post-ictic was severe he was so irritable and anxious. He paced all over our family room for an hour and he cried horribly it was so sad. You feel so helpless. When we were at the vet's last night he had a seizure in the vets office. When I was comforting him, he actually snapped at me, I felt so bad for him becuase this is not his nature at all, he would never hurt me...he is my Velcro Dog. He is currently on Phenobarb and I think we will just leave him on it this time and see how he does. I hope this is all it will take to prevent these seizures. Does anyone have any advice about what to do for your dog during their post-ictic state? Last night we just cleared the family room of anything that might hurt him, but he was stumbling around so bad and he fell a few times I was afraid he was going to really hurt himself. Today he is limping on his operated hip, probably sore from all the pacing and the falls. Please keep my big guy in your prayers.

Jennifer

 

[Deanna]

How heart-breaking for you Jen... I am so sorry. Please know that you are definately in my thoughts. I hope Ben is feeling better real soon...

 

[BoundlessNewfs]

Poor Ben! I'm so sorry to hear that he's gone back to having seizures. I know you were hoping that he wouldn't need the meds. Give him a hug.

 

[swigginton]

I understand your plight. Our mutt Lizzy has epilepsy as best as the vet can tell. She is also on Phenobarbital. We are always having her tested once a year to see if the levels are correct. For the most part she is seizure free. We are lucky in the fact hers are normally short, around 10 to 15 minutes and not real severe.

After the seizure, we try to keep her quiet and continue to pet her and speak softly to her. She is much smaller than a newf so it is easier to keep her still and or quiet. After she has a seizure, she wants to be next to someone all the time. She is normally tired after the seizures so keeping her quiet and still is usually not an issue.

There is a website dedicated to epilepsy in canines. I have found it helpful in many cases.

You may want to check with your vet and have the phenobarbital levels checked.

Edited to add:

You need to be very careful when a dog is having seizures to monitor their temperature. Seizures can raise the body temperature and if it gets too high of too long of a period of time brain damage can occur. If in the future Ben starts to have a seizure that lasts for a long period of time a trip to the ER vet is in order. Not wanting to scare you or criticize as I know you care deeply for Ben, just a heads up.

Hope you get Ben's problem under control soon.

[ 03-14-2005, 07:40 AM: Message edited by: Scott W ]

 

[sarnewfie]

I am so sorry Jen
i have a friend in town here that is experiencing this with her male newf, and it seems to be occuring more frequently and more severly now.
hang in there.
he didnt mean to snap at you ;(

 

[Newfs Forever]

Jennifer,

How sad. I can't offer you any advice unfortunately, but know that

prayers and good thoughts are headed your way.>>>>>>>>

Sue

 

[Katie]

I have no advide either.....just wanted to say I hope the medication can get his seizures back under control soon. I feel for you....I know how it is to have sick skin kids.....stressful and scary. Take care

 

[alexmaddy]

Rachel (Khiori) has a great Web site where she talks about her experiences in treating canine epilepsy. Just look for some of her posts and I think her Web site is listed in her signature. mj

 

[newfmalcolmlover]

Oh how sad. I hope you can get them under control again. Muscle's are strained during seizures so maybe that's why he's limping?? Just a thought. We had a dog Hoss that used to have seizures. He would have them every 6 weeks or so. At 1st they were severe, but as time went on they lessened. We wondered if the floor cleaner brought them on or other enviornmental things. As the 1st one we know that he had was right after we washed the floor and he walked on the wet floor. I always questioned that and made sure we always waited for the floors to dry before he walked on them.

 

[Blacknewfs]

Poor Ben I'm sure this is very difficult for all of you. It's sounds like you're doing all the right things Jennifer....Lets hope the phenobarb works well and can keep his seizures under control.

 

[luvxl k 9]

Can't give any advice but lots of prayers, good thoughts and

for all of you!!

 

[Annie Milliron]

Having traveled down this same road with Sadie, I understand completely how you feel. Her seizures were sporadic, and clustered. We used both Pheno-barb and postassium bromide. That seemed to give her some control. We knew that she would never be without seizures, and we were aiming for one every couple of months.

MJ is right. Khiori has fabulous info on her website. Also, if you aren't already, start keeping a seizure journal... include time of day, duration of seizure. Also include all activities that occured the day of the seizure, if there were any major disturbances (good and bad). Any dietary changes... weather... anything under the sun that you can think of. This may help you to see if there is any sort of pattern.

 

[blstarke]

Prayers are being sent right now

 

[ina/puusty]

I have only read about this situation in canines. It sounds almost overwhelming..and yet meds, it would seem..can be of great help. I have had one family friend..who had the human issue..and the doctors seemed to think it was a birth related issue, in his case. No trace of the difficulty could be found in either of the parents fam. hist. Sending hope that the meds will allow healing and restoritive rest. Thinking of you, ina n HB

 

[bearbearsmom]

I am so sorry to hear about Ben. It must be so heartbreaking for you. Hopefully, the Phenobarb will bring him some sort of control. I'm not familiar with epilepsy in canines, but have worked for a pediatric neurologist for quite some time now. If there any similarities, again, hopefully the Phenobarb will bring him under control. Like Annie said, sometimes changes in routine or different situations like that can bring on seizures. Please know you are in my thoughts.

Nancy

 

[dogger]

Beauregard, our coonhound had siezures. we found the potassium bromide was very effective and far less stressfull on his liver the the pheonobarb. but he was on a combo of both.
When Beau would cluster and I could not get them undercontrol we would take him to the er for some valume and that would stop them...all though, we think a lot of the time the seizures were stopped by the ride in the car to the vet. It is the same thing as putting a baby to sleep. it just changes the brain waves. We eventually worked this into one of the things we would try to get a cluster under control....
I will keep both of you in my prayers. I know how exhausting it is.

 

[swigginton]

Originally posted by dogger:
all though, we think a lot of the time the seizures were stopped by the ride in the car to the vet. It is the same thing as putting a baby to sleep.

I will agree with that statement. Every time we have had to take a dog to the vet with seizures, they have always been better by the time we got there.

 

[NewfyChic]

I do have knowledge in this area. Casey has had seizures for 4 years now. We started her immediatly on Pheno-barb after her first seizure. Once you have a seizure, you are likely to always have them. They never go away. Casey currently takes 2 pills in the morning and 2 at night. She has been seizure free for 2 years now. Canine seizures are alot if not exactly like human ones. The only thing you can do while they are seizing is to lay with them and hold their collar LOOSELY so they do not bump their head. DO NOT try to hold them still. You will hurt them. Just clear everything away and try to keep them from knocking everything over. Stay away from their face, because they are VERY LIKELY to bite in this stage... You have to remember when they are in a seizure they are un-aware of everything, they cannot hear you, see you control themselves etc. If your dog looses his/her bowels during a seizure time to go to the vet ASAP. After they are finished a seizure you have no idea how tired they are. It is like running 15 miles without a break on their muscles, which lock up during a seizure. Let them rest, offer water and give them a Phenobarbital after a seizure. I have never heard of having levels checked once a year.....Caseys are checked every month just like us humans....LOL

 

[afreas]

Couple of comments and personal observations.

About the biting, it is not likely that the dog knowingly bit you, heck when I had my seizure I bit somebody (really!) just one of the reasons you keep your hands away from an epileptics mouth regardless of species . After a seizure you are in a state where the lights are on but nobody is home, varys in length but trust me nobody is home.

Once you have a seizure, you are likely to always have them. They never go away.

This depends on the cause of the seizure. If the seizure is caused by some other factor such as fever, blood sugar level..... Fixing the cause can fix the seizure. If the seizure is related to brain damage or is without direct cause they probably won't go away, however with meds one can remain seizure free for a long time (since May 1979 in my case)

As for the being sore, think about it this way. While you are awake pain regulates how much strain you can put on a joint or a muscle. In a seizure there are no restraints. You use 100% power. Because of this you wake up feeling like you got hit by a bunch of baseball bats. Sorest I have ever been and I am a hockey goalie.

ART

 

[afreas]

Oh, quick thing I forgot.
When keeping a seizure journal remember to think about things like blinking lights, video games, driving down tree lined roads, and the TV shows if the seizure happened around a TV. Seizures can because by photostimulation with a frequency around 2.5 - 3 stimuli per second in humans (don't know if dogs are the same though).