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UPDATE!! Kayleigh - screaming episode

Nicki

Moderator
Kayleigh had a screaming episode on Friday :( [diagnosed by MRI with CM last August]. My husband took her to the woods for a walk with the others, he noticed she was sitting awkwardly and then she just started screaming :( he had to carry her back to the car, she was limp. By the time they got to the car she was moaning and whining. [Definitely not a seizure].


She wasn't so bad by the time they got home but I gave her some pain relief and arranged a vet appointment. I was pretty sure it was the CM but wanted to get her checked over just in case. The vet agreed and was worried about her, we had a discussion about quality of life if she has more screaming episodes - if we couldn't control them we would give her her wings as we wouldn't let her suffer. My vet said they have to be in tremendous pain to scream like that, as dogs hide pain.


Kayleigh has been quiet over the weekend, we are keeping her on restricted for a week. Obviously we are very worried about taking her out now :(


The weather pressure changes will not have helped - it is so unsettled, been really hot again today but the pressure has dropped quite dramatically over the weekend.

Hard to see her looking so miserable

Kayleighgrey.jpg
 
Some of you may know that Clare Rusbridge has been involved in editing a book on the human condition http://www.amazon.co.uk/Syringomyel...4842/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344697717&sr=8-1


Clare suggested perhaps trying Normast - this is from a chapter in the book


<<An open pilot trial in twelve Cavalier King Charles spaniels, with MRI-confirmed syringomyelia and behavioural signs of neuropathic pain, revealed that, after two months of 150 mg palmitoylethanolamide [Normast] once daily, the owners’ subjective impression was that improvement occurred in all dogs. This improvement was seen within eight days and lasted throughout the two month observation time. There was also a suggestion of a lasting positive effect when the drug was continued long term. In some cases, when owners stopped the drug, there was a recurrence of the dogs’ pain behaviour within a few days (Keppel Hesselink 2011).>>
 
Oh Nicki, I am so sorry to hear this. I sincerely hope that this is an isolated incident and that you can get Kayleigh's pain under control. I will certainly be sending good thoughts and wishes your way. :hug:

Let us know how she is getting on.
 
Nicki, I understand only too well how alarming the screaming episodes are because my Rebel had them when he first became symptomatic for SM. It was so bad that I had to take him outside the surgery while we were waiting to see the vet because it was alarming the other dogs and cats and people kept asking what was wrong with him. He always went rigid with the pain though, but once the Frusemide started working a day or two later it all stopped.

Would it be a good idea for Kayleigh to see a neurologist, who might be able to prescribe effective pain control? I know you don't want her to suffer unnecessarily, but do you want to give up on her without taking expert advice? I feared the worst for Rebel a few weeks ago, but then tweaked his medication and turned it all around. Today he jumped almost high enough to almost land on the kitchen worktop and Rebel is almost 10 years old.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Poor baby, she is so cute. Its just not fair that you can't walk your dog without bring along pain meds just in case. Sounds like you were able to get her out of pain fairly quickly. I'm sure the screaming is distressing for the other dogs too.
 
Thanks everyone - don't worry Flo she is under the care of a neurologist and a fantastic vet, who has been learning all he can about how to manage the condition. She is on Zitac, Lyrica and an opioid...We won't give up on her until we run out of options, but we won't let her suffer either.

I'm so sorry that Rebel has had a bad time again but it's fantastic that he is so much better - really hard to hear all these stories about our beloved companions suffering :(




Kayleigh is doing a bit better, she had a short walk today [on lead] but again wasn't too bothered when Trevor took the others, she just cuddled up next to me. That is really not like her, she goes and sits by the door so you can't get out without her normally.


I'm sure the air pressure is really affecting them all - it was 1023 millibars on Sat night and 1003 today So quite a drop.




Clare Rusbridge has written back about Kayleigh, there is a rare complication with [human] CM/SM called drop attacks which is almost like a faint they seem aware of what is going on but can't respond. Found some stuff about it from sufferers:


<<the blockage of CSF keeps the signals from travelling down the spinal cord and back to the brain, so when it blocks off completely the brain doesn't send the signal to stand.>>


<<When you pass out you feel yourself going .....a distinct feeling and you feel woozy [and clammy and nauseous!] With a drop attack you feel fine and the next thing you know you are mid fall.>>


TThis worried me but I have NEVER heard of it happening. I think it could easily be confused with a seizure though. I have been dealing with CM/SM since 1998. I think with Kayleigh what happened was that the fluid got blocked hence the extreme pain, and then the drop attack.


I don't want to frighten people but think we need to be aware of these things so we can get help as soon as possible if something happens.
 
hi
poor kayleigh i feel so sorry for you all
i do hope she feeling better soon
sending kisses and cuddles to beautiful kayleigh
 
Nicki
I am so so sorry to hear about Kayleigh. It must have been terrible for Trevor to experience that too.
I do hope that she is doing a little better by now (I have only just seen your post), this is such a distressing condition with so many different problems!

Sending you all hugs and please let us know how Kayleigh is getting on.
 
Hi Nicki

Best wishes to you both and I am sure you will find some way of stabalising Kayleigh .At one time I used to buy a baromemter on
every holiday so must have ten dotted around and even found a shop in Cornwall that just sold them but thankfully have not noticed
any effect on daisy or rosie .I have asked the question you mentioned so will advise as soon as I know ,I am not the type to give in .
 
Thank you - yes she is a bit better, not how she was before the episode unfortunately though.

Brian I bought a lovely old fashioned barometer but it doesn't work :( I have now gone digital!! . I have a wee clock with a barometer and weather forecast on it, it's pretty accurate actually and now is showing a rather nice picture of the sun coming up from behind the clouds - guess that means sunny spells :)
 
Dear nicki, so sorry to hear of kayleighs episode, lets hope she gets through this as quick as possible, Ruby was diagnosed in may, but at the moment is non symtomatic, but she does have other health issues, you mentioned about seizures in one of your posts, ruby had a couple last year, she was disorientated and went and hid under the table, she could,nt stand, and she had a rapid eye movement, but was not aware she had any pain, my vet thought it could have been petit mal seizure, it was good that you were around at the time, so you can reassure her, it upsets me so much to see this terrible condition, cause so much heartache, sending lots of love and hugs from us all karen,ruby and sadie :lotsaluv:
 
Sorry to hear Kayleigh hasn't been doing so well. The changing pressures has had a negative effect on Misty too. She back to full doses of Tramadol to settle her down, but she's still quieter than normal.

Give Kayleigh a gentle hug, and I hope she's feeling better soon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Oh no; that's so distressing :(. And very stressful for you. I hope she is much better now. :flwr:
 
We really appreciate all the good wishes and kind posts, and I'm sorry to say that [FONT=lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]Kayleigh is not doing as well as we would like

[/FONT]She had a bad night Weds, was very restless, and panting. I put her on her back on a very soft pillow - sometimes this reduces the pressure. She also had extra pain medication but it didn't help.


We telephoned the vet first thing Thursday, and he agreed that we should try steroids. [Previously these were used more often as a treatment but obivously the side effects are a huge consideration. Ideally the dose is reduced and then given alternate days to help the body to cope.]


Methylprednisolone is shown on Clare Rusbridge's treatment algorithmhttp://www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/syringomyelia/docs/treatalgo.pdf


We started it Thursday and haven't really seen any improvement yet. Unfortuantely Kayleigh is already drinking a considerable amount more water, and urinating more frequently [side effects], she went out three times in the night between 11pm and 6am :( Despite that she still wet the bed. I know she can't help it, we are now covering everything with incontinence pads.


We are keeping her quiet and really hoping that the steroids will help. . Surgery is not an option.



Please keep her in your thoughts, she's only 3 and it is so hard to see them suffering.
 
Oh Nicki, my heart is breaking for you. I know you are doing all possible to help Kayleigh and keep her from suffering. I am praying for you and hope the steroids will help.
 
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