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Prednisone - appt on Wednesday

creavis1

Member
Kaelin had her first neurology appt in December. After having an MRI is diagnosed with SM. The doctor put her on Prednisone. I have been reading everything I can find and I am worried because Prednisone should not be used as a long term solution. I plan to have an in depth discussion with the neurologist (next appt on Wednesday) but could someone tell me what the alternatives are. I am a little worried that we jumped to Prednisone too early. Kaelin has been on anti-inflamatories (prescribed by orthopedic doctor) but at the time I did not realize what was wrong with her and I did not understand the symptoms. I plan to discuss in detail with doctor. I would appreciate any information.
 
If she is in a lot of pain and discomfort, manywill put a dog immediately on to prednisalone to help relieve the discomfort quickly. But generally it would not be the choice for medium to long term treatment unless there are no other alternatives.

You can read a full list of what medications are usually recommended and also download a diagram created by Dr Clare Rusbridge, the UK SM expert, here:

http://www.sm.cavaliertalk.com/treating/treating/meds.html

The diagram shows the recommended route of treatments starting with the mildest and at which points you may want to consider upping the dose, trying a different medication, or considering surgery. All of this is highly variable and depends on both the dog and the owner's preferences too. Not all dogs respond the same way -- for example my Leo had no relief from frusemide or more basic painkillers but does really well on Neurontin for his mild level of discomfort. Many dogs on neurontin really need frusemide as a secondary medication. So you need to work your way through the options.

If yuour neurologist isn;t familiar with the treatment diagram and Clare Rusrbidge's approach it is worth bringing that along.

The treatment diagram can be downloaded here:

http://sm.cavaliertalk.com/Treatment%20algorithim%20(Syringomyelia%20made%20simple).pdf

Also, I have just received and posted the pain scoring form from the researchers and neurologists who attended the London SM COnference last November. This might be useful to bring along too. You can download it here and also read (near the end of the minutes) a description of the pain score and how it works:

http://www.sm.cavaliertalk.com/research/london/london/minutes.html

I hope that helps.
 
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