how long to see symptom improvement??

[mdelu]

I am brand new...my story to starting meds for SM is lengthy as everyones is, but is really quite typical. My 3yo Nelli has been dealing with progessive scratching and itching. During this time she has had 2visits to the vet for back pain....we've been treating " allergies" with benadryl, cortisone, and now our 3rd food change -mult vet visits for these too....I approached our vet about it before and was assured it wasnt sm and like many of us...it was whatbI wanted to hear...this week, has been a bad week for her and Karlin was kind enough to give me the nudge I needed....luckily my vet was willing to work with me and gave me a script for neurontin and we started that and tagamet today....no MRI yet....

The point of the long story....once you start a med...how long until you typically see improvement??

[MomObvious]

Hello

I don't want your questions going unanswered although I have not first hand experience (touch wood) I think I can help some. Neurontin or gabapentin (same drug) is used to treat nerve pain for dogs with SM and tagament in this case is used to reduce fluid thus reducing pain (I think someone please correct me if I'm wrong)

The gabapentin is a pain killer and you should see effects not long after giving it. IF big IF you have a good dose. Many people say their dogs are in a drug haze at first but that gets better over time and relieving pain alone is helpful to their dogs lives. Tagament I would think just by the nature of the drug would need a little built up time in the system. I know many owners have trouble finding the "right" doses and/or mix of SM medications. I also know SM dogs have good and bad days and having a "rescue" dose for the bad days is very helpful.

Here is a great link:
http://cavalierhealth.org/syringomyelia.htm#Treatment


I hope I was able to point you in the right direction at least.

[Karlin]

Hi and welcome -- Dr Clare Rusbridge recommends trialing a given dose for two weeks to see if it helps. If not, increase the dose. If she is in a lot of pain, and you do not see some quick relief on Neurontin, I'd ask to increase the dose. What have they started you at? My Leo stopped scratching within 24 hours on Neurontin (ps ask for generic as that's much cheaper than Neurontin). You might not see a fast halt but you should very quickly see meaningful improvement unless the gabapentin (neurontin) dose is too low.