Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Puzzling!

Yesterday I spoke with the CVH (Dr. F) and got Ikey’s test results from Dr. M.

I spoke with the Dr. F on my lunch hour, before I got the C6 and RMSF results. Dr. F was really curious why I am treating with doxy when not only is Ike not tolerating the doxy as well as he has in the past, but the Lyme has reoccurred with more acute symptoms. Um….because I am scared not to? That’s the truth. As much of a miracle as homeopathy was/is for Ike’s GI, when your dog wakes up unable to walk it is hard (at least for me) to call the CVH first and not the traditional vet.

However, after speaking with Dr. F I am really torn about the right direction to take. Homeopathy did what allopathic medicine could not do for Ike. Ike, like his human, has a very sensitive system. I am not convinced the doxy is working, really working. I know it is beating the symptoms into submission.

Dr. F prescribed Belladonna (30c) and immune support – not boosting – supplements. We agreed that once Ike finishes the doxy we will treat the Lyme. Dr. F recommended LD-Support from D’Arcy Naturals. (This is the supplement Bug is currently on.)

I spoke to Dr. M in the late afternoon. Ike tested negative for RMSF. His C6 came back at 80. I am just plain puzzled. In December it was 254. In early July it was 108 (57% drop – not 73% as I stated in an earlier blog post). Now it is 80. It is continuing to drop and yet Ike is experiencing his most acute symptoms to date. Dr. M said that it could be he is just experiencing a flare-up or he could be reinfected and if we had done the C6 3 or 4 weeks from now his titer would be significantly higher.

Gah!!

After talking to Dr. F I was really questioning the decision to treat with doxy. Now that I know Ike’s titer is actually LOWER I truly feel as though we are just treating the symptoms not the disease. That is not the direction I want to take. I have some serious thinking to do.

Ike has chiro tonight and acupuncture on Friday.

I will say that after dosing with the Belladona last night Ike was the perkiest (not a word you commonly associate with Ike!) he has been since this started. We saw one of his favorite Standard Schnauzers, Kody, this am and Ike was positively gleeful. Then he busted in on John while he was in the bathroom. These are happy, healthy Ike behaviors.

We did also have some Totally Bizarr-o Ike behavior this morning. I remembered to add milk thistle to Ike’s breakfast today. It is the same supplement I have used in the past. Ike wouldn’t touch his food! Never in his life has Ike refused to eat – I am flabbergasted. As I waited him out he did start nibbling on certain pieces and dropping others on the floor!

Does anyone have a milk thistle recommendation that is not powder? Not that I want to be stuffing something else down his throat but I do feel it is an important supplement for liver support when a dog is on doxy. If Ike won’t eat his food with this powder on it, I need to find an alternative. I know you can buy it in liquid form – I just don’t know if that would also be foul tasting/smelling, in Ike’s opinion. Let me know if you have any alternative recommendations. I have sent an e-mail to the CVH and the chiro. I’ll be sure to share their responses.

5 comments:

Cat, Tessie, & Strata said...

Have you tried mixing the milk thistle in with something really tasty, such as fish oil or peanut butter? Tessie refused to eat her Cranberry Relief powder at first, so I mixed it into peanut butter and let her lick it off of a spoon (which is a very big deal to Tessie). After doing that a couple of times, I could mix it into her food with no trouble.

Jules said...

oh...great idea, Cat. I'll try it tonight. The only downside I can think of to that method is what a slow eater Ike is. He'll be licking the spoon for a half-hour! Thanks!

Sara said...

That is all puzzling. Although, I know my doctor told me I would test negative for lyme, even though I had obvious symptoms, that were progressing rapidly before I got on the doxy. I guess lyme takes 4 weeks to show up in your blood stream. If I had waited 4 weeks to treat, I would have tested positive. I assume it is the same for dogs. Maybe the symptoms appear, before the blood evidence?

Of course, I have no health background! I'm just relaying what human doctors told me.

Katrin said...

oh yes the other thing you can try (I sent you an e-mail saying i used the GNC milk thistle before) is a supplemented by nutramax labs called Denamarin. That's the liver support supplement James is on now to counteract hopefully some of the effects of the rimadyl. You can get it at a good price on Amazon. Or pay a lot more money for it from the vet.

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

wow, that has got to be so hard to have things so unclear....and at the same time see Ike so different from his normal self. ..those are two such different paths to treat this, I feel for you having to weigh these things out ...just know we are thinking of you guys ((HUGS)). I used the peanut butter or fish to mix in the cranberry relief powder for Cricket too who would not eat when I put that in her food. The other thing when she was not eating breakfast and it had the veggies and supplements I wanted her to get ....I used her food for training--even if I just had her do hand touches, or reinforcing her for being at my side. She was willing to gobble down the food as a reward even when she would not eat it when it was sitting in her crate.