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Myasthenia Gravis



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 30th 05, 12:22 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Myasthenia Gravis

We have just had our dog Gringo diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis and he
is persently on 20mg of pyridostigmine three times a day.

He has been on this drug for one week now, the first three days he was
a NEW DOG, rushing about just like he used to be but in the last four
days he has been more sluggish and starting to get stiff and slow
again.

Has anyone out there had a dog with the same complaint did you need to
increase the dosage of pyridostigmine to compensate for the dog getting
used to it.

In fact if anyone has any experience of this condition please get in
contact, it seems so rare a complaint that even our vet has never met
it before.

Any advice would be great.

Mike Sharp

  #2  
Old March 30th 05, 03:13 PM
buglady
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

wrote in message
oups.com...
We have just had our dog Gringo diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis and he
is persently on 20mg of pyridostigmine three times a day.


.........Mike how did they diagnose this disease in your dog - an antibody
test? Did your pup also have a chest X-ray to see if he has a thyoma?
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=42

..........what were the symptoms in your dog? Did the dog get a full blood
workup? Here is a dog with hypothyroidism and MG, which resolved after
thyroid was stabilized:
http://medicine.ucsd.edu/vet_neuromu...999/nov99.html

Does your dog also have trouble with regurgitating food?:
Megaesophagus - dosages of drugs for MG:
Animals with secondary acquired megaesophagus should be appropriately
diagnosed and treated. For example, dogs affected with myasthenia gravis
should be treated with pyridostigmine (1.0-3.0 mg/kg q12h PO) and/or
corticosteroids (prednisone 1.0-2.0 mg/kg q12h PO or SC);

Other diseases:
http://neuro.vetmed.ufl.edu/neuro/lmn_dis/lmn_dis.htm

.........How old and what kind of a dog is Gringo?

He has been on this drug for one week now, the first three days he was
a NEW DOG, rushing about just like he used to be but in the last four
days he has been more sluggish and starting to get stiff and slow
again.


..........Pyridostigmine apparently can cause nausea. Do you give it with
food?
http://www.medicinenet.com/pyridosti...al/article.htm
http://www.myasthenia.org/information/Mestinon.htm

Has anyone out there had a dog with the same complaint did you need to
increase the dosage of pyridostigmine to compensate for the dog getting
used to it.


........you might need to add a different drug. You can get this whole
article for $5 or perhaps your vet has it:
http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/35/5/396

Sometimes the dog may need to be on immunosuppresive therapy also (as the
above article pointed out):
http://www.akitaclub.org/health/acquiredMG.htm

In fact if anyone has any experience of this condition please get in
contact, it seems so rare a complaint that even our vet has never met
it before.


........I'd check the archives of the group at Google. I know this subject
has been brought up before. Your vet needs to find someone to consult with.
Or you could hunt up someone who has treated this disease before. In any
case your vet needs to seek outside information and if he is unwilling to do
so, you should move on and find another vet as soon as you can. There's no
shame in never having treated a disease before, but it's also a time when
you reach out for expertise to do the best you can for your patient. You
can also ask that he refer you to a specialist, someone you wouldn't be able
to get an appt with by just calling them up - you have to be referred. (BTW
this search took me about an hour. If your vet had done this he'd have
enough info to start calling people.) At any rate, if it hasn't already
been done, I'd get a full blood panel run and perhaps even a full 6 panel
thyroid test, depending on the symptoms and history, plus a chest X-ray.
I'd also ask for an immunosuppressant such as prednisone, to see if that
helps while you're getting things sorted out:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...PubMed&list_ui
ds=9127290&dopt=Abstract
J Vet Intern Med. 1997 Mar-Apr;11(2):50-7.
Clinical forms of acquired myasthenia gravis in dogs: 25 cases (1988-1995).
Dewey CW, Bailey CS, Shelton GD, Kass PH, Cardinet GH 3rd.
Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine,
University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
*The use of immunosuppressive therapy had a significant positive effect on
patient survival, regardless of the type of myasthenia gravis*

..At the above link there's 6 pages of abstracts on this disease in dogs.
There were also many pages using Google to search - use
myasthenia gravis dog

.......make sure you get copies of all of the lab work done on your pup so
you're fully informed and to take with you if you have to seek a specialist.

please post back
all paws crossed for you and your pup
buglady
take out the dog before replying



  #3  
Old April 4th 05, 12:23 PM
Mike Sharp
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

It has been a couple of weeks now and Gringo is now on 30mg of
pyridostigmine three times a day with food.

He is a 13yr old, 21Kg Alsatian Collie x-breed dog. We are feeding him
to get him back up to his 23Kg weight (he went down to 19 at one
point).

Things seem to be going in the right direction. But I think he may
need more pyridostigmine to help a bit more with his throat to sort
out his megaesophagus (this was the original diagnosis). He is also on
anti-biotics to stop his recurring phenomena, which before treatment
he has had 3 times in the last three months. This was before the MG
diagnosis.

I will get my vet to try and talk to other vets with experience of
treating this condition.

Thank you to everyone that has so far contributed on this topic and I
will keep you all in the loop if you are interested.

Mike Sharp



"buglady" wrote in message k.net...
wrote in message
oups.com...
We have just had our dog Gringo diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis and he
is persently on 20mg of .


........Mike how did they diagnose this disease in your dog - an antibody
test? Did your pup also have a chest X-ray to see if he has a thyoma?
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...=1&SourceID=42

.........what were the symptoms in your dog? Did the dog get a full blood
workup? Here is a dog with hypothyroidism and MG, which resolved after
thyroid was stabilized:
http://medicine.ucsd.edu/vet_neuromu...999/nov99.html

Does your dog also have trouble with regurgitating food?:
Megaesophagus - dosages of drugs for MG:
Animals with secondary acquired megaesophagus should be appropriately
diagnosed and treated. For example, dogs affected with myasthenia gravis
should be treated with pyridostigmine (1.0-3.0 mg/kg q12h PO) and/or
corticosteroids (prednisone 1.0-2.0 mg/kg q12h PO or SC);

Other diseases:
http://neuro.vetmed.ufl.edu/neuro/lmn_dis/lmn_dis.htm

........How old and what kind of a dog is Gringo?

He has been on this drug for one week now, the first three days he was
a NEW DOG, rushing about just like he used to be but in the last four
days he has been more sluggish and starting to get stiff and slow
again.


.........Pyridostigmine apparently can cause nausea. Do you give it with
food?
http://www.medicinenet.com/pyridosti...al/article.htm
http://www.myasthenia.org/information/Mestinon.htm

Has anyone out there had a dog with the same complaint did you need to
increase the dosage of pyridostigmine to compensate for the dog getting
used to it.


.......you might need to add a different drug. You can get this whole
article for $5 or perhaps your vet has it:
http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/35/5/396

Sometimes the dog may need to be on immunosuppresive therapy also (as the
above article pointed out):
http://www.akitaclub.org/health/acquiredMG.htm

In fact if anyone has any experience of this condition please get in
contact, it seems so rare a complaint that even our vet has never met
it before.


.......I'd check the archives of the group at Google. I know this subject
has been brought up before. Your vet needs to find someone to consult with.
Or you could hunt up someone who has treated this disease before. In any
case your vet needs to seek outside information and if he is unwilling to do
so, you should move on and find another vet as soon as you can. There's no
shame in never having treated a disease before, but it's also a time when
you reach out for expertise to do the best you can for your patient. You
can also ask that he refer you to a specialist, someone you wouldn't be able
to get an appt with by just calling them up - you have to be referred. (BTW
this search took me about an hour. If your vet had done this he'd have
enough info to start calling people.) At any rate, if it hasn't already
been done, I'd get a full blood panel run and perhaps even a full 6 panel
thyroid test, depending on the symptoms and history, plus a chest X-ray.
I'd also ask for an immunosuppressant such as prednisone, to see if that
helps while you're getting things sorted out:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...PubMed&list_ui
ds=9127290&dopt=Abstract
J Vet Intern Med. 1997 Mar-Apr;11(2):50-7.
Clinical forms of acquired myasthenia gravis in dogs: 25 cases (1988-1995).
Dewey CW, Bailey CS, Shelton GD, Kass PH, Cardinet GH 3rd.
Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine,
University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
*The use of immunosuppressive therapy had a significant positive effect on
patient survival, regardless of the type of myasthenia gravis*

.At the above link there's 6 pages of abstracts on this disease in dogs.
There were also many pages using Google to search - use
myasthenia gravis dog

......make sure you get copies of all of the lab work done on your pup so
you're fully informed and to take with you if you have to seek a specialist.

please post back
all paws crossed for you and your pup
buglady
take out the dog before replying

  #4  
Old April 4th 05, 11:47 PM
buglady
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"Mike Sharp" wrote in message
om...
Things seem to be going in the right direction. But I think he may
need more pyridostigmine to help a bit more with his throat to sort
out his megaesophagus (this was the original diagnosis).


.......you never said how he was diagnosed? Did they do the test? X-rays?
thyroid tests?

He is also on
anti-biotics to stop his recurring phenomena, which before treatment
he has had 3 times in the last three months. This was before the MG
diagnosis.


????????????????? What were the antibiotics for?

will keep you all in the loop if you are interested.


......yes please post back.

buglady
take out the dog before replying



 




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