Lafora epilepsy

[Kimmikins]

It almost looks like he's dreaming and chasing rabbits, it's only when you remember the Lafora and pay attention that you see it's not quite right. Does it ever wake him up? He looks so gorgeous when he sleeps, I hope that he dreams of fun things

[Jordan]

Exactly Kimmikins, thats why I wasn't sure if there was something wrong or not until I saw the eye activity. The seizures vary quite a bit sometimes he wakes up, sometimes his bladder leaks, often he cries out as if in pain as one starts, he gets very restless before a big one, often jumping up like he feels jabbing in his back legs then lays down again, his breathing becomes rapid then theres a wave of activity, then a lull then more activity, another lull and then a final wave. It usually lasts about 8 minutes. Then an hour or so later it can start all over again. The worst ones always seem to come around 2.00 at night I suppose thats because thats when hes going into a proper sleep, but theres activity in some way every time he rests. Hes laying down just now and starting to twitch. Its hard to get the full picture of what happens from one video but it gives the vet an idea and a way of monitoring progress or not.........yep there he goes wave no one just started.

[kristina]

Bless you Jordan it must be so hard for you to watch him,I think I can understand a little of what you describe purely from a total different sort of illness.Many years ago when my old shepherd had Tetanus the last stages of the virus leaving her body gave her seizures especially when she was asleep the vet had warned me that this would happen and for me not to get to alarmed but some times they were fierce and very hard to deal with but however the worst they were when she was sleeping the better she was when she awoke that went on for many weeks until at last she went to sleep as normal and of course came through the terrible ordeal.I truly hope with all my heart that Domino responds to his treatment and all will be well for him.Funny how things stick in your mind though as Xena dreams like crazy her legs are going like mad and she does little barks too I have to touch her to make sure that she is just dreaming and nothing more.Domino is a wonderful little guy very clever too and I wish him all the best and you too and like you too I wish Xena and Domino could meet and have a wonderful play together.KRISTINA

[Jordan]

Vet is suggesting adding in another drug either Potassium Bromide (KBr) or Pexion.

Been doing some research but cant find much on the Pexion as it appears to be one of the newer drugs. I have discovered though that Keppra is known to have a honeymoon period where it works then loses effectivness which would explain why it worked so well the first month but isnt now. Neither KBr or Pexion side effects seem to affect the liver so thats good but KBr does seem to have quite a few other side effects so really dont know what i want to do! Anyone had any dealings with these drugs?

[Adrianne]

ave never had any direct experience of a dog on medication for epilepsy...my knowledge goes as far as rosemary which is in a lot of dog foods as a preservative can trigger an episode...not very helpful im afraid....lizzy at baileys work world had a friend or client (if I am recalling right) who had a dog on meds for epilepsy ...maybe email her email address will be in the members profile.

[Jordan]

Just an update on where we're at with things.

Had Domino at vets yesterday for a check up prior to starting on the new drug Pexion and to see about his lameness, on the right side both front and back legs, which has progressively gotten worse but doesnt stop him racing around like a lunatic! Theres no obvious cause for it so theyre going to x ray his front legs on Friday, he had hips/ lower spine done last year and nothing found. Also going to check his bloods to see if theyre still okay. If this doesn't shed any light on things they want to refer him to a neurologist who will probably do an MRI and spinal tap amongst other tests. So hope my insurance will cover all that, will need to read the small print!!

I'm going to hold off starting the Pexion until after his bloods and xray on friday incase theres any problem with side effects or anything that might cause a problem with the sedation/seizures.

[Adrianne]

wow, that's a lot to take in, I do hope that you get an answer that means he can be treated finally. And so long as Domino is happy, with all the fun and training that you have taught him he is certainly occupied enough to not develop any depression, by all accounts, he loves life.
keep us informed how things progress. x

[Jordan]

Well thats us back from the vet with results of his xray and bloods.

They xrayed both legs spine and neck and found nothing that would cause the lameness. They said there is a small chip of bone from his shoulder that might cause some irratation but would not affect the back legs. All his blood work is fine too so that rules most things out and just leaves us with the brain to look at!

The vet is now ruling OUT Lafora Disease as the cause of his seizures due to the fact that he began to twitch when the sedative was given and as that is not a natural sleep rules out the Hypnic form of Lafora. So were looking at some form of brain problem whether its a tumour or not remains to be seen.

Were going to try a month of anti-inflamatories to see if the lameness inproves and start the Pexion along with the Keppra and see if the seizures improve......if not then we're to see the neurologist.

[Adrianne]

it really is 2 steps forward and one back, I suppose when it is down to elimination to find the cause they need to cover everything.. what matters is that Domino is in no pain and not scared.

[Jordan]

Adrianne he gets scared when the vet does things to him !!! But on a day to day basis he is doing great!

Pain wise I think he does have some but is a stoic wee man so maybe more than I realise as I've seen such a difference in him today after taking his anti inflamatory and the lameness is barely noticable! He had little activity yesterday and just a gentle walk out for an hour today so it may just be down to that as its always much worse after hes been tearing around for hours.

It was metacam he had before and it made little difference. Its something called Cimalgex this time 30mg once a day.

Kimmikins do you know whats different about these drugs?

[Kimmikins]

There's not a whole lot of difference in terms of what they are; both are Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and both are in the COX-2 inhibitor family. COX-2 is involved in inflammation and pain. I've been reading up, and dogs who don't respond brilliantly to Metacam often do better on the Cimalgex, so I'm making an educated guess that the structural difference between them affects efficacy and potency - one will be better at pain caused by some conditions, the other will be better at treating pain caused by other conditions.

Are they ruling out osteoarthitis? I'm assuming they'd have seen this on any x-rays, hence the focus on his brain.

[Jordan]

I presume so Kimmikins as they said the xray showed nothing and it was definately a brain issue causing the problem we were looking at. The lameness and the seizures have developed pretty much at the same time and progressively gotten worse at the time. The xrays and bloods were to definately rule out other conditions so they had a full report for the neurologist should it come to that.

[kristina]

Bless domino and you to Jordan,just read all the relative posts sorry not been in update before,truly hope and pray that something good comes out of all this for you both.Will be waiting on results in the meantime enjoy each other as you do.Kristina