# An update to Tucker's weight issue.



## tuckersmom20 (Dec 12, 2010)

I know i posted in general dog at first, but this more health related now... so I'm putting it here.

Today at 2:30 i took Tuck to his vet... I love this vet, he saved Tuck from certain death and i appreciate this man's skill.
With that said, he knows enough but not a lot about Epi pups...

So after getting into the exam room and going over whats been happening and how well Zoni has been working for us... 
He then tells us that he spoke with Tucks neuro today and they both agreed that getting him off of Phenobarbital is a good idea, great cause
i really hated this drug. He's also on the high end of Pheno so risking a lot of liver damage as months go by.

So we spoke about how to wean him off... and its pretty simple. Tuck gets 80 mg twice a day, he'll be lowered to 64 mg twice a day for two weeks..
Then 64 mg once a day for two weeks... then we're done.

His neuro also wanted to lower his Zoni cause he's on the high end of that drug, but i put foot down and asked to only make one adjustment right now in case.
Both Vet and Neuro agreed.

Then, came thyroid talk. My vet wasn't convinced Tuck had an issue with his thyroid because he's not showing all the clinical signs.
Yes he's getting overweight, he has a thin undercoat and scratches and is intolerant to heat/cold.

So i asked for the test to be run anyway. He did. He called me 30 mins ago.

I'm sure you guys have experience with thyroid.... Tuck's thyroid number is supposed to be AT LEAST 21.
Tucker is at ... 6. 
I have had suspicion about this for a while, and i chalked it up to meds.... but thank god this time i bit the bullet and did the test.

Tuckers neuro is saying though that Pheno has a tendency to shut down or basically impair the thyroid itself.
It causes it to slow down to basically NIL.

So the course of action....

Tuck will be weaned off of Pheno (yay!), and two weeks after he is completely done with pheno, he will go back to the vet
for another recheck of his thyroid. If at that time the thyroid is still not working...... We start thyroid meds.

The jist of it.... we ditch pheno to probably add a thyroid med.
The upside.... thyroid meds are dirt cheap up here 

Everyone... lets cross paws in hopes that his Thyroid picks back up again after pheno is gone...

My boy just can't catch a break.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

your boy has you. that's his break.

might be time to intro some dulse or kelp or seaweed to help give him a boost.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

I second the kelp. I would rather do kelp than meds.


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## tuckersmom20 (Dec 12, 2010)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> I second the kelp. I would rather do kelp than meds.


Where do I find kelp and what form does it come in?


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

If you end up having to give him thyroid meds Armour thyroid or Erfa thyroid are natural products versus synthroid and levothyroxin. I used the synthetics for years and they lost effectiveness every year until I was taking .400 per day on the natural I take .180 and feel a million times better.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

tuckersmom20 said:


> Where do I find kelp and what form does it come in?


It's everywhere! I'm not kidding though lots of places have it. I'd want to get Norweigic (spelling?) or Icelandic kelp. It comes from the purest waters and has the stricter harvesting guidelines. We're going to use the one from The Wholistic Pet as I've seen how even a small amount works and her coat looks amazing. It's also a natural color vibrantor if that makes sense. And it comes in a powder.


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

It's a good thing you insisted on the testing. Is he on phenobarb for seizures? My male is on it as well and newly switched to raw, I think he's gained a bit of weight but hard to tell this early on, I didn't realize weight gain was a side effect of the drug too, I already dislike what it does to him.


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## tuckersmom20 (Dec 12, 2010)

GoingPostal said:


> It's a good thing you insisted on the testing. Is he on phenobarb for seizures? My male is on it as well and newly switched to raw, I think he's gained a bit of weight but hard to tell this early on, I didn't realize weight gain was a side effect of the drug too, I already dislike what it does to him.


Tucker is on pheno because of his seizures.

Please watch for weight gain, slower than normal activity and ataxia (hind end weakness).
Pheno is a brutal drug... Tucker is on the high end dose and can't wait to get rid of it.

So guys, do I get the liquid form of kelp or powder and how much? I'll be doing research but just want some heads up


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

many drugs carry that 'weight gain' side effect...pheno is definitely one of them.

any drug that intervenes, interferes, suppresses...the brain reacts by trying to protect the body. one way is to store energy.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

in thinking about it, personally, i would wait.

i would do what you and your doctor decided was the protocol to get him off of pheno...then retest his blood.

if his thyroid is still whacky...then i would add in some supps. but right now, you want a clean testing environment and kelp can skew the numbers.


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## tuckersmom20 (Dec 12, 2010)

magicre said:


> in thinking about it, personally, i would wait.
> 
> i would do what you and your doctor decided was the protocol to get him off of pheno...then retest his blood.
> 
> if his thyroid is still whacky...then i would add in some supps. but right now, you want a clean testing environment and kelp can skew the numbers.


Thanks 

You're right, we're going to wait it out and see what happens.

I just gave Tuck his second lower dose of pheno for the day and he was having a lil more pep.
We've gone from 80 mg a dose to 64.

Right now he is sleeping, which is the usual... We played a bit inside and a few mins outside... Then he wanted in to nap.
I'm sure all he's done all day is nap 

Can't wait for pheno to go away.


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