Dog-of-Many-Seizures

Duke is our own little science experiment. Many of you know that we have struggled to control Duke’s seizures since he entered our life in the fall of 2008. First it was Phenobarbital. We upped the pills over a period of many months until we arrived at an acceptable level – 3 in the morning and 3 at night seemed to keep seizures down to about one a month. Then the seizures came more frequently so we added potassium bromide. We knew that potassium bromide could have some undesirable side effects – mainly loss of control of the back legs. Potassium bromide takes a while to have its desired impact, so we waited and watched.

Well, last week we saw the full impact of potassium bromide on Duke. He was stumbling around like a drunk – much more than just loss of control of the back-legs. In fact, I think we just about killed him given the fact that he was only peeing about 3 times a day mid-week – I suspect his kidneys were shutting down.

Of course, we cut back on the meds – and to make a long story short – the seizures came back with a vengeance. On Friday he had two before I left for work (the first at 5:00 – the second at 8:30). Saturday was even crazier with three seizures: 4:00 a.m., 6:30 a.m., and 10:30 a.m. – if I recall correctly – Saturday was a bit of a sleep-deprived haze.

Now it’s time to “up” the meds – concentrating first on the Phenobarbital (back to 3 in the morning, and 3 in the evening), and now only half the dosage of potassium bromide.

He is still a little wobbly – trouble up and down stairs – but no seizures since Saturday and all his bodily functions seemed to have returned to normal – even his “old man” kidneys – asking to be let out ALL THE TIME! Oh well – beats the alternative.