with damp accumulation. He has a history of problems with weight gain, triceps
spasm, elbow DJD, night time urination (about 3 AM) and dry hair coat.
One cause of Damp and Blood deficiency is Kidney deficiency, since it is the main power source for the Spleen). What makes me think Kidney here is the nocturia at 3 am. This is when the Bladder becomes at high tide and when its deficiencies are felt most keenly. Since the Bladder derives power from the Kidneys, it can point to a Kidney weakness.
He has been on Dang Gui Shao Yao San last year and home-made diets.
Now he has developed epilepsy, soft stools and lethargy (he is fire personality
so I find the lethargy worrisome). His pulses tend to be deep and weak
(although I haven't had a chance to feel them recently).
Animals are often not just Kidney Yang deficient, but Kidney Yin and Blood deficient. Did you see a decent response to DGSYS? If so, then we may have better luck trying Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin than BXBZTMT. It's a toss up between either formula. The nice thing is that if TMGTY is wrong, it won't cause side effects, and I do wonder about a Kidney angle here. In humans, Rehmannia Eight, a Kidney Qi tonic, is the main treatment for hypothryoidism. So If he turns out to be hypothyroid, then I would maybe also roll Rehmannia Eight (Ba Wei Di Huang Wan) into the protocol.
The owners are concerned about seizure disorders secondary to vaccines? Your
opinion?
I haven't seen this too often. It comes out of the homeopathic literature, and also the human medical literature. But I would worry about them aggravating the hypothyroidism by heightening inflammation. In short, I always titer dogs now to ascertain whether vaccines are indicated, using the various publications and lectures by Ron Schulz as my guide to what do based on titer levels. Vaccines are technically contraindicated in animals that are not healthy, which this dog does not entirely seem to be.
I was thinking of starting him on Dan Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang - appropriate? or
is there a better choice?
We were also planning on checking his T4 levels - thyroid meds have any
potential interactions with herbs?
The only major interaction is with food. Soy can sometimes interfere with thyroid hormone absorption. Curiously, as well, Rehmannia can interfere with conversion of T4 to T3, this despite the fact that Rehmannia is relied upon as a treatment for hypothyroidism in China. Perhaps the other herbs in Rehmannia Eight block that effect.
Hope that's useful information. One last thing. Can you do me a favor, and post your subsequent cases on the forum (link is below)? This allows everyone to learn from the advice I give on each case. If you felt like it, you could start by cutting and pasting the above into a thread.
Thanks!
Steve Marsden
DVM ND MSOM LAc. Dipl.CH RH(AHG)