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Epilepsy Seizures In A Dog

by jschell - October 29, 2019 View Case Report

A 4.5 year old Greyhound/lab mixed breed rescue dog presented to me has been having night-time seizures- either 9pm to 12 am or 1am to 4am. This has been going on for 2 years starting November 2017, and occured every 2 to 4 weeks. Sometimes there were multiple seizures in 1 day (owner calls that cluster seizures) He has been on Phenobarb at 90mg BID and the original veterinarian has told him to give Keppra for 3 to 4 days in a row if he has a seizure at a dose of 1000mg TID for 3 to 4 days..

October 8, 2019 I started him on acupuncture, chiropractic, LDXGT and CHJLGMLT on Oct.8 and Turmeric/Milk Thistle as his liver enzymes were elevated from his Phenobarb. His pulses have been slightly deficienct and wiry, and responsive to Liver acupuncture points.
Bile Acids panel normal.

We also started him on a home cooked diet (using Complete and Balanced technique www.hilarysblend.ca ) that includes beef beef liver, broccoli, cabbage, cod liver oil,safflower oil and The Balancer supplement. She has been weaning him onto this diet.

Since seeing him, we have been slowly weaning down his Phenobarb and he is recieving 500mg Keppra in the morning, 750mg Keppra mid day and 750mg Keppra at night. He still has intermittent seizures- a seizure almost occurred on Oct 20 at 9:40pm that the owners were able to stop during the pre-ictal phase by acupressure of Yin Tang, GB20 and KID1; and one on Oct 28 at 11:40pm that the owners were not able to stop as they did not notice the pre-ictal stage. - no cluster- just one occurred lasting 3 minutes.

Interesting.

Shall I keep going with his acupuncture, chiropractic, LGXGT, CHJLGMLT, and liver supporting milk thistle and turmeric, home cooked diet? and continue monitoring, continue decreasing his phenobarb?

Eventually I want him to wean off of his iKeppra too....

Thank you!
Julie

by naturevet

October 29, 2019

Hi Julie,

Since seizures often improve gradually, I have found the most reliable metric in confirming an improvement is dividing the number of seizures at a time by the seizure-free period the dog just experienced. So, if there are two seizures after a month, then the interval is really 14 days, not one month. If this number grows over time by either increased time between seizures or fewer episodes in a cluster, you're winning.

Assuming that is the case here (which is suggested by the seizures more able to be aborted by the owner), then you're winning, but I would still wait and be certain of your success before lowering phenobarb too much. I have a dog a year into being seizure-free. We only just started lowering drugs a few months ago, despite an absence of seizures (after normally getting a cluster every two months).

Note also that we are starting to experiment with a spin on Chai Hu Gui Zhi Gan Jiang Tang as a better means of controlling Shao Yang seizures. If you hit a wall with the current protocol, keep that in mind, especially if the pulse responds well to GB points like BL 19 and GB 34

Lastly, it would be good to have an anticonvulsant on board like Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin before getting the drug doses too low, as extra insurance against break-through seizures. We add it to the new formula mentioned above. Given the ability of those points to abort seizures, this must be a Yang rising problem. Tian Ma is the top single herb to consider for Yang-rising type seizures, regardless of whether they are a Liver problem or involve the Shao Yang

Hopefully this answers your questions. Meanwhile, congratulations on what seems from your description to be a promising start!

Steve

Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin

by jschell

October 30, 2019

Thank you Steve! Overall he is improving for sure. I am seeing him again tomorrow for an update and to determine his TCVM diagnostic progress.

Is your modified Chai Hu Gui Zhi Gan Jiang Tang available from Natural Path yet?

If not, I can add in Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin to his CHJLGMT and LDXGT. I may eliminate the LDXGT if he is no longer acting as Hot/ Yang Excess...............

Thank you so much!!
Julie

by naturevet

October 30, 2019

Hi Julie,

It's not available with a pretty label yet. We are hand-making it for those that wish to order and try it.

Have a great day!

Steve

by jschell

November 1, 2019

Thank you Steve ! I will order it for sure!
Julie

by jschell

November 16, 2019

We are starting this dog on Chai Hu Gui Zhi Gan Jiang Tang today I will re=post updates about his responses. Thank you!!
Julie

by jschell

November 26, 2019

I wonder how I can stop his seizures from occurring. I wonder if I have to increase his dose of Phenobarb for a while longer.............since he is still having siezures even on keppra, phenobarb an dhis TCVM herb.

by jschell

November 26, 2019

BTW-- I am giving him 1.5 teaspoon BID of the Chai Hu Gui Zhi Gan Jiang Tang formula. Should I increase that to TID to help stop seizures faster?
He weighs 33.6kg

Thank you!
Julie

by naturevet

November 26, 2019

Hi Julie,

Ordinary CHGZGJT won't work here. We also add Tian Ma to provide the anticonvulsant effect. If you purchased the formula 'off the rack' from KPC or some such, it is not likely to work. It needs to be augmented. You'll want to add at least 25 to 30g of Tian Ma per 100g of mass manufactured CHGZGJT

If the dog is Blood deficient, then it appears Chai Hu Si Wu Tang will also work, used in tandem with Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin and perhaps another formula, Huang Lian E Jiao Tang.

Rather than bumping up the PB, it might be better to boost the Keppra dose if needed to get seizure control. Once an effective herbal program is found that wipes out the seizures, it is easier to reduce Keppra doses than PB doses

Hope that helps,

Steve

Steve

by jschell

November 26, 2019

Thank you Steve. Ahhh!!! It makes sense now!

We had a bottle of Natural Path Chai Hu Gui Zhi Gan Jiang Tang that we started him on. I will add in Tian Ma Gou teng Yin to this.

The new food (home cooked beef liver and ground beef based) home cooked food is helping with his initial Blood Deficiency.)

Thank you!!! I'll repost results
Julie

by naturevet

November 27, 2019

Hi Julie,

I just checked and there was Tian Ma in the version you obtained from us.

If the added TMGTY doesn't change the seizure frequency, then we may need to try another approach, based on his pulse, timing of seizures, and what specific acupuncture points (and type of stimulation) his pulse normalizes with

If the frequency is slowly increasing, you may need to be patient. Again, I prefer to bump up Keppra doses rather than phenobarbital, if the seizures are not improving fast enough.

I calculate the seizure-free interval by the number of days between episodes divided by the number of seizures per episode. If that number is increasing, then it may just be a waiting game. If it's not improving or getting worse, try to get the data mentioned above and I may be of more use to you

Steve

by jschell

November 29, 2019

Thank you very much!! I appreciate your guidance. I will monitor Nash closely and report.
Sounds good!!
Thank you!
Julie

by jschell

December 10, 2019

Nash did well for a few weeks, then had another seizure yesterday at 2:30pm, the seizure itself was short but he took a long time to get up and out of it.
He then had another one at 3am last night, approximately 2 and a half minutes. )He usually has them, if he has them, in this time zone-- between 11pm and 4am. )

I will ask his owner to bring him in for acupuncture/pulse diagnosis and data on acupuncture.
Thank you!
Julie

by naturevet

December 10, 2019

Okay, the other big differential for seizures increasing at this time of year is Jue Yin excess, due to underlying Liver Blood and Yin deficiency. Look for (most likely) a wiry deeper pulse that improves with sedation of LV 3 or BL 18, yet also with tonification of ST 37

If you see that, then I have some ideas about what to try next

S

by jschell

December 10, 2019

Thank you Steve!! Will do!
Julie

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