The severity of the seizures remains the same – for most seizures, she has a short pre-ictal phase of disorientation and ataxia, the seizures lasts about 1 minute and is full tonic-clonic with loss of consciousness, and within 10 minutes she fully recovers to normal activity.
I first saw her about 6 weeks ago, and she was having ~2 seizures each week. I started acupuncture, which we have continued every 10-20 days depending on scheduling, and started her on Tian Ma Gou Teng Yin. I also recommended she switch off of the lamb kibble she was eating, and she is now on half pork kibble and half raw (a chicken formula). The seizures have decreased in frequency (once the first week, then only once in the following 3 weeks, but then back to two one week, and another 9 days later). So – I am wondering if I need to just hold course and allow more time for her body to balance, or if my herbal formula (and possibly point prescription) are not getting all of what is going on for her.
Other than the seizures, she doesn’t have much medical history – her temperature preference is fairly neutral, her digestion is stable with no tendency toward soft stools or vomit, normal thirst, good sleep, athletic body condition, and good energy and gets a lot of exercise. She had some skin allergies (hives) when they moved from Florida to Utah in 2016, but it resolved and hasn’t recurred, and she is occasionally leash aggressive toward other dogs, but generally friendly with other dogs. The seizures have happened at all times of the day/night – sometimes they seem to pattern as all evening or all morning for a while, but I can’t find any pattern to this (seasonal, etc). I also don’t find a seasonal pattern – her first seizure was in July and then they picked up in August through September (then started on anticonvulsants), and her breakthroughs started in January and picked up steam through the summer (when dosing was adjusted in response, etc.).
Physical exam is largely unremarkable. She had a superficial ulceration on her left hock where she had been licking a scrape she got while hiking, she had a tiny amount of fine powdery dandruff, and mild radiant warmth over her dorsal lumbar area. Her personality is aloof, independent, mellow, and stubborn. Her tongue is dark pink, medium width, and initially had a very few microcracks and now seems a little more wrinkled. Her pulse was initially slightly narrow with lower tone, and now seems medium width and higher tone but more superficial.
Would a different herbal formula be better? Maybe Chai Hu Jia Long Gu Mu Li Tang? Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang crossed my mind, but to me doesn’t seem to fit her signs as well. Or, are there other things I should consider (more CBD, push harder for low-processed diet, homeopathics)? I’ve been using points to expel internal wind (LV 3 and LI 4, GB 20 or BL 10, etc.) and strengthen Blood and Liver. Thoughts/input/feedback would be much appreciated. Thank you!
-Cate