Hoping to get some input on severe nerve pain and severe trapped? Heat in a dog. I’m primarily an equine practitioner so forgive that my pattern diagnostic skills are not well developed in small animals and I rarely needle small animals. This one is of course my own dog that is taxing me!
13 yo MN Lab
Hx: Psoas injury at 2 yo with resulting chronic SI issues
bilateral TPLO at 10 yo
CCD at 11.5 yo responds and well managed on CHJLGMLT
Current issues:
1.Severe heat intolerance developed over last year that I can’t seem to clear
-is on homemade diet but gave valiant effort of addressing the damp heat route with SMS combined with Long Dan Xie Gan Tang, might have knocked back the inflammation a bit but no substantial change and started to dry him out and be rough on his appetite
-he doesn’t present as terribly yin deficient (a little bit of dry skin, but not losing weight with ravenous appetite) but I suspect there is some degree of yin deficiency as he is still restless at night despite the CHJLGMLT. Decided to try Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan which he tolerated fine, but as I was working up his dose, he presented with current issue number two, severe left front lameness, suspect nerve pain. And I sort of put aside the yin deficiency for a moment to try to target that and not have him on so many formulas.
2. Neuropathic pain- has had chronic low-grade left front lameness for two months or so, recently had a trip off a porch step and presented acutely, nonweightbearing lame on the left front the next day. X-ray showed fusion of some of the upper thoracic vertebrae and stenosis of a majority of the spine. Current management of that issue: NSAIDs, amantadine, Gabapentin, Arnica, Hypericum, Bupleurum and Kudzu. Laser, PEMF, Chiro, acupuncture - 3 weeks on this protocol and he is marginally better but not dramatically. I was hoping Bupleurum and Kudzu would clear the heat and panting but it hasn’t put much of a dent in it.
Other notes/thoughts:
- obviously he’s got a Shao yang disharmony, but I can’t seem to find or appropriately address that trapped energy. He always wakes panting up at 2:30 to 3:30 AM so I’ve been suspecting that the heat is trapped in his liver? Ultrasound liver and spleen show congestion but no obvious masses. Recently started, low dose Ge Xia Zhu Yu to see if I could clear heat that way. It is possibly making CCD worse? Just seems more restless (but maybe less panting?) Too much Yang tonification? Too much blood moving? He has always gotten diarrhea in response to blood movers in past.
- hindend weakness, muscles spasms, soft fine hair coat also tells me he’s blood deficient but he gets hotter if I try to tonify
Tongue is pale pink at rest, and redder with activity, slight white foamy coating. And forgive me- I’m not great at pulses
Sorry for the lack of clarity and the short story! My goals are really just to make him comfortable. All the pain and lameness issues seem to be more of a blood deficiency thing that I think should respond to DHJST, but because he’s so hot and I can’t seem to fix that I can’t really get anywhere.
Would love some guidance on how to balance the mixed patterns if anyone can see through my current chaos and kitchen sink approach! Thanks so much, Gretchen