I ended up upping the pred to 7.5mg instead of 10mg and it's working. Missy is feeling much better and is back to begging to work and acting like the queen bee again . I've added the MSM and extra fish oil into her diet so we'll see what happens when I start to taper the prednisone off over the weekend.
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005
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Quote: Mara Jessup
I ended up upping the pred to 7.5mg instead of 10mg and it's working. Missy is feeling much better and is back to begging to work and acting like the queen bee again . I've added the MSM and extra fish oil into her diet so we'll see what happens when I start to taper the prednisone off over the weekend.
All I can say is: THANK GOODNESS.
No one is more cautious about Pred than I am, or more unwilling to be casual about its long-term use.
But as Mike Armstrong and other owners of bad-allergy dogs know, oral Pred in the lowest effective dose can be a real magic bullet to restore quality of life where there was none and break an otherwise escalating cycle of itch-scratch/bleed/infect.
Please keep us posted.
eta about fish oil therapy:
It takes up to 12 weeks to see maximum EFA benefits for atopy, and sometimes no benefits at all are seen for 8 weeks. It's not often immediate; hang in there, because there are innumerable benefits from a better Omega 6/Omega 3 balance.
Edited by Connie Sutherland (09/03/2010 05:18 PM)
Edit reason: eta
Tracy Collins Webboard User Reg: 10-09-2008
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When you do taper off the Prednisone, don't be surprised or alarmed if you actually have to do a teeny "maintenance" dose of it to keep the symptoms at a tolerable level. This is the case with my Corgi that has fall seasonal allergies every year like clockwork.
One or two days of a half dose (for her 5 mg.) of Prednisone is enough to stop the itching. But I then give her half of that (a quarter of a tablet) every other day for several weeks. Later in the season, I can sometimes reduce that to a quarter of a tablet just twice a week. It's just enough to keep the inflammation at a level low enough that antihistamines/fish oil/everything else takes care of the rest. But she does require that tiny grain of Prednisone throughout the season, until our first frost. Then she's good for another year.
I'm as hesitant as anyone about giving a medicine like Prednisone lightly. But at such a small dose, I think the risk outweighs the alternative of raw, oozing skin and a houseful of miserable people and dogs who can't sleep.
Lori Hall Webboard User Reg: 06-12-2007
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Loc: So. California coast
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Quote: tracy collins
When you do taper off the Prednisone, don't be surprised or alarmed if you actually have to do a teeny "maintenance" dose of it to keep the symptoms at a tolerable level. This is the case with my Corgi that has fall seasonal allergies every year like clockwork.
One or two days of a half dose (for her 5 mg.) of Prednisone is enough to stop the itching. But I then give her half of that (a quarter of a tablet) every other day for several weeks. Later in the season, I can sometimes reduce that to a quarter of a tablet just twice a week. It's just enough to keep the inflammation at a level low enough that antihistamines/fish oil/everything else takes care of the rest. But she does require that tiny grain of Prednisone throughout the season, until our first frost. Then she's good for another year.
I'm as hesitant as anyone about giving a medicine like Prednisone lightly. But at such a small dose, I think the risk outweighs the alternative of raw, oozing skin and a houseful of miserable people and dogs who can't sleep.
I've now got Missy down 5 mg every other day with the prednisone with hardly any recurrence in the itching. Keeping up with the extra fish oil and MSM. I asked for a few extra prednisone so I can taper it down even further before eliminating it if needed.
But oh my word. I don't know if it's the prednisone, feeling better in general or a combination of the both, but she has her "go, go, go I want to do something" attitude back in full force - she's more than ready to keep up with the younger 2 again. I feel a little bad because she is so stoic that she must have been feeling really bad. But I'm glad to see my old girl has her spunk and attitude back.
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Re: Allergy questions - sigh...
[Re: Mike Armstrong ]
#294754 - 09/03/2010 01:27 PM 
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. I've added the MSM and extra fish oil into her diet so we'll see what happens when I start to taper the prednisone off over the weekend.
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