12 pound chihuahua / How much zonisamide ?

[fotyfobravo]

Hi Folks, I am brand new to this forum and will search former posts but hope to verify a little information. Our Lucy is a 9 year old Chihuahua / Russell mix that had increasing seizures which eventually required Phenobarbital to control. It worked well and stopped the seizures but her personality rapidly became erratic and she can't sit still and is OBSESSED with food. If you take a step backwards, you will step on her as she follows you around obsessively. Until she is exhausted at about 9 pm she will pace and CHIRP constantly. In years past she was relaxed and would "snack" on a bowl of food all day. Now she will snarf everything in sight and not stop until it's gone. She is a wreck and is no longer pleasant to have around. Albeit, we are committed to care for her properly as she has been a joy and pleasure since we rescued her 7 years ago.

To complicate things, the Vet mistakably put her on TRIFLEXIS....but realized the mistake after 2 months dosage. Triflexis has shown to increase seizures. Hopefully that crap is about out of her system. I fear that may have done permanent seizure related damage, as her behavior became worse at about that same time.

Over the phone today the Vet recommended we switch to ZONISAMIDE. We are hopeful that as the triflexis leaves her system and she changes from phenol to zonisamide, that our Lucy will return. Right now we are not sure which has made the severe change in her behavior.

Vet says if the switch doesn't improve her behavior, she suspects a physical tumor and at that point is just a matter of time.

Vet has us on a weaning OFF schedule for the phenobarbital AND immediately starting 50 MG zonisamide twice a day.

Due to the triflexis mistake a few months age I am not totally confident in this Vet and am hoping for some assurance on the dosage......sounds a little strong but I don't know. I will call the Vet to confirm the dose befor I continue. I will get this RX filled in a day or two after I can verify this plan a little better.

Can anyone agree or disagree on this PLAN and DOSAGE?

[fotyfobravo]

MODERATOR....If you know a "better section" for my post to be in, please move as you wish.

Thanks, Fred

Hi Folks, I am brand new to this forum and will search former posts but hope to verify a little information. Our Lucy is a 9 year old Chihuahua / Russell mix that had increasing seizures which eventually required Phenobarbital to control. It worked well and stopped the seizures but her personality rapidly became erratic and she can't sit still and is OBSESSED with food. If you take a step backwards, you will step on her as she follows you around obsessively. Until she is exhausted at about 9 pm she will pace and CHIRP constantly. In years past she was relaxed and would "snack" on a bowl of food all day. Now she will snarf everything in sight and not stop until it's gone. She is a wreck and is no longer pleasant to have around. Albeit, we are committed to care for her properly as she has been a joy and pleasure since we rescued her 7 years ago.

To complicate things, the Vet mistakably put her on TRIFLEXIS....but realized the mistake after 2 months dosage. Triflexis has shown to increase seizures. Hopefully that crap is about out of her system. I fear that may have done permanent seizure related damage, as her behavior became worse at about that same time.

Over the phone today the Vet recommended we switch to ZONISAMIDE. We are hopeful that as the triflexis leaves her system and she changes from phenol to zonisamide, that our Lucy will return. Right now we are not sure which has made the severe change in her behavior.

Vet says if the switch doesn't improve her behavior, she suspects a physical tumor and at that point is just a matter of time.

Vet has us on a weaning OFF schedule for the phenobarbital AND immediately starting 50 MG zonisamide twice a day.

Due to the triflexis mistake a few months age I am not totally confident in this Vet and am hoping for some assurance on the dosage......sounds a little strong but I don't know. I will call the Vet to confirm the dose befor I continue. I will get this RX filled in a day or two after I can verify this plan a little better.

Can anyone agree or disagree on this PLAN and DOSAGE?

[beaglemum]

Hi,

Sounds like you are having a rough time of it. My beagle is on Phenomav 100mg (am & pm) and Zonisamide 200mg (am & pm). He weighs approx 17kg. I say approx, because it seems that when he is a bit overweight, he can handle the side effects of the dosage a little easier. When he drops weight down to the 16kg mark (which is healthier for him) he starts getting some side effects, namely ataxia. Having said that, the neurologist suspects that the Phenomav is causing the ataxia, not the Zonisamide.

We have worked on lowering the Phenomav in Saxon's system, and the neurologist reassured me that if it triggered seizures we would just up the Zonisamide a little, as it seems to have minimal side effects.

I know Zonisamide isn't for everyone, but without it, I don't think we would still have Saxon, he is a difficult dog to medicate.

Don't know if the above helps at all, just our experience.

Good luck, don't lose heart, it does take time (sometimes lots of time) to get epilepsy under control.

Cheers

[teddysmom]

Hi Folks, I am brand new to this forum and will search former posts but hope to verify a little information. Our Lucy is a 9 year old Chihuahua / Russell mix that had increasing seizures which eventually required Phenobarbital to control. It worked well and stopped the seizures but her personality rapidly became erratic and she can't sit still and is OBSESSED with food. If you take a step backwards, you will step on her as she follows you around obsessively. Until she is exhausted at about 9 pm she will pace and CHIRP constantly. In years past she was relaxed and would "snack" on a bowl of food all day. Now she will snarf everything in sight and not stop until it's gone. She is a wreck and is no longer pleasant to have around. Albeit, we are committed to care for her properly as she has been a joy and pleasure since we rescued her 7 years ago.

To complicate things, the Vet mistakably put her on TRIFLEXIS....but realized the mistake after 2 months dosage. Triflexis has shown to increase seizures. Hopefully that crap is about out of her system. I fear that may have done permanent seizure related damage, as her behavior became worse at about that same time.

Over the phone today the Vet recommended we switch to ZONISAMIDE. We are hopeful that as the triflexis leaves her system and she changes from phenol to zonisamide, that our Lucy will return. Right now we are not sure which has made the severe change in her behavior.

Vet says if the switch doesn't improve her behavior, she suspects a physical tumor and at that point is just a matter of time.

Vet has us on a weaning OFF schedule for the phenobarbital AND immediately starting 50 MG zonisamide twice a day.

Due to the triflexis mistake a few months age I am not totally confident in this Vet and am hoping for some assurance on the dosage......sounds a little strong but I don't know. I will call the Vet to confirm the dose befor I continue. I will get this RX filled in a day or two after I can verify this plan a little better.

Can anyone agree or disagree on this PLAN and DOSAGE?

Hello. My dog is on Zonisamide. He is 10 lbs and was on 25 mg twice a day for 2.5 years. We just increased him to 50mg twice a day. That's the only drug he is on and it has worked fairly well for us. The dose sounds right to me because my 10-lb dog was on the minimum dose of 25 and now is on 50 mg. We see no behavior issues w/ the medication nor any side effects. I hope it continues to work for our dog, and hope you have some luck with it!

[fotyfobravo]

Thanks very much for the encouraging replies and good information. After a week of half dose (reduction) of the phenobarbital with adding the 50 mg zonisamide (bid) we have seen a cautious improvement in Lucy's irritability and hyperactivity. This improvement started about the 4th day into weaning her off the phenobarb. This may very well be the correct route. She can now sit on the sofa like before and she has even fallen asleep for a nap or two in her bed in the living room with us. The last few months were like having a Tasmanian devil loose in the house. This is a huge step towards the "old Lucy". We will go to a quarter dose next week and to only the zonisamide after that.

Fingers Crossed! Thanks ...Fred

[fotyfobravo]

UPDATE !

Lucy is now reduced to a half pill of phenobarb a day and is now taking the 50 mg zonisamide (bid).

Her behavior has returned almost to her old self. Still a little hyper but not near as bad as 2 weeks ago. She once again will sit on the sofa and be petted. We will hope the seizures do not break through and she eventually calms back to her original self before the phenobarbital.

Thanks again......

[patco]

I think 25 mg is the base dosage for 10 lb Chihuahua. But then sometimes it is good to reduce it to 20 mg at times. This is because too much dosage all the time can make him a bit dizzy.

Yes. I do agree with you. 25mg is the base dosage. You are pretty right!

[johnyeo90]

Have you got this issue settled?