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To Cheryl - h0p had toxoplasmosis too: Was Scarlett
On Wed, 22 Dec 2004, Cheryl wrote:
I realize I haven't posted any updates, but I don't have much to tell. She went back to TED today and they took a bunch (!) of blood to test her for various things. FIV/FLV was one I was going to have done again anyway, but they're also testing for toxoplasmosis, and exposure to the feline coronavirus because 2 vets now have said the letters FIP. Good news I guess is that vet gave us the antibiotic for toxo (an antirobe) to start on because she thinks its probable. She's still sleeping an awful lot, but has a good appetite, and even gained a little more weight since Saturday (I'm afraid maybe being at work away from home 11 hours a day might be making her undernourished because I don't think she's eating the dry food I leave for between meals) :( Her temp was down today and her eyes look a little better since they aren't as red, but she still squints like they're sensitive to light. No more seisure-like activity since the first on Saturday. Cheryl, I'm really sorry to hear about Scarlett. The origin of h0p's problems was apparently toxoplasmosis too. I had no idea he was ill until he had an extremely violent seizure in the middle of the night. h0p has other problems - heart murmer, IBD, and a failing liver, and so he went through alot of testing. He was initially put on phenobarbital for his seizures which worked well for about 2 years. He suddenly became very ill and depressed to the point where his ver suggested that I have him put down. I took him to see Dr. Deena Tiches at the VCA Veterinary Referral Associates in Gaithersburg. Both the liver problems and the depression were attributed to the phenobarbital, and she switched him to a liquid medication called Neurontin which I get from The Professional Arts Pharmacy in Baltimore. I wish you and Scarlett the best of luck, I'd like to know how things turn out or if you have any pointers that might help the h0p. This year Misty had to go to RadioCat for hyperthyroidism treatment, George had another mast cell tumor removed, we lost little Ceili to cancer, and we got a new kitten named Ivy - and so life goes on. Happy Holidays to you and yours. Dee |
Dee wrote:
This year Misty had to go to RadioCat for hyperthyroidism treatment, George had another mast cell tumor removed, we lost little Ceili to cancer, and we got a new kitten named Ivy - and so life goes on. Happy Holidays to you and yours. So sorry about your loss and all the kitty illness. We'll be purring for a better year 2005 for h0p and the gang. -- Marina, Frank and Nikki marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki |
Cheryl wrote:
Scarlett has only had the one episode that I know of, and I got her test results back today and all of the kitty nasties came up negative, so no toxo, or worse, for her thank God. Thank goodness! Yay Scarlett, and may she continue to eat, grow and be a hoolikitten! -- Marina, Frank and Nikki marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki |
"Marina" wrote in message ... Cheryl wrote: Scarlett has only had the one episode that I know of, and I got her test results back today and all of the kitty nasties came up negative, so no toxo, or worse, for her thank God. Thank goodness! Yay Scarlett, and may she continue to eat, grow and be a hoolikitten! -- Marina, Frank and Nikki marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki Also, very glad to hear this, Cheryl. Christine |
On Thu, 23 Dec 2004, Cheryl wrote:
Dee, I hadn't seen anything about h0p in so long, I actually feared the worst. I'm sorry he's still having problems and I hope Dr Tiches can help him. Scarlett has only had the one episode that I know of, and I got her test results back today and all of the kitty nasties came up negative, so no toxo, or worse, for her thank God. I'm so glad to hear it Cheryl. I wanted to let you know about the medication that h0p was taking because it's apparently fairly new to treat animals with neurontin and it's helped him quite a bit. If Scarlett should continue to have seizures (and I know how scary it is) it might be something to keep in mind. h0p had a difficult year including an accidental burn, but he's proved to be a little miracle. He's slowed down alot and is obviously not in top form, but he'll celebrate his twelveth birthday in six days, and there was a time we never thought we'd see that. Oh! I mentioned, Misty, h0p, George, Ceili, and Ivy, but didn't mention Sam so I felt bad at leaving him out! He's as big and handsome, healthy and happy as ever :) Wishing you, and all of you, a very happy new year. http://www.wam.umd.edu/~powersd/group2.html -- late last year http://www.wam.umd.edu/~powersd/Ivy.jpg -- Little Ivy new pics soon! Dee |
In article ,
Dee wrote: On Thu, 23 Dec 2004, Cheryl wrote: Dee, I hadn't seen anything about h0p in so long, I actually feared the worst. I'm sorry he's still having problems and I hope Dr Tiches can help him. Scarlett has only had the one episode that I know of, and I got her test results back today and all of the kitty nasties came up negative, so no toxo, or worse, for her thank God. I'm so glad to hear it Cheryl. I wanted to let you know about the medication that h0p was taking because it's apparently fairly new to treat animals with neurontin and it's helped him quite a bit. If Scarlett should continue to have seizures (and I know how scary it is) it might be something to keep in mind. h0p had a difficult year including an accidental burn, but he's proved to be a little miracle. He's slowed down alot and is obviously not in top form, but he'll celebrate his twelveth birthday in six days, and there was a time we never thought we'd see that. Neurontin (generic name gabapentin) isn't quite a major breakthrough drug, as in a completely new therapeutic class, but it's an important improvement both for preventing convulsion and treating pain from nerve damage. In the present climate of problems in reporting side effects, I thought I might add one that's been observed by several human physicians I know, but isn't mentioned in the product literature. I have no way of knowing if this will occur in cats, but it appears to cause weight gain in a fair number of humans. In some of these cases, that may even be beneficial, to a patient that's debilitated from convulsions or intractable nerve pain. Up to very recently, it was the best thing we had for diabetic neuropathic pain, although a new and specific agent has just been approved for that indication. Research I'm tracking indicate that it's reasonably likely that several new classes of pain management drugs will be reaching approval soon, but I have no idea if they can be used in cats. |
"Howard Berkowitz" wrote in message
... Neurontin (generic name gabapentin) isn't quite a major breakthrough drug, as in a completely new therapeutic class, but it's an important improvement both for preventing convulsion and treating pain from nerve damage. In the present climate of problems in reporting side effects, I thought I might add one that's been observed by several human physicians I know, but isn't mentioned in the product literature. I have no way of knowing if this will occur in cats, but it appears to cause weight gain in a fair number of humans. In some of these cases, that may even be beneficial, to a patient that's debilitated from convulsions or intractable nerve pain. Up to very recently, it was the best thing we had for diabetic neuropathic pain, although a new and specific agent has just been approved for that indication. Research I'm tracking indicate that it's reasonably likely that several new classes of pain management drugs will be reaching approval soon, but I have no idea if they can be used in cats. Please be careful and do a lot of research before using Neurontin. Pfizer has promoted this drug for at least 11 "off-label" medical conditions, including pain management (pain management is a multi-billion dollar market). Here's a link that tells more about their unethical practices: http://www.citizen.org/ELETTER/ARTICLES/neurontin.htm From the article: "A senior marketing executive at Parke-Davis was quoted during a teleconference as saying to medical liaisons: Pain management, now that's money. Monotherapy, that's money. We don't want to share these patients with everybody, we want them on Neurontin only. We want their whole drug budget, not a quarter, not half, the whole thing....That's where we need to be holding their hand and whispering in their ear: 'Neurontin for pain, Neurontin for monotherapy, Neurontin for everything' ... I don't want to hear that safety crap either, have you tried Neurontin, every one of you should take one just to see there is nothing [that the drug is safe], it's a great drug." It was prescribed to me for my Fibromyalgia and when I had to quit taking it the withdrawal was devastating - including nausea, feeling electrical shock-like tingling all over my body, headache, dizziness, swelling limbs, black-out episodes (quite scary when driving), trembling, feeling increased pain, and panic attacks. Hugs, CatNipped |
CatNipped wrote: "Howard Berkowitz" wrote in message ... Neurontin (generic name gabapentin) isn't quite a major breakthrough drug, as in a completely new therapeutic class, but it's an important improvement both for preventing convulsion and treating pain from nerve damage. In the present climate of problems in reporting side effects, I thought I might add one that's been observed by several human physicians I know, but isn't mentioned in the product literature. I have no way of knowing if this will occur in cats, but it appears to cause weight gain in a fair number of humans. In some of these cases, that may even be beneficial, to a patient that's debilitated from convulsions or intractable nerve pain. Up to very recently, it was the best thing we had for diabetic neuropathic pain, although a new and specific agent has just been approved for that indication. Research I'm tracking indicate that it's reasonably likely that several new classes of pain management drugs will be reaching approval soon, but I have no idea if they can be used in cats. Please be careful and do a lot of research before using Neurontin. Pfizer has promoted this drug for at least 11 "off-label" medical conditions, including pain management (pain management is a multi-billion dollar market). Here's a link that tells more about their unethical practices: http://www.citizen.org/ELETTER/ARTICLES/neurontin.htm From the article: "A senior marketing executive at Parke-Davis was quoted during a teleconference as saying to medical liaisons: Pain management, now that's money. Monotherapy, that's money. We don't want to share these patients with everybody, we want them on Neurontin only. We want their whole drug budget, not a quarter, not half, the whole thing....That's where we need to be holding their hand and whispering in their ear: 'Neurontin for pain, Neurontin for monotherapy, Neurontin for everything' ... I don't want to hear that safety crap either, have you tried Neurontin, every one of you should take one just to see there is nothing [that the drug is safe], it's a great drug." It was prescribed to me for my Fibromyalgia and when I had to quit taking it the withdrawal was devastating - including nausea, feeling electrical shock-like tingling all over my body, headache, dizziness, swelling limbs, black-out episodes (quite scary when driving), trembling, feeling increased pain, and panic attacks. Thanks for the warnings, guys! My doctor prescribed this because I'd been complaining of increasing numbness in my feet and lower legs (my previous doctor called it "non-diabetic neuropathy", and told me there was no effective treatment). I was already a bit skeptical when the literature the pharmacist gave me described it as a medication used for eplileptic seizures, although I thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt - until I noticed the label on the bottle which cautioned me to "carry or wear medical identification stating you are taking this medicine". I'll keep the numbness, thanks! Fortunately, I'd only taken three one-a-day doses, so experienced no side-effects. (I see where I and my new doctor must have a little talk - my former doctor understood that I will not take ANY medication until I have been convinced it is truly necessary!) |
In article , "CatNipped"
wrote: "Howard Berkowitz" wrote in message ... Neurontin (generic name gabapentin) isn't quite a major breakthrough drug, as in a completely new therapeutic class, but it's an important improvement both for preventing convulsion and treating pain from nerve damage. In the present climate of problems in reporting side effects, I thought I might add one that's been observed by several human physicians I know, but isn't mentioned in the product literature. I have no way of knowing if this will occur in cats, but it appears to cause weight gain in a fair number of humans. In some of these cases, that may even be beneficial, to a patient that's debilitated from convulsions or intractable nerve pain. Up to very recently, it was the best thing we had for diabetic neuropathic pain, although a new and specific agent has just been approved for that indication. Research I'm tracking indicate that it's reasonably likely that several new classes of pain management drugs will be reaching approval soon, but I have no idea if they can be used in cats. Please be careful and do a lot of research before using Neurontin. Pfizer has promoted this drug for at least 11 "off-label" medical conditions, including pain management (pain management is a multi-billion dollar market). Here's a link that tells more about their unethical practices: http://www.citizen.org/ELETTER/ARTICLES/neurontin.htm I have no financial or personal interest in Pfizer. I do, however, have an appreciable background in the scientific basis of pain management, and have seen appreciable independent research, as well as specific clinical applications, where gabapentin gave relief for neurogenic pain that could not be relieved by other drugs. From the article: "A senior marketing executive at Parke-Davis was quoted during a teleconference as saying to medical liaisons: Pain management, now that's money. Monotherapy, that's money. We don't want to share these patients with everybody, we want them on Neurontin only. We want their whole drug budget, not a quarter, not half, the whole thing....That's where we need to be holding their hand and whispering in their ear: 'Neurontin for pain, Neurontin for monotherapy, Neurontin for everything' ... I don't want to hear that safety crap either, have you tried Neurontin, every one of you should take one just to see there is nothing [that the drug is safe], it's a great drug." The above indeed is crap. Nevertheless, see comments below. It was prescribed to me for my Fibromyalgia and when I had to quit taking it the withdrawal was devastating - including nausea, feeling electrical shock-like tingling all over my body, headache, dizziness, swelling limbs, black-out episodes (quite scary when driving), trembling, feeling increased pain, and panic attacks. Gabapentin, as do other drugs, including those with multiple approved applications, are of the family of anticonvulsants. Some of their modes of action involve increasing the action potential (i.e., triggering level) of various peripheral and central nerves. Regardless of what the Pfizer marketdroid said, there are many extremely legitimate indications, on and off label, for the several classes of anticonvulsants. Valproate and carbemazepine may well be more effective and safer than lithium for hypomanic states and some other mood disorders. Carbemazepine was the first treatment for tic douloreaux, often described as the worst pain syndrome known, that did not involve destroying the trigeminal nerve, a key facial nerve. I would find it extremely unlikely that ANY reputable pharmacology textbook or medical school course would EVER recommend quitting an anticonvulsant that the patient has been taking for any appreciable time. Especially when there is a history of a convulsive disorder, but even when the drug has been prescribed for other purposes, seizures are not at all uncommon. The reactions describe could very well have taken place had you suddenly stopped, after therapy of any duration, any anticonvulsant, be it phenytoin, carbemazepine, valproate, phenobarbital, etc. Indeed, when there is a medical necessity to stop drugs of this class, hospitalization is frequently recommended (especially with barbiturates). Severe physical withdrawal is less likely with benzdiazepine anticonvulsants such as clonazepam -- which has other valid applications, some on and off label. I take it myself, and have been terrified at the possible reactions on running out. While I haven't had any severe reactions, I absolutely would not drive, for example, if I had missed several doses. Having lost my insurance, I fully appreciate the problems that an expensive drug can present. While some drug warnings are more to protect the manufacturer, this is a class of drugs where the warning not to stop without medical supervision is not an exaggeration. There is also no generally accepted treatment for fibromyalgia, and a quite competent rheumatologist or neurologist is quite likely to try an assortment of drugs (and nonpharmacologic treatments) on a mostly trial and error basis. There really is no alternative to such an approach. In other words, it's not all evil drug companies. |
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