Medication For Epilepsy?

Henry is two years of age and was diagnosed with Epilepsy last September. Presently he is on 90mg Epiphen, twelve hourly. Unfortunately, he is not well controlled and he is going for another blood test late this afternoon. Clearly, the Epiphen is not controlling his seizures and the vet will prescribe further medication to add to the Epiphen.

Does anyone have an epileptic dog that is well controlled, and what medication has been prescribed? I'm concerned about some of the side effects of the medications for Epilepsy and would be grateful for any information.

A search on the Internet suggests Zonisamide as a stand alone treatment.

Good luck with Henry's blood tests. A lot depends on how frequent his seizures are, whether his liver function levels are good, and whether his Phenobartitone [Epiphen] level is within the therapeutic range. Also if he gets any bad physical side effects from the Pb. If it is low and his liver function levels are good, it might be an idea to increase his dosage and/or change it to every eight hours instead of every twelve.

Normally the next addition would be Kbr - from what I have learned about Zoni it is not usually used as a stand-alone AED.

Pereg, who is 4½ years old and currently weighs 16.1kg is on Pb only, and has been since April 2011. After a very bad session of clusters we increased her dosage and changed her from BID to TID [then 50mg TID = 150mg/day]. She had a wonderful seizure-free streak of one year and 177 days. The streak came to an end in May and we have twice increased her Pb since then, but she tolerates it extremely well with no physical side effects, and all her liver and kidney function levels are spot-on perfect - her Pb level being half way between the minimum and maximum therapeutic range.

If Epiphen is causing major problems and Henry's seizures are more than once a month - ask your vet about Pexion. It is a new but proven stand-alone AED for dogs with Idiopathic Epilepsy, and has been approved for use in Europe - I assume that would include the UK.

Henry is having six or seven seizures per month. His Epiphen has been increased a number of times but it has made no difference. He is now on 180mg per day, in divided doses.

Thanks for the info. I'll mention Pexion to the vet when I see him later this afternoon.

What tests were done before putting him on Epiphen? There are many causes for seizures, I have had 2 dogs that had them, the first was kicked in the head the second was food allergies, low blood sugar and panic attacks. Once I found out why the only time he had a seizure was after a panic attack, the others stopped completely.

Hi there

Potassium bromide (KBr) is often considered when the phenobarbital (PB) isn't effective on its own.

I have an almost 9 year old who was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy before he was 2. He was treated with KBr on its own for many years and went over a year fit-free. However, the fits returned and we had to add phenobarbital.

I wouldn't say his epilepsy is under control. He is having a cluster of anything between 2 and 9 fits every four weeks or so. The only positive thing is that his fits are not as severe as they were before the PB and he recovers more quickly.

He is currently taking 90 mg PB in the morning and 120 mg in the evening.

I'm not sure whether my experience is really relevant but my dog was diagnosed with ideopathic epilepsy four years ago after suffering a seizure during an agility run. After his fourth seizure (all during agility) he was put on 45mg of Epiphen twice a day. He has been seizure-free since then and I am now gradually reducing the dosage; he is currently on 30mg in the morning and 15mg in the evening - so far, so good! He has always only just been within the therapeutic range.

I don't think he fits the usual profile of an epi dog though. Good luck with Henry's meds and I hope you find a combination that works.

Henry has had his Epiphen increased from 15mg twice per day until it is now 90mg twice per day. He went for his blood tests today - a full profile plus his levels of Epiphen. Depending on his results will determine any adjunct to his Epiphen. Having looked at all of the medication available, and their known side effects, it seems to me that potassium or sodium bromide is the only real alternative at the moment. I came across someone whose dog developed dry eye due to Zonisamide. Having looked at the literature for Pexion it doesn't appear to be any more effective than Epiphen

I should have Henry's results on Thursday.

The two important blood test results are liver [and also but less] function levels, and then to see if Henry is within the therapeutic levels for Pb.

Has he ever had a full Thyroid panel done?

Pereg started on 25mg BID and we had to increase it and increase it until we had reasonable control. As I said, she is now on a total of 230mg/day but split into three times a day, not the usual twice a day. This seems to suit her but is more "work" for me - and not really the norm. But for some dogs, like Pereg, it suits her better and there is not the urgency of making sure she has her medication plus or minus 10 minutes each time.

Are you giving Henry Milk Thistle, SAMe and Taurine to help support his liver and also his central nervous system?

Mattie, there are no definitive tests to prove canine epilepsy. It is diagnosed only when all other possible causes of a seizure have been discounted.

With Pereg she had no tests before diagnosis because it was obvious from her first and then following seizures that she has Idiopathic Epilepsy. Apart from having a full thyroid panel done after her diagnosis and starting on Pb, that is all. No MRI. No lumbar puncture. Nothing.

Pereg is a mutt of no known origin, therefore there is no know way of tracing her epilepsy back to a genetic problem. She is epileptic and I accept that she is and always will be.

Just as Ram, my Vet, is epileptic and always will be.

As well as thyroid problems allergies can also cause seizures as I found out with one of my dogs, also low blood sugar especially after doing a lot of high energy things like agility or flyball, again from experience and I had to stop him doing agility so yes tests can be done to RULE OUT causes.

So you don't know if she has had a blow to the head or not which can cause seizures. Yes I have had a dog with that as well, also a foster dog that was suspected of having a blow to the head which caused seizures. A friend has just found out that her dog had a blow to the head and is probably the cause of his seizures.

My late husband was epileptic caused by a stroke, I had to deal with them as well as giving him 24/7 care as all be could do for himself was use a spoon or fork.,

Before you attack anyone make sure that they don't have experience, there are more people than you think who have experience of epilepsy.

I will never regret the years I spent trying to work out why Joe was having seizures because he was able to come off the medication and live a normal life, that was worth all the hard work to have him free of seizures.

Keep looking and never give up.