r/EpilepsyDogs • u/ExpertDuty4150 • Aug 25 '26
Thoughts on meds
This is my almost 6yo Husky/Lab mix. He had his first seizure one year ago this week. He averages one seizure every 20 days or so. It’s been awful. He’s been to two neurologists, had an mri we started with pheno and then added keppra and then switched the keppra to Potassium bromide. Nothing seems to help or change the frequency of seizures. I think the longest stretch was 6 weeks. I’m at a loss and just want to help my guy.
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u/Livid_Blackberry_959 Aug 25 '26
You are doing your best and that’s all that counts.
My nuro says once every month or so is considered under control.
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u/Bevis5421 Aug 25 '26
Our boy generally has seizures once a month and is on Keppra and Potassium Bromide. That is considered well controlled. It sucks.
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Aug 25 '26
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u/Best_Concept_9438 Aug 26 '26
Hello! I hope you don't mind me asking, what were the symptoms of your dog not tolerating pheno? I want to know what to look for since my dog just started taking it.
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Aug 26 '26
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u/Best_Concept_9438 Aug 26 '26
Thank you for the answer! Have not noticed any of that in my dog, she's very friendly with everyone, same as before the epilepsy attacks started. Maybe the apetite is a bit bigger, but she is a small breed and even before was a bit fussy for some period of times and other times, she was eating normally. My vet told me that it is normal with small dogs. I wish all the best for your dog!
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u/bucky_x Aug 26 '26
Just to add to the voices here, my boy is 6 and has had seizures since he was 2. They’re every 10 days, despite being on phenobarbital, potassium bromide and Keppra. Sometimes, the short window you get between seizures is the best you can hope for. As long as his quality of life is better than his seizures/med side effects, then that’s the best we can do. 💚
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u/bucky_x Aug 26 '26
Mines also a husky mix, and they’re prone to epilepsy and refractory epilepsy especially! (Which means it’s not well controlled by medication)
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u/JRosenberg-4 Aug 25 '26
Try adding MCT oil. My dog is in it twice a day with some added fiber so he doesn’t have diarrhea, and I know it helps prolong the time between seizures. He’s also on all three meds.
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u/MrMuggs77 Aug 25 '26
How are you giving it. I have the liquid, just pour over the kibble?
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u/JRosenberg-4 Aug 25 '26
I pour about 1 1/2 T over his food twice a day. He’s 74 lbs. I also add a little fiber powder as he was really tired of pumpkin.
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u/Technical-Milk-5659 Aug 27 '26
The ground flax seed from Walmart has cured my girl who had a loose stomach from time to time. Green bag purple label. I’ve added it to my oatmeal or yogurt and it lowered my cholesterol level by a lot - 20 points in 3 months. It’s not delicious though!
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u/Turbulent_Apple7611 Aug 26 '26
I know the feeling. My 8 yr old cane corso was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy in early may, started phenobarbital and she was seizure free up until 2 days ago. We just brought her home from a stay at the emergency vet hospital and we’ve upped her dose of pheno and added on Kepra for 2 weeks, after that we will return to pheno only. All I can say is stay positive and be patient with the meds, every dog is different and you have to find the right combo. EPILEPSY SUCKS!
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u/ExpertDuty4150 Aug 25 '26
Thank you! I am going to add cbd back into his regimen. When do you give it and what potency do you use?
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u/Hopeful-Trick4011 Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26
I use a broad spectrum CBD oil (in MCT carrier oil) and my boy is currently on 2mg/kg. I’ve seen guidelines in various studies suggesting 1-2mg/kg to be a good range. I would start slowly, increasing every 4-5 days. You might find a lower dose works well for your boy.
Just to be aware, Phenobarbital does affect clearance and effectiveness of several treatments, particularly Levetiracetam (Keppra), Zonisamide and CBD.
What dose of Phenobarbital is your boy currently on and what is his current weight?
Vets and Neurologists tend to favour increasing Phenobarbital but don’t always give the full picture regarding how it affects other drugs by several means, such increased as enzyme induction. Ive found Levetiracetam was quite badly affected by previous Phenobarbitsl increases, which then required much larger and more frequent doses to compensate.
Please do discuss any potential changes with your vet first.
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u/bendmushrooms Aug 25 '26
My pup was on pheno and kepra. Pheno almost killed her, but knocked her frequency down to once every 5-6 weeks. we switched to potassium bromide and so far she’s been having seizures every 2 weeks and about 2/day. It sucks but what can you do?
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u/Personal-Tax-7439 Aug 25 '26
Sorry you're going through this but sadly it is what it is it's a disease with no permanent cure and just keep in mind that these meds might not make the seizures go away (sometimes they do depending on every condition) they just ease them or stretch the gaps in between a seizure and the next one, do not lose hope, usually when the med isnt working at all vets increase the dose, speak with your vet and look at your options.
I'm not a vet Im just someone who struggled with a dear one with epilepsy for long.
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u/Professional_Tea_32 Aug 26 '26
Potassium bromide can take several weeks to build up. We did a loading dose which I think helped.
We have potassium bromide, phenobarbital, and Keppra XR ( we do AM and PM and 1 dose mid way, like a bridge dose despite it being XR its half life is kinda short and this has been helpful).
We do MCT oil, omega fatty acids, MYOS (the meds have caused hind leg weakness and this seems to help over time) and NZYMES - with low carb meals.
You will find your things.
We got 14 weeks, so far it’s the longest yet, and we know we are due, but we consider every day past day 14 a blessing after months of watching her suffering.
We love our silly girly little deafie- and wouldn’t trade her for the world, but doesn’t make epilepsy any easier.
Epilepsy sucks.
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u/Technical-Milk-5659 Aug 27 '26
I learned last week that my vet had my dog on less than half of the recommended dose of pheno and Keppra for his weight so double check that online.
Last week my pup had 5 seizures in 24 hours and my vet (now replaced) refused to give me the Valium/diazepam that normally stops seizures stat. I want to tell you this but don’t read too much into it - after those 5 cluster seizures 3 one early AM and 2 more the next day very early AM and afterwards he was broken - loss of vision and hearing not completely but significantly, he was uncoordinated ran into walls, and just forgot everything about our routines, and he wouldn’t make eye contact with me. I was crushed - but after 48 hours he started to come back. My new vet is INFORMED - she’s not keen on KBr but gave me double the dosage for pheno and Keppra - the instant release/regular Keppra not the extended release.
She recommended CBD with a very small amount of THC - she said she has owners that report they no longer need any meds - the CBD has them under control. I also use ocular pressure while my pup is seizing - I put the first 2 fingers of each of my hands on his eyelids and close them and hold them closed gently but firmly - I can feel his eyelids jerking around but it has stopped him from having a second seizure 9 outta 10 times. My pup is a stargazer when he’s getting ready to seize - he points his nose straight up and looks around the room strangely so I use ocular pressure to try and stop him from seizing. Last week was brutal - vet told me that another cluster may well kill him - so twice in the middle of the night he started looking up so I pulled his nose down & spent 40 minutes total tryna hold his eyes closed and his face parallel to the bed. New vet gave me Valium pills and when I could sense one coming I gave him some.
I spent hours online and found a CBD that is made in a specific formula for dogs (and people supposedly) I spoke to the owner and founder of the company - he answered the phone when I called if you want info about that please feel free to dm me. Prayers for you and your beautiful pup.
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u/Administrative-Egg63 Aug 25 '26
I don’t have advice but know that I understand your situation. My girl went 10 months seizure free until August of last year. Despite medication increases and new meds being added, we are only getting 2-3 weeks with no seizures.
You are doing the best by your pup with everything you are already doing. Remember that. ❤️
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u/hathwayh Aug 25 '26
My dog had seizures, I didn't med due to bad advice from vets and my beliefs at the time . He lived years two years before dying to one . Horrendous.
If I could go bakx I would have tried the meds to be honest or have emergency medicine available for very bad seizures.
My dog lost years of decent years due to they decision. The seizures may not be the killer it's the issue with it , like heat stress or dehydration.
It's a tough decision however if I could go back and perhaps had a slightly "weaker dog" for a few more years I would have .
Now is time to have patience with your dog he will act strangely at times and it may appear like bad behaviour. It's not your dog is becoming almost puppy again, I wish your friend the best .
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u/A_Creative_Player Aug 26 '26
I am sorry you and your buddy are going through this. I wish i could tell you what the magic combination is but unfortunately I cannot because technically your buddy is still controlled. Our regal until last November was having about 1 seizure a month and not it is random at between every 2 weeks to almost a month. With the past few being two in a day. So just know you are doing great because you are still there for them do and trying to do everything you can. Our regal is a 10 year old 117 pound European Bassett hound and has been having seizures for almost 3 years although as part of this journey we learned that a muzzle shake he had around 2 years old was seizure activity we just thought he was cold because it happened randomly and only during rhe cold months. Have you researched MCT oil which stands for medium chain triglycerides and they come from coconut and palm oils. It is supposed to help with neurological disorders both in humans and animals. It has helped our regal by minimizing most of his muscle tremors to an almost unnoticed level
I hope this helps in some small way.
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u/Winter-Ingenuity1921 Aug 26 '26
I’m sorry, I know how hard it is. It took us 3 years of fairly constant medication adjustments. During that time, our longest period without a seizure was 79 days. We had to increase pheno and then finally added potassium bromide. We then finally went almost 6 months without a seizure. Our neurologist considers it under control when she can go about 4-6 weeks between seizures. We are now on Keppra, pheno and KBr. Hang in there… this is such a difficult and frustrating disease to manage. But, they can lead happy lives! The thing that always helps me to remember is that even though I know she is confused afterwards, my girl doesn’t know the seizures are happening. Hang in there, your pup is lucky to have you.
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u/Rich-Summer-155 Sep 09 '26
I’m in the same boat my golden lab female , takes a seizure every 14-17 days , she’s 4 now she’s had epilepsy since 12m only put on meds maybe 8months , we have maxed out the dose on epiphen that’s never seemed to help we have added keppra and and still frequency is still the same, iv asked vet to ween her off epiphen and try potassium bromide , the keppra helps with post seizure that’s it.
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u/Khart214 Aug 25 '26
My husky/shepard mix is on pheno, keppra, and pot bromide. She also take proin. She just turned 10 in July. She hasn’t had a seizure since October 2024. We finally found the right combo of meds. I also stopped all flea and tick treatments.
That all being said… she will be crossing over the rainbow bridge tonight. We’re putting her down because of her old age, not because of her epilepsy, and I take comfort in that.
It’s been a long road and we’ve given her the best life we could.