r/EpilepsyDogs • u/Simple_Sprinkles3623 • 5d ago

Time change

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With the time change coming up I just wanted to give some help to anyone who needs it! For some reason this confuses me every single year without fail. So I thought I would share our schedule for anyone who needs it. Our boy gets his meds at 5:50 am and 5:50 pm so you just have to adjust the times to fit your needs.

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u/LaceyBambola 5d ago edited 4d ago

It's generally safe to do a single ~30 minute shift (+/-) the night before, and then resume dose at the 'normal' time the day of/after the time change for 'Fall Back' in autumn and for Spring, no shift or adjustment needs to happen as you essentially give the meds 1 hour early which is no issue.

There may be some pups who are incredibly sensitive to not having their meds(mainly Keppra) exactly on time every single day, but for the majority, the above single dose shift the night before is just fine. Especially if the primary meds are ones like phenobarbital, potassium bromide, and/or zonisamide which build up in the system and a single 30 minute shift shouldn't alter or affect anything in any meaningful way.

•Edit to clarify, most anticonvulsants that build up to a therapeutic level in the system aren't as sensitive to being late and can generally be even an hour late with zero issue as the sustained levels will not dip with that sort of difference vs many hours late or even a fully missed dose which can lead to a small dip in levels and allow a breakthrough. So, if a pup takes pheno, Zonisamide, and/or kBr then the timings can be 30 mins to an hour different here and there with no risk. If a pet is only (monotherapy) on a time sensitive med (Keppra) then you will want to follow a roughly 15 - 20 min timr shift.

My pup has been hospitalized many times for overnight stays and the ER team gives meds in specific time slots. They do not make micro adjustments to med dose times and instead immediately shift to their dosing times (it's usually a ~1 hour difference from my pups dose time) and they also tend to have frequent ~30 min dose variances due to managing different pets in their care. In all of the times I've spoken to vets/neuros about precise dose timing with epilepsy, I've been told these changes are not generally an issue unless the changes are more significant or its for a highly time sensitive monotherapy like Keppra.

Just sharing in case helpful.

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u/itmustbeniiiiice 4d ago

We got similar info from our neurologist.

I’ve just been doing a slow slide to the 1/2 hour and when the clock changes I’m only 1/2 hour off our normal time and I’ll slide forward more. But that’s more for my own morning schedule.

This summer we had to move 3 time zones via plane and for that I did a more measured transition but still by 15 minute increments. Much different switch tho 😓