I always brace myself for a medication change.
I know there will likely be side-effects, but there is always hope that this will be the one.
George takes a lot of different medication which help in different ways.
The situational meds definitely help, but I wasn't able to see any support from the longer lasting meds that support his baseline anxiety.
His baseline anxiety is still very high, and when the situational meds kick in it is obvious, as well as when they wear off.
We had tried two SSRIs; Fluoxetine (Prozac) and Sertraline (Zoloft). Zoloft was better only that it had less impact on his appetite.
So the VB and I thought we'd try a different type. Some dogs can be resistant to SSRIs.
We decided to try Clomipramine (Clomicalm); a tricyclic antidepressant, which works in a different way.
We had two weeks to wean him off the Sertraline. The second week was rough. It's so hard to tell if it was actually helping him after all, if it's the withdrawal, or if it's just that we've been unlucky with triggers. The cat was in the garden and we bumped into people much more that week.
We haven't experienced any side-effects with the Clomipramine so far. We're only on week 4 so have a few weeks to go to see the effects, if any. Some random vomiting in weeks 3 and 4, which seems a little late for side-effects.
To complicate matters, I decided with the VB to try a different benzo; he currently takes Lorazepam, the VB said this new one (Clonazepam) is exactly the same, just longer lasting. Longer lasting sounded great, as daycare pick-up is fraught when the situational meds have worn off. I could just do a straight switch.
I waited until we had a few days away from daycare to try and gave him the lowest dose. It was horrible. He was stumbling, nearly fell off the bed, and knocked his head on the coffee table. I carried him downstairs to be on the safe side and postponed a meeting to keep an eye on him. It only lasted an hour or so but I felt so guilty. They can't tell us how they feel. All we can do is observe.
It was the weekend, and I know you can't suddenly stop any of these meds. So I gave him a much smaller dose the next day, and slightly smaller of everything else. We went to a Sniffspot and he was more agitated that normal; whether that was the new med or the lower dose of everything else I don't know.
I cancelled the walk with my friend again the following day. Too unpredictable. She was very understanding as always.
I couldn't send him to daycare without the right doses. I consulted my VB who kindly organised a new prescription of Lorazepam for the daycare days. I was able to collect from the human pharmacy while George was in daycare.
I am to continue the trial of Clonazepam when he isn't in daycare. I didn't today. He woke me up by vomiting at 3am. Today is not a day to mix up his meds. Maybe next weekend.
I feel so guilty about putting him through this.
He can't tell me how he's feeling and I can't explain I am just trying to help and find the medication that will give him the best quality of life. It's so hard to know the best thing. I'm sorry buddy.