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Some sort of good news...sort of. The Trazadone experiment was a failure so we're back on Tramadol but at a much higher dose then before, pretty much the normal maximum (I hear you can go higher if necessary). It has cut down on his midnight rambling, except when it doesn't, and he isn't dopey as hell. And just 30 mg of Proin in the morning has kept him almost 100% dry hasn't made him too hyper except if I forget a dose of Tramadol. .
But the success was short lived. I'm completely exasperated and utterly exhausted. With days growing longer his late night shifts are starting later and ending later. I'm up petting and calming him until 1 on the morning, and getting very little sound sleep. I feel terrible leaving him alone (he always slept in the bed) but in order to get any sleep I have to sleep upstairs in my bed, rather than downstairs on the floor with him. I start a new job this week and have to start at 7 am every day, which is brutal for me under the best of conditions. These are not the best of conditions. I cant stay up with him until 1 am every night.
Now I'm wondering if the Tramadol is starting to make his anxiety/pacing/panting even worse, or just becoming inneffective as he gets used to it. All of the meds that can help this condition plus his Proin for incontinence also can cause it, so how can you tell if you're seeing cognitive disorder re-emerging or side effect? You can't. I want to scream.
He still loves to walk and can walk for hours, so I can't even contemplate you know what. But I'm at wits end. I need relief and theres none in sight. I can deal with his daytime restlessness but I simply MUST find a way to make him sleep at night. I dont think anything like melatonin will be strong enough to help and I'm afraid anything strong enough to do the job will either make him fall down like Gabapentin did, or cause his incontinence to return, and that's not acceptable either.
But the success was short lived. I'm completely exasperated and utterly exhausted. With days growing longer his late night shifts are starting later and ending later. I'm up petting and calming him until 1 on the morning, and getting very little sound sleep. I feel terrible leaving him alone (he always slept in the bed) but in order to get any sleep I have to sleep upstairs in my bed, rather than downstairs on the floor with him. I start a new job this week and have to start at 7 am every day, which is brutal for me under the best of conditions. These are not the best of conditions. I cant stay up with him until 1 am every night.
Now I'm wondering if the Tramadol is starting to make his anxiety/pacing/panting even worse, or just becoming inneffective as he gets used to it. All of the meds that can help this condition plus his Proin for incontinence also can cause it, so how can you tell if you're seeing cognitive disorder re-emerging or side effect? You can't. I want to scream.
He still loves to walk and can walk for hours, so I can't even contemplate you know what. But I'm at wits end. I need relief and theres none in sight. I can deal with his daytime restlessness but I simply MUST find a way to make him sleep at night. I dont think anything like melatonin will be strong enough to help and I'm afraid anything strong enough to do the job will either make him fall down like Gabapentin did, or cause his incontinence to return, and that's not acceptable either.
I'm utterly worn out and exhausted.
My dog went through a phase of this night pacing and frantic behavior. I ended up having to put her in the basement alone because, like you, I have to work all day. I have a 6AM start with a 45 minute commute so it was brutal.
My experience with the Tramadol is that, for some reason, it exacerbated the "sundowner's" condition. I'm not sure why but it just never calmed her down at all and I believe made things worse.
My dog is still living and will be 18 in July. The nighttime pacing and being awake has stopped for the most part but it was a big deal when her sight and hearing started degrading. I think she's just acclimated to it now.
My dog went through a phase of this night pacing and frantic behavior. I ended up having to put her in the basement alone because, like you, I have to work all day. I have a 6AM start with a 45 minute commute so it was brutal.
My experience with the Tramadol is that, for some reason, it exacerbated the "sundowner's" condition. I'm not sure why but it just never calmed her down at all and I believe made things worse.
My dog is still living and will be 18 in July. The nighttime pacing and being awake has stopped for the most part but it was a big deal when her sight and hearing started degrading. I think she's just acclimated to it now.
Thank you for that feedback, its good to know I'm not the only one. The Tramadol does seem to work for him though, sometimes...but nothing ever works for more than a few days...so I up the dose...then have to lower it for some reason...I'm tapering him down now just to see if it helps at all, but I have no immediate plans to take him off of it. I think that would be worse unless I find something to replace it with.
There's just no easy answers here... His hind legs are getting worse so maybe the anxiety pacing will all be a moot point soon.
Thank you for that feedback, its good to know I'm not the only one. The Tramadol does seem to work for him though, sometimes...but nothing ever works for more than a few days...so I up the dose...then have to lower it for some reason...I'm tapering him down now just to see if it helps at all, but I have no immediate plans to take him off of it. I think that would be worse unless I find something to replace it with.
There's just no easy answers here... His hind legs are getting worse so maybe the anxiety pacing will all be a moot point soon.
My vet also had me try Gabapentin for assistance with the pain (which can be given with the NSAID). She gets a lot of luck with that; however, we had a similar reaction as the Tramadol. Agitation and panting. Quite unusual so for some reason my dog seems to have paradoxical reactions to meds. It's probably due to her age and low kidney and liver function.
Christine VA-This is my dog exactly. I asked the vet if he was suffering and she said that as long as he can get up to greet us when we come home, he is OK. She said that she would put him down if we wanted to since he will not get any better, but we are hanging in there. He can't stay in a kennel anymore when we vacation and I wouldn't ask anyone to watch him since it is hard work. My husband and I are doing separate vacations this year due to this. We have put off selling our home since we can't have showings on a moments notice (we anticipate potty accidents every day).
Christine VA-This is my dog exactly. I asked the vet if he was suffering and she said that as long as he can get up to greet us when we come home, he is OK. She said that she would put him down if we wanted to since he will not get any better, but we are hanging in there. He can't stay in a kennel anymore when we vacation and I wouldn't ask anyone to watch him since it is hard work. My husband and I are doing separate vacations this year due to this. We have put off selling our home since we can't have showings on a moments notice (we anticipate potty accidents every day).
Thank goodness the solstice has come. As days have grown longer, his sundowning has grown later and later. He used to start at 8 or 8:30, now its 10 or 10:30, driving me absolutely insane. Maybe, just maybe it will start happening earlier once the days start getting shorter.
Well, I'm sad to report that I had to send my dog Paisley over the Rainbow Bridge this morning. Just too many things going wrong with her. Yesterday my son and I discovered a large mass under her left front leg (armpit area) and the whole leg was swollen due to lymphedema. Had her to the ER vet last night where they were basically useless and no one knew what it was. Today I went to my own vet and, while they would not suggest euthanasia, we went through all the outcomes and there was just no improvement here. She was so arthritic she couldn't really get up on her own, her appetite was down, she didn't drink anything this morning. Whatever this mass was the skin was already erroding and was going to become necrotic. So I just made the decision then and there. It's always SOOOO hard.
After it was done, they then told me that it was the right decision but their policy is not to say what they think prior to my decision. Times have certainly changed.
Christine, I'm so sorry for the loss of your Paisley. You're right, it extremely hard to make calls like this. It was the final act of love you could show Paisley. She'll always live on in your heart and memories.
Well, I'm sad to report that I had to send my dog Paisley over the Rainbow Bridge this morning. Just too many things going wrong with her. Yesterday my son and I discovered a large mass under her left front leg (armpit area) and the whole leg was swollen due to lymphedema. Had her to the ER vet last night where they were basically useless and no one knew what it was. Today I went to my own vet and, while they would not suggest euthanasia, we went through all the outcomes and there was just no improvement here. She was so arthritic she couldn't really get up on her own, her appetite was down, she didn't drink anything this morning. Whatever this mass was the skin was already erroding and was going to become necrotic. So I just made the decision then and there. It's always SOOOO hard.
After it was done, they then told me that it was the right decision but their policy is not to say what they think prior to my decision. Times have certainly changed.
Very sorry for the loss of Paisley.
Our vet and staff doesn't say 'euthanize' put last time we were talking about an pet on last legs they said they were there 'if you want us to help you with that'.
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His hind legs are getting worse so maybe the anxiety pacing will all be a moot point soon.
