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Discussion on EPM?
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Member:
Dayle
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002 - 4:29 am:
Dear Dr. O and Helen,
Helen, thank you for your note. I will check out the website that you have mentioned. I am also encouraged by your mares progress. We have started Tina on medication this week. I have two weeks worth and we hope there will not be any seizures during this time. I am not sure how much this is going to cost as I have not seen the bill yet.
Dr. O, I have been wondering about Tina's having lyme disease last year. I looked on the internet about Lyme and found that it can cause paralysis. Could this be were Tina's came from. Could the seizures still be a result of her having had lyme? She went to the vets facility for two weeks of antibiotic treatments last year and is suppose to be lyme disease free. But maybe these are still a result of lyme?
I had started riding her again last week but after speaking with a friend decided that it probably would be wise to wait and see how she does on the medication. Does exercise help in anyway?
Thank you so much for your advice.
Sincerely,
Dayle
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002 - 7:08 am:
It is unlikely the medication will control the seizures 100% Dayle but most find a greatly reduced incidence and severity. Lymes does not cause encephalitis typically and it is uncertain that it causes diseases in horses at all, despite many's opinions including veterinarians, to the contrary.
DrO
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Member:
Cara2
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 10, 2002 - 9:06 am:
Hi Dayle,
My vet said it could take up to 3 weeks of continuous medication for the drug to have any major effects, especially if the dose isn't quite right. What amount has your your vet prescribed? My mare was started on 30 x 60mg of phenobarbitone split across morning and evening feeds. She is about 15.1hh (but high withered so in reality is smaller than that) and lightly built so weighs around 950lbs. I suppose I was lucky but we hit the jacketpot straight away and the seizures were controlled immediately - she has them every 10 days so it was easy to confirm this.
You might find it helpful to keep brushing boots on all her legs and knee boots at the front while she is in the early days of medication in case she stumbles or catches herself getting up and down. I think exercise is a very good idea but take it really easy at first, she won't be able to walk far without being exhausted for a while. I used to take Cara out on a lungeline for "walking hacks" and we gradually built it up to an hours journey including some trotting on suitable ground. She could stop and graze if she wanted and it kept us both fit. I was given permission to ride her again after just 8 weeks because 1. no more seizures and 2. she was completely footsure even over rough terrain.
Dr O - what makes you think that seizure control won't be all that good please? I have to watch Cara in the spring and autumn (fall) and now raise her dose a little at these times on a permanent basis, but she hasn't had any kind of seizure since last November and prior to that for at least 18 months. Previous lapses have been down to me not taking the warning signs seriously enough.
Helen
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Board Administrator
Username: Admin
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 11, 2002 - 9:32 am:
I did not say it would not be all that good Helen. But it is rare control is 100% in animals.
DrO
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Member:
Cara2
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 18, 2002 - 8:52 am:
Hi Dr O,
It sounds like I have been in the lucky few percent then  . When we first started Cara on the drugs my vet said that it had to be 100% or it wasn't worth carrying on. I think that's because he wanted to "rest" her brain with a view to weaning her off the drugs after 6 months but unfortunately we never got the opportunity to try that as the seizures broke through again days before the 6 months was up. I do know of another local mare that it worked for though and she hasn't had a seizure in 2 years.
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