IMHA

Welcome Kendra.  I know nothing about IMHA, however I forwarded your post to our resident expert "been there, done that, bought the tshirt", Callie.  She might not be able to get on until this evening, since she's at work, but she WILL get back to you.

Kendra -- Glenda's right, I'm at work and have VERY little time to do this until I get home, but I will email you my phone number.  Yeah -- the support HELPS a great deal and I can tell you a bunch of holistic things you can do to help this along and protect her.

Bio Prep is not going to be hugely helpful because the whole thing behind this is hauling the immune system back, and then specifically helping the body produce blood.  But there ARE things you can do to help that.

There is a GI-NORMOUS thread on here Click This -- that links you to the LAST page, but there are like 115 pages (no joke) of helpful information.  On about page 114 there is an index of highlights that might help you.

We've had THREE new IMHA dogs appear in the last two days.  *sigh* It IS THE SEASON.  Very often this appears just after Christmas.  (and in the deep of summer) 

Keep on keeping on -- but please let's talk.  I can help you with things to do and what WILL help.  The biggest thing you can do immediately is get this dog on milk thistle.  **huge** quantities of it.  It protects the liver and actually helps augment the big drugs because it helps the body process the drugs better with less stress.  In that huge thread there is a link (over and over) to a place I have found that sells milk thistle in bulk (not in capsules -- it doesn't taste bad) -- and I'm talking about adding like 1-2 **teaspoons** of the bulk herb to her meals at least twice a day.  And that's not even a big dose really for IMHA.

I'll email you my number -- take heart, we've got some darned good support for you here!  And Thanks Glenda for watching my back!!!

Callie, unfortunately, you've got the experience with this.  No buddy else can help with IMHA the way you can.

I'm so sorry your beloved Lani is sick with this terrible disease.  I would not use the BioPrep if I were you.  I've heard mixed reviews on this product and due to the live micro algae it isn't entirely safe for a dog with a suppressed imune system.  I'ld recommend something more along the line of Pet-Tinic if I were you.  It's a terrific blood builder.

Can you give us a little more info....age, weight, sex, drug amounts, etc.....and any results you have from the doctors.  If you can ask the vets for copies of all results.

This disease is a roller coaster of a ride but you found a great place to get help.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Johnny & Tessy

I'm happy to say that Lani is doing very well. She had her 3rd transfusion last Thursday and her count is still at 32. Her reticulocyte count was 156,000, which they said was super high. It seems like the medication may be starting to kick in!

 She is about 25 lbs and is currently on prednisone 20mg 2x a day, cyclosporine 50mg 2x a day and 1/4 aspirin 1x a day. I have also been giving her milk thistle, but she has been getting diarrhea. The vet told us to stop it for a few days and see if it goes away and it did. I just worry about her liver and kidneys. I don't want her to get dehydrated though. Any suggestions?

 Thanks for all the good vibes!

 Kendra and Lani

Honestly *nothing* is better than milk thistle ==I would try a different form of it or a different brand.  What milk thistle are you giving?  (brand/form) -- there could be either a residue of a pesticide or additive (some companies try to make a "one a day" capsule that actually has a time-release additive in it).  To be honest, I would simply modify her diet to try to cope with the side effect if it persists (add a bit of extra fiber to her diet, etc.)  I know Lori gave Willow Marin -- it's expensive but  far far better than nothing.

I have some stuff I want to send you (hence the call last night) -- and I may be able to help with that.

the drugs themselves can also cause diarrhea until the body acclimates -- and before you decide you can't use milk thistle at all it would likely be beneficial to try a better brand/different brand or a different form of it (like the tincture).  About the same time I started Billy on it, I saw some diarrhea but it resolved after a few days -- but sporadically his body would react to the cyclo and he'd get soft stool occasionally and it really seemed to be the drugs.

 I should ask the mods to link this in with the other thread so you get the benefit of other's input. 

Kendra, I'm so happy ot heat Lani is doing better.  Good to hear from you again...I was getting a little worried there for a bit until Callie told me things were good.  THANK GOD!

I've been in the poopy department also in the beginning stages of this disease...as are probably most.  One thing that has worked wonders for us was pure 100% canned pumpkin (NOT the pie filling kind).  This helped us some in the beginning but ultimately Tessy had to be put on a weeks worth of Metronidazol (sp?).  This seemed to do the trick quite well accompanied with probiotics to follow.  If it were me I'd continue with the milk thistle (get the powdered herb if you can...much better) and add the pumpkin for a couple days to see what happens.  I also found that giving small portions of food with the cyclo helped some.  Start off with small portions to begin cause they say it isn't "supposed" to be given with meds but several of us here do. 

I'll keep Lani in my thoughts and prayers.  Sending some strong healing vibes as well.

Johnny & Tessy

Thanks Callie! Sorry I missed your call last night. I am currently giving her milk thistle in a capsule form. I'll have to get the brand when I get home from work. Do you still have my address?

Talk to you later.

Will have to look -- I *should* but after this week I'm not sure of my own name!  *sigh*  Such is life.  I've got a couple of ideas we need to kick around.

Hello we are new to this forum and our dog is being treated for IMHA. A disease I never even heard of before and am now learning so much so fast about this terrible roller-coaster disease. Our baby girl "Sosua" is at the AVC here in PEI and we have been here since Thursday.(WE are from Nova Scotia). Her PCV is fluctuation from 14 to 16 then to 18 back down to 15 and then back up to 16.....I don't know how to deal with this...My nerves are shot and I feel helpless.

She is on all the meds...Pred/AzathIoprine and now Cyclo which we just started on thursday. She did have an increase on thursday after the Cyclo...could it have worked that fast? Im so confused as to what to do and the vets are thinking about doing a Biopsy....she might be too weak for the procedure..Im nervous about that and what are they looking for???? Her White Blood cells are a little high and her platelets are high but her RBC's are so low that she has collapsed a few times:(((

I have looked into BioPrep and wonder if anyone has had any luck with this product? It seems promising.

I just want to take my baby girl home...going to see her soon!!! The waiting is killing me!!!!

Denise,Andrew and Sosua( So-Sue-A)

Denise -- first, my email is callieatcritturs@yahoo.com -- there is another FAR bigger, more complete thread on here "AIHA or IMHA" that will help you.  It's almost 600 pages (15+ posts a page) and it is indexed with info for you.

this is the first page (there is a link to the index in the first post .... to get to the LAST post go to the bottom of that first page and click the right-hand arrow).  It can be overwhelming to try to plow thru all 600 pages.

Do **NOT** use Bio-Prep.  Yes, it helps them make blood faster *but* it has serious potential for really really bad side effects.  It is an algae, and the algae can be seen by the bloodstream/immune system as an "invader" so it literally triggers the immune system to kill *more* red blood.  You can see an initial rise but then it quickly plateaus but the resulting damage by the immune system will overwhelm all the drugs.  I've seen it happen many times.  Transfer Factor does a very similar thing -- don't use either of them, no matter how wonderful their websites make them sound.

The first weeks of IMHA are nerve-wracking.  And I suspect part of the problem with the PCV going up and down may be a difference in who pulls the blood.  A PCV is a "hand-done value" -- meaning it is all processed by hand and read by the human eye.  That means that if Tech A pulls just a tiny bit (not even a full drop) of blood less this time, than the one they did Friday, that the resuling "packed cell volume" (PCV) will be lower than the one done a couple of days ago.  Also -- even the time of day you have it drawn can cause it to vary (if the dog is more hydrated than it was the last time can make the count go up and down.

Right now the big deal is getting her stable.  When did this begin specifically?  Do you have copies of her bloodwork?  (Call the vet and ask them to e-mail you -- usually they have PDF files and then we can see.  Yes, when you love an IMHA dog you wind up learning to read bloodwork even!)

Is she eating?  That is huge.  They *must* eat to deal with the drugs.  So you want to keep her eating.  Are they letting you visit?  

Like I said -- email me and I can help you.  My Billy's onset was seven years ago.  He had SIX transfusions his first month because he had such a hard time with the drugs kicking in.    But it took me 18 months to get him off *all* the drugs .. and he had his best three years ever in those following years.  

Do they have your dog on the antibiotic doxycycline? (used when they suspect tick disease).  

This is a lot to fire at you ... This is hard -- but there is good support here and I can connect you with good information.   *hugs* Callie

Hello I'm new to forums but my dog just got diagnosed on 11/6 with imha.  I need a support group. I have so many questions.  Calle I emailed you today asking  for some advice.  I do not know how to use forum so excuse me  for just posting here.  I just joined this community today.  To all those dealing with their babies and this disease I pray for each as it is so worriesome.  My schnauzer Lexi is having a rough time.  She seemed to stabilize but now I'm worried about relapse.  The care she is getting seems to be consistent with what I am finding on many discussions here.  She is on prednisone, plavix,cyclosporine and Pepcid.  She  eats the same thing for a few days then stops until you give her some thing different.  I know she has eat and I'm willing to cook if needed.  Medicines seem to be very tough on her.  Denise it seems like  you and I are on same time frame so 8 thought  we could learn together.  I'll take  any and all information.