formerly Darby's Mom... the thyroid & allergy Doodle

Awww, she's a real sweetie and a very pretty color. []   Jessie also tested "in the thousands" for dust mites and storage mites, as well as several grasses and weeds. I guess you know that the allergy shots may not relieve all the symptoms and you may need to give her an antihistamine sometimes. I hope the thyroid meds help her weight.
  

you know, the antihistamines really didn't too too much for her. Basically she looks so much better with the shots.  Her eyes are bright red and watery, they 'look' happy.  Her eyes aren't excreting as much, her ears are the clean ones in the family. I tell you cleaning 5 dogs' dirty ears isn't fun.
So for now I hope we're at a manageable stage...
hopefully the groomer comes soon, she's got a lot more hair now... hairy beast that she is...

Not to contradict Callie, but honestly, the changes in Sassy were very noticeable and happened very quickly.  This may have to do with the fact that her values were super low (zero on some of them).  I took the advice to have her blood retested earlier than usual and also had them do a blood pressure check on her.  BP was perfect and thyroid test was low-normal.  As the vet explained to me, if you have a dog who's been hypothyroid for quite some time, you get used to the lethargic personality.  When they "wake up" it can be quite a surprise.  Sassy doesn't sleep nearly as much as she used to or for lengthy periods like she used to.  She weighed 104 lbs last June.  We put her on a diet and had her weight down to 98 by Sept, but felt like we were starving the poor girl.  Once on the thyroid meds, we quit cutting back on her food yet she was still down to 78 in Jan and a few weeks later, 73 lbs.  I have since started increasing her food and she's very happy about that []

Cathy, can you elaborate on what you refer to as 'lethargic' personality.

How I describe Darby is the one with severe 'middle child syndrome"
she doesn't play much, if she could read, she'd be the one inthe corner of the playground reading. Likes to just hang out in the chair or in a corner of whatever room I'm in.
She'll play when we have our romps with other dogs, but then a short time into it, she'll just hang out under a table or next to me.

you know, the antihistamines really didn't too too much for her. Basically she looks so much better with the shots

 
  That's the way it was for Jessie too; the only one that seemed to do any good was Tavist; she wouldn't shake her head as much.
   I know Cathy will be along to describe "lethargic" and can do a good job as she experienced it with Sassy; Jessie never was like that and in fact tested slightly below hyperthyroid, but from what I've read some of the symptoms of lethargy are; the dog doesn't come running up to greet you when you come home, sleeps most of the time, tires easily and isn't as alert to things in the environment as a normal dog would be; for example, does she bark when someone knocks at the door ; when she's outside does she notice things that you might not? For example ; when I walk Jessie and we be pass by a bush she'll suddenly dart toward the bush and a rabbit will come running out from underneath.

I honestly thought Sassy was just an example of a "laid back lab".  She just didn't care to do much of anything other than lay down and/or sleep.  She'd be outside and barely react to noises or things flying by.  It was so obvious because our other dog, who's 10 y.o. is on the hyper side, so there was an noticeable difference.  I'd talk to Sassy and she'd never wag her tail, which I thought was odd.  The thing that really tipped me off to check the thyroid was the heat seeking.  In the middle of summer (and it gets in the 90s to 100 here), she go lay on the decking around the pool in full sun and go to sleep.  Anyway, now she's perky, wags her tail all the time, seems generally happier and although we've only been in the mid 70s lately, she seems hot.  I know that as a black lab, the heat unfortunately isn't going to be pleasant for her, but she likes to go in on the big step in the pool to cool off, so that's a plus.  Her coat had really thinned out last summer and when she started the thyroid meds, it filled in beautifully.  I'm guessing it was a combination of the meds and the season though, cause she's shedding like crazy and has thinned again.  The difference is that her coat is nice and glossy though.

sounds like darb, just lay around and 'sleep'

the oddest thing this am, she left half her bowl of food, tonight, not even eating.. is that normal for her... heck no, she'd eat all the bowls if she could.
and maybe it's because this is the first real storm of the season.. she just crawled under my desk with the thunder... she doesn't exactly fit under my desk.
ok, I'll stop looking for the smallest glimmer of hope and just let my dogs entertain me!

I'm a little surprised about the lack of appetite. Other than the storm (and thyroid meds) is there anything else it could be?  Sassy was ravenous after she started the meds.  As I mentioned, she dropped weight no problem, but she was super hungry.  If the appetite doesn't pick up soon, I'd consider trying something different and if that doesn't help, maybe a call to the vet.

nothing is new.. and there is actually 3 varieties of food down there.. none of my 5 dogs are eating... almost wondering if she isn't the alpha in the meal area, and they are taking cue from her.. other than that she's been great..

 How is Darby doing on the thyroid med? Is she eating normally again?

well it's been an interesting week. Darby is eating but not the normal, sit wait and search for any left overs. I've discovered what i believe also to be a different pack leader than I thought. I think she's my passive alpha, she eats the rest eat.. so no ones been eating. Including the 4 month old baby. I've talked with the vet, and since they do eat sporadically and everything else is good, no worries yet.
As far as Darby goes, I had a friend here on Friday that's seen Darby in the past and noticed a change.  Darby was running and playing with toys and chasing for quite a bit longer.  She commented that her head looks rounded, has her ears up ready to 'listen' all the time.
She's still waking up at ungodly hours, which isn't like her.
So, time will tell, but so far so good. She takes the pills right of my hand.
Now I just think my girl with the kidney disease is going to act up again, she's getting restless and whiny, please don't let her start another 'episode'

hope you all are doing well!

She's still waking up at ungodly hours, which isn't like her.

 
I wish I could tell you that this will change, but with Sassy, it really hasn't.  She just doesn't sleep thru the night anymore or even take the long naps she used to.  I'm also noticing that she's having a tougher time dealing with the heat this year.  We've been in the 90s the last few days and she's definitely feeling it.  Last year she'd go lay in the sun on real hot days, which is one of the things that convinced me she was hypothyroid.  Now she wants to be in the house laying on the cool tile or laying under a tree.

Just a caution -- remember, the whole 'deal' with thyroid is to keep it balanced.  And there are times the line of 'balance' is a fine one.

Low thyroid is one thing, but HIGH is dangerous.  If you see a restlessness, unable to 'settle' or generally just a big personality switch -- honestly, I"d get the blood tested.  HIGH is not good.  High = high blood pressure and that is even worse in dogs than humans cos it's so hard to catch!!

it's not unsual to have to adjust meds several times up and down or switch meds.  A dog that can't sleep -- that would worry me.
 
And the dog being too hot (and it's only May -- and I live in a southern state so hotter weather is coming) -- that's another sign that the thyroid may have flipped too high -
 
I don't mean to be a worry wart -- but these meds can be tough to regulate, and I'm not sure such a profound change is good.  Now if the animal had been so super shut down she couldn't function and the thryoid was super bottomed out ... yeah, that's gonna produce a mega change.  BUT ... honestly 'too high' is a bigger worry than too low. 
 
I'm not there so I can't 'see' ... I'm just going by what you say, and tossing my 2 cents in ... just be careful.  You may find they need to switch to an entirely different med.  Happens a lot!

Yep, Callie makes a good point and we did have Sassy retested 3 weeks after starting the meds cause I was so alarmed at the change.  Results came back low-normal then, and her BP was fine.  However, she was 98 lbs then and is about 75 lbs now, so I'm going to have them recheck it in the next few weeks.  All in all, she seems okay though.  She doesn't seem miserable in the heat (panting, restless, etc.), she just prefers to be out of the sun (me too []) and laying on the cool tile instead of a doggie bed.

Darby has been doing great.
Last night we were at the cabin and I decided that I'd punish myself and walk all 5 together down the road. Luckily it's a very secluded spot and no motorists. My girls are 4,3,2,1, and 16 weeks old, so I was surprised how well they did.
Darby kept up a nice trot and looked like she was enjoying it, compared to days int he past she looked less enthusiased.  We had company over and my friend noticed a energy level difference in Darby, more of a play than an 'ignore me' attitude.

more walks today, tomorrow a dog park, oh boy!