Are there any advantages to using

  The only thing I know about dexamethasone is that my veterinary dermatologist gave me some in a syringe in case Jessie had a sudden, severe, allergy flare up. I've never had to use it. Jessie has very serious allergies (hence the dermvet) but doesn't take any steroids. Have you tried giving your dog fatty acids; it takes several weeks after you start giving them before they build up enough in your dog's system to help, but studies have showed they can be helpful for atopic dogs;

http://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2007-12NL.php;

" The results of a double blind placebo controlled clinical trial at the Department of Small Animal Clinical Studies, The Norwegian School of Veterinary Science brings us interesting, and applicable information.
The study duration was 12 weeks and included 60 dogs with atopic dermatitis. The dogs were randomly selected to receive borage and fish oils or a placebo along with prednisolone. Findings indicate a steroid sparing effect of essential fatty acid supplementation in canine atopic dermatitis. There is a time lag before the effect is attained. Results became more and more dramatic as the study grew closer to day 84."

   You can also find studies on PubMed that document the effectiveness of fatty acids. If you use them in conjunction with antihistamines, they increase the effectiveness of antihistamines by 30 to 50%.
 

steroids are steroids pretty much -- hard on the liver and kidneys in the extreme and you then often wind up with a dog with Cushings.  I've always done 100 things to control Billy's allergies -- and yeah I mean several things at once because nothing just 'fixes it'.  Seriously.

yeah once in a while when the skin gets SUPER bad and antibiotics just aren't doing it (and you can't do antibiotics all the time either) you have to use a steroid to get the inflammation down to a handleable level - but doing it all the time is just the road to trouble. 

Time for milk thistle (and the AKC is having a study done this year on the effects of silymarin (milk thistle) on preventing damage, etc. with the big drugs.  This isn't a 'holistic' test this is an AKC requested test being done.

Ya, I agree I've used Dex and pred in reducing dosages to get horses from another circuit out of "stroid withdrawl" I guess I was just hoping and knowing better.

Milk thistle, huh? what kind of amounts? Kale is 70 lbs and is really comfortable on 10mg of pred. BUT I don't want this to be a daily thing. %mg isn't enough, but the 10 is

Foxysox

Milk thistle, huh? what kind of amounts? Kale is 70 lbs and is really comfortable on 10mg of pred. BUT I don't want this to be a daily thing. %mg isn't enough, but the 10 is

   The milk thistle won't help the allergy symptoms; it helps protect the liver from the effects of the pred; 

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/silymarin/NS_patient-milkthistle

   If you want to reduce or eliminate pred for allergies, there are several things you can do, including using fatty acid supplements and antihistamines like I mentioned in the other post. It's a multi-faceted approach, including regular bathing with a dog shampoo that's for soothing itchy skin, etc.

   About how much milk thistle; it's very safe and I don't think there's a danger of overdosing it. I don't know how much to recommend though.
 

So... just start small and increase or.......??

   Sorry I'm late answering this. Callie knows much more about how much to use than I do. Here's one of her posts answering the same question for someone else;
 
Milk thistle -- even Wal-marts isn't a bad quality at all.  But the *best* I've found (and this is according to my holistic vet) is HerbPharm's tincture.  Apparently there is something about milk thistle being distilled in alcohol that makes it far more available to the body - so she says the alcohol-y tasting tincture is better than the plain herb.  (and no, I don't want to spend the time distilling it myself with vodka). 

Billy's getting two and a half droppers FULL twice a day.  Now that is a LOT.  I home cook, so it's wet food and absorbs right in and he doesn't mind it.

Now powdered milk thistle in caps is FINE, and you can give it several times a day (give the max adult human dose at least if you can).  Milk thistle has virtually no taste at all so you can dump the caps right in food if that's easy for you.  (out of the caps means the body doesn't have to wrestle with the capsule and since it's pretty benign tasting it's easier for the body).

Dr. D did advise me *not* to use the expensive 1-a-day capsules simply because the time-release part of it is chemical and a dog who needs milk thistle really doesn't need more chemicals to contend with.

You want to find the cause and get off of steroids. Find a good dermatologist vet.

Oh we have, ad nauseum. Allergies are dust and pollen.

A dermatologist is giving steroids? They usually want the dog off of them quickly after the cause is found.

The difference between dexamethasone and prednisone is the amount of glucocortoid relative to mineralcortoid activity. Dexamethasone is longer-acting and has much more glucocortoid activity compared to mineralcortoid. Prednisone does not last as long, and still has more gluco than mineral activity, but not to the extent of dex. Mineralcortoid effects are mostly related to water retention/edema, glucocortoid effects are all of the usual "steroid" effects.

 They are basically the same class of drugs, however, and in studies  there has been no advantage of one over the other in terms "how well they work solving the problem". It is more a matter of what side effects the dog is prone to showing - e.g. if they swell up immediately, best to chose something with lower mineralcortoid activity.

 Have you tried a combination of oral antihistamines and fatty acid supplementation? That's what is usually tried before steroids, but after basic treatment like avoiding allergens, treating the skin directly, etc.

Yes, we have done everything the dermatologist wanted us to. allergy test, atopica, antihistamines, Omega's, etc. With little relief. climate doesn't really have much of an effect, I can vacuum and dust daily, live in different climates, air purifiers and he stays about the same. I have cut him back to 1/2 a 5mg pred to try to wean him off, in hopes that maybe this time will be the time. BUT it is spring here, and pollen is winding up. I hate to say it, but I'd be thrilled if this were a food allergy.

Oh yes, food allery alone would be so nice, especially if we could always find every one of them. It is so hard. Yes, spring is hard. Trudy is itching more right now. Baths help SO much for her.