Chinese Herbal Medicine for allergies - sorry long post !.

[luvmyboy]

I am so sorry to hear Luna has flared up again... and I cannot even believe that the herbalist vet reacted in that manner. So unnecessary and unprofessional. As far as seeing a response, then a back-slide... I sometimes think that it the lot in life of an itchy / allergic dog. My experience in the past 7 months with Tucker is a similar picture to various therapies attempted.

 

[Stub]

How is Luna doing now, Jinny? Is she still on the herbs?

 

[Jinnytee]

How is Luna doing now, Jinny? Is she still on the herbs?

Thanks for asking Corinne. I am still giving her the herbs, along with evening primrose oil. I stopped the antihistamines as I wasn't convinced that they were doing much anyway ..... and haven't noticed any difference since she has not been taking them. I think overall she is definitely doing better. One thing for sure is that she doesn't get folliculitis and the hair thinning that she used to have, all the time, to various degrees. However she has a lot of up and downs ... a couple of days when she seems to hardly scratch at all ... then a couple when she is at herself constantly to the point of making herself sore. Last night was one of those times, we got hardly any sleep ... at 3am thoughts turned to putting her on Atopica again ..... but today I am back to being indecisive. I cannot pin point anything that's different between the good days and bad days, try as I may.

Jinny

 

[Stub]

Poor Luna! I hear you on the being indecisive. I REALLY struggle with giving Gus any kind of drugs, even if I think he does need them. I even hate to have him on this flea/tick collar he's wearing, that really works wonders against the myriad of deer ticks with Lyme we have in Pennsylvania, and he's fine with it! NO reactions at all and it works, and is totally necessary with as much hiking as we do in the woods. But I still struggle with having it on him!

 

[Jinnytee]

Poor Luna! I hear you on the being indecisive. I REALLY struggle with giving Gus any kind of drugs, even if I think he does need them. I even hate to have him on this flea/tick collar he's wearing, that really works wonders against the myriad of deer ticks with Lyme we have in Pennsylvania, and he's fine with it! NO reactions at all and it works, and is totally necessary with as much hiking as we do in the woods. But I still struggle with having it on him!

I know, I hate pesticides with a passion .... even though they are so necessary as times.
I think I am going to make an appointment with my vet and see if she will have a frank discussion about the Atopica. I keep reading different articles, some citing that it has minimal side effects, and others than say it takes its toll on the dogs body systems. Luna is only 7 months, and that makes me even more cautious. It is so hard to weigh up the balance between using drugs and improving quality of life, when she has both GOOD and BAD days. I see-saw constantly about what to do. If she was itchy every day then it would be a much easier decision. I trust my preferred vet in the practice and I hope that she will be honest with me

BTW - She is back to having a good day today, haven't seen her scratch or bite at all as yet, and had a restful sleep last night. It's so frustrating to know what "changes " , literally overnight .... It's like having the solution just out of my grasp !

 

[Jinnytee]

update

Well folks, we are now at the end of Luna's 2 month's supply of the herbal medicine. I have to say that overall there has been quite a big improvement. He coat is fabulous, so smooth and glossy .... and no more dry skin or bumps at all seen for weeks and weeks now. She does still scratch from time to time, BUT it is infrequent enough that I have firmly decided to not go the steroid or immunotherapy route .... for now.

As a test, I am not repeating the herbal prescription immediately, to see if her symptoms reappear without them. It is in the back of my mind that the improvement could be co-incidental due to seasonal allergens not being around now that it is summer.

Either way, feeling good that Luna is doing so well at the moment and fingers crossed that it continues.

 

[Jinnytee]

They do work !!

Well folks, Luna hasn't had the herbal medicine for about 10 days now and I can see a big deterioration. As I type she is at my feet biting away at her paws :-( .... She is scratching like crazy at anywhere she can reach with a paw ...... rubbing her head on the rugs to itch her face and ears ... and already has some patchy hair loss on her haunches.

So I can categorically say that the chinese herbs DO WORK!

Anyone with an environmentally allergic dog, I would definitely encourage you to be open minded and try this treatment. I didn't have an awful lot of faith when I began this protocol, and TBH it sounded like a load of hogwash ..... I only really did it because I was grasping at anything that may have helped Luna ...... and honestly, I have been amazed at the difference they have made.

The bummer now is that I went to the vet office yesterday to pick up a new supply and they are out of stock until next week. Grrrrrrr.

 

[Stub]

Wow that's great news!! Glad you found a non-drug way to treat her that is working for her! Now if only they'd get back in stock before she scratches herself raw...poor Luna!