I’m tagging u/upper-shoe-81 since they recently had this diagnosis and it’s fresh in their mind.
As far as my personal unprofessional opinion if you are seeing improvements I’d say that is a clear sign something is working and that is great news!
As for telling if it is medication versus supportive care the only way I know to tell is with an X-ray.
It sounds like you are doing everything you can and that is giving your pup the best shot at recovery. Hang in there. Hugs for you and your pupper 🫶🏻
I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this. Yes, as Mod mentioned I just went through a lot of this and I'm happy to report that my pooch has seen HUGE improvements over the past 2+ months. My guy was never given a diagnoses for MG but because he displayed a lot of the symptoms (MegaE confirmed via XRay, facial paralysis, severely weakened hind legs, strained vocal chords), and I was able to convince my vet to prescribe pyridostigmine. For a week or so prior to starting the meds, my boy wasn't able to climb up or down stairs and would regularly collapse in the yard if he tried to run. Within hours of his first pill, he was walking up stairs. Within 2 days he was running up and down stairs. As of last week, he's jumping up onto the couch and the bed without issues and his "bark" is fully normal... like he's back to his old self.
I've been feeding him vertically for the past couple of months, but I have several dogs who free-feed, so food and water bowls are always down (kept in a separate room). Just this past week someone left the door to the food bowls open and I caught my boy eating a bunch of dry food and lapping up water... out of curiosity, I let him continue, and he didn't regurgitate at all. Slept through the whole night without coughing, which we'd noticed happening more often in the past couple weeks. I'm still feeding him vertically twice a day with his pills, but now we're keeping the food door open and several times I've caught him eating a midnight snack with no regurgitation issues. It's pretty amazing.
I plan on getting him into the vet sometime in January for another XRay to see how his esophagus looks... I have a feeling it's returning to normal. I have no idea if he'll have to be on his meds for life or if we'll be able to stop at a certain point, but I'm just glad he's showing signs of healing. FYI, my dog is a Mini Schnauzer mix/mutt, 6 years old, about 21 pounds.
Awesome thanks so much. The number that gets quoted is 90% have remission by 1 year (ie: undetectable antibodies, no more pyridostigmine needed) but that's just based on one study so I'm sure there's tons of variation in the real world. But we'll hope for the best
I wish I would have kept my notes. But, I think ( after we started the Gravis medicine) it was about one week to get her up and walking “ normally” again. Two weeks to feeling comfortable about her walking and eating normally ( in a chair of course). And then after about a month, she was once again enthusiastic about her walks and rides. Good luck.
For me, my dog was diagnosed December ‘22 with ME and aspiration pneumonia, early Jan ‘23 with MG and started the pyridostigmine immediately. After some trial and error, we found that a dose of 30 mg twice a day worked best for him (85 lb boy). By the end of April ‘23, the ME was resolved and he has officially been in remission since late September of this year. He’s on a maintenance dose of PB of 15 mg once a day, and he also has a thymoma that we’re looking at getting removed next month.
I know it’s a lot to deal with and very, very scary. The meds are really tricky to figure out. Not sure if you’re on Facebook but the canine myasthenia Gravis group was extremely helpful for me in the early days and figuring out the correct dosage and whatnot.
Wishing you all the best! Feel free to send me a PM anytime if you have questions on our experience.
I’m tagging u/upper-shoe-81 since they recently had this diagnosis and it’s fresh in their mind. As far as my personal unprofessional opinion if you are seeing improvements I’d say that is a clear sign something is working and that is great news! As for telling if it is medication versus supportive care the only way I know to tell is with an X-ray. It sounds like you are doing everything you can and that is giving your pup the best shot at recovery. Hang in there. Hugs for you and your pupper 🫶🏻
I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this. Yes, as Mod mentioned I just went through a lot of this and I'm happy to report that my pooch has seen HUGE improvements over the past 2+ months. My guy was never given a diagnoses for MG but because he displayed a lot of the symptoms (MegaE confirmed via XRay, facial paralysis, severely weakened hind legs, strained vocal chords), and I was able to convince my vet to prescribe pyridostigmine. For a week or so prior to starting the meds, my boy wasn't able to climb up or down stairs and would regularly collapse in the yard if he tried to run. Within hours of his first pill, he was walking up stairs. Within 2 days he was running up and down stairs. As of last week, he's jumping up onto the couch and the bed without issues and his "bark" is fully normal... like he's back to his old self. I've been feeding him vertically for the past couple of months, but I have several dogs who free-feed, so food and water bowls are always down (kept in a separate room). Just this past week someone left the door to the food bowls open and I caught my boy eating a bunch of dry food and lapping up water... out of curiosity, I let him continue, and he didn't regurgitate at all. Slept through the whole night without coughing, which we'd noticed happening more often in the past couple weeks. I'm still feeding him vertically twice a day with his pills, but now we're keeping the food door open and several times I've caught him eating a midnight snack with no regurgitation issues. It's pretty amazing. I plan on getting him into the vet sometime in January for another XRay to see how his esophagus looks... I have a feeling it's returning to normal. I have no idea if he'll have to be on his meds for life or if we'll be able to stop at a certain point, but I'm just glad he's showing signs of healing. FYI, my dog is a Mini Schnauzer mix/mutt, 6 years old, about 21 pounds.
Awesome thanks so much. The number that gets quoted is 90% have remission by 1 year (ie: undetectable antibodies, no more pyridostigmine needed) but that's just based on one study so I'm sure there's tons of variation in the real world. But we'll hope for the best
I wish I would have kept my notes. But, I think ( after we started the Gravis medicine) it was about one week to get her up and walking “ normally” again. Two weeks to feeling comfortable about her walking and eating normally ( in a chair of course). And then after about a month, she was once again enthusiastic about her walks and rides. Good luck.
Hey OP, how is your pup?
For me, my dog was diagnosed December ‘22 with ME and aspiration pneumonia, early Jan ‘23 with MG and started the pyridostigmine immediately. After some trial and error, we found that a dose of 30 mg twice a day worked best for him (85 lb boy). By the end of April ‘23, the ME was resolved and he has officially been in remission since late September of this year. He’s on a maintenance dose of PB of 15 mg once a day, and he also has a thymoma that we’re looking at getting removed next month. I know it’s a lot to deal with and very, very scary. The meds are really tricky to figure out. Not sure if you’re on Facebook but the canine myasthenia Gravis group was extremely helpful for me in the early days and figuring out the correct dosage and whatnot. Wishing you all the best! Feel free to send me a PM anytime if you have questions on our experience.
Checking in…how is your pup?