# Phenobarbital for dogs- drug from hell



## Flojo

My 11 year old dog will not stop pacing and whining from this phenobarbital. I am not going to let her endure this 7 -10 days or up to 2 weeks.
i don’t understand how vets can be ok with telling us that and expect people to go along.
she had her first seizure ever in February. 21/2 months ago and2 days ago had another seizure. The vet I went to the first time prescribed her pregablin which worked well. I could not go to that vet this time and went to another that I’ve visited before. I asked if he could prescribe the pregablin. He said he would but did not think that was the best choice. Phenobarbital his choice. My poor thing has been pacing and whining this last time for about an hour and 1/2. She’s only had 3 doses. This is insane. I’ve been reading and see this is a common reaction. How can this be ok to continue prescribing? It is not ok. I am waiting for 10 am to pick up the other meds.


----------



## LeoRose

A lot of dogs do fine on phenobarbital. However, just like people, different dogs can have different reactions to any drug. It does sound like your dog is having a poor reaction to it. Have yo contacted the vet? It's possible that adjusting the dosage will help with the side effect. 

And to highlight the "each individual is different" category, there is an entire class of antibiotics that my husband does great on, but I will have seizures if I take them.


----------



## parus

Yeah, I had the same problem. 








Crying and sooking constanty after developing epilepsy


My 8yo beagleX developed epilepsy a fair few months ago, regular seizures. She was diagnosed and put on seizure meds, they have drastically reduced seizures but they still happen, she has had multiple check ups and had her meds adjusted, still has the occasional seizure. Vet states nothing more...




www.dogforums.com




I ended up giving her CBD oil even though it's not a super scientific approach and I'm not usually one for "herbal medicine" in any sense of the word.


----------



## Flojo

LeoRose said:


> A lot of dogs do fine on phenobarbital. However, just like people, different dogs can have different reactions to any drug. It does sound like your dog is having a poor reaction to it. Have yo contacted the vet? It's possible that adjusting the dosage will help with the side effect.
> 
> And to highlight the "each individual is different" category, there is an entire class of antibiotics that my husband does great on, but I will have seizures if I take them.


Yes. A lot of dogs react in the same way as treasure has. And a lot don't. I need to continue always following my intuition. I did not want that drug. For her. Yes I have spoken to the vet. Although I really don't look at them as the all knowing everything. And he absolutely agrees with me to stop giving the phenobarbital and I am going to give her small doses of the pregablin. And even look into some naturopathic ways. I found a place online that has good reviews.
She has finally exhausted herself and crashed out on the kitchen floor for a minute poor thing. And I picked her up and put her in her bed. Hopefully when she wakes up she will wake up phenobarbital free or almost! In my opinion drug from hell. It was absolutely horrific to see her completely delusional.


----------



## Abbylynn

Have you tried Keppra? Ask your Vet about it. My Labradoodle had terrible seizures from his epilepsy. The Keppra worked wonders for him and he rarely had any breakthrough seizures.


----------



## Flojo

Abbylynn said:


> Have you tried Keppra? Ask your Vet about it. My Labradoodle had terrible seizures from his epilepsy. The Keppra worked wonders for him and he rarely had any breakthrough seizures.


I'm glad your pup doing well... Did he have any weird reactions to the Keppra?


----------



## Abbylynn

Flojo said:


> I'm glad your pup doing well... Did he have any weird reactions to the Keppra?


He became a bit grouchy and would not tolerate the rest of my dogs. But that was the only thing I noticed. He is living with someone else now due to his size and temperament. I have small dogs and he was a threat to them. I keep in contact with his new owner and he is doing well. He also has a Standard Poodle sister the same size as him and they are fine together.


----------



## huskydoo

Abbylynn said:


> Have you tried Keppra? Ask your Vet about it. My Labradoodle had terrible seizures from his epilepsy. The Keppra worked wonders for him and he rarely had any breakthrough seizures.


Thanks for this feedback; I'm also gonna ask the vet about Keppra. My Husky has been on Phenobarbital since ~ a month but has developed ataxia and is also whining/crying a lot; waited until now to see if the symptoms would go away but doesn't seem so.

@Flojo any update? How is your dog doing?


----------



## Flojo

huskydoo said:


> Thanks for this feedback; I'm also gonna ask the vet about Keppra. My Husky has been on Phenobarbital since ~ a month but has developed ataxia and is also whining/crying a lot; waited until now to see if the symptoms would go away but doesn't seem so.
> 
> @Flojo any update? How is your dog doing?


Hi Husky Doo-

Treasure was doing well..until today. I gave her just one capsule of Nuroplex from allergicpet.com and she had a negative response to it, as well. No where like the phenobarbital! But I can tell she is not herself at all. She is tired and sleeping right now. Thankfully no crying or ataxia or aimless wandering like the Phenobarbital. But she was drinking an awful lot, and when I pet her head she yelped. More than likely form whatever weird feeling the "herbs" are giving her. I a not going to give her anything. She was doing fine and she's only had two seizures in her life' the first in February this year, and the second in April. I m going to go with my intuition, which is what I ought to have done in the first place and refused the pheno... I am almost sure she caught distemper. I live in the mountains. And all the info I read about distemper they said the dog might have another seizure 2 to 3 months after seemingly having recovered. All in all, she is oversensitive to medication- natural or not. If she should have another seizure, which I do not think she will...I have the prescription of pregablin I picked up and that is what I will give her.
How is your baby doing? I hope well...


----------

