# Anyone use Atopica for allergies?



## MrBentleysMom (Dec 19, 2007)

If so what were your results? Bentley just started on the medicine last week. I havent noticed any change yet and was wondering if other people have had good results and how long it took to show results.


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## LittleDogLVR (Oct 24, 2007)

We used it last year, and after 2 months Lizzie was having Diarreah (sp?) and vomiting so I stopped using it.

It was kind of harsh on her but not everyone has this problem.

Lizzie only has seasonal allergies and was fine until last week.

Now I am looking into an alternative to Atopica,My vet thought we should try a small dosage of Prednisone
1.25 mgs per day for 5 days and then go to every other day and see how it goes.

I wont know anything for a few days.....hoping it works

John


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

I recommend temaril p over prednisone as prednisone is harder on liver than prednisolone. Temarilp has tavist and prednisolone and much easier on the liver. The tavist is an antihistamine. Best to do steroids every other day at the lowest dose you can do to stop symptoms. My dd is 6.7lbs and takes 1/2 temarilp every other day which is a very minute dose so you may want to consult with vet as dd has mvd and been on temarilp for over a year with perfect blood work. If using steroids you need to do blood work at minimum twice a year preferably 3 times a year to make sure not affecting the liver. My dd was on prednisone 5mg and she looked like a cushing dog - pot belly, lost hair, drank tons of water and peed alot, was reverse sneezing alot as she put on alot of weight from it - went from 5lbs to 8lbs so i do not like prednisone and much prefer prednisolone as have not seen any of those effects and been on it a year


QUOTE (LittleDogLVR @ Jun 30 2009, 04:09 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=798975


> We used it last year, and after 2 months Lizzie was having Diarreah (sp?) and vomiting so I stopped using it.
> 
> It was kind of harsh on her but not everyone has this problem.
> 
> ...


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

we did atopica for one year and if doing it you need to have blood work prior, then at 30 days then at 6 months then yearly. It does not affect the liver like steroids so it is safer than steroids. It is not for food allergy only environmental like steroids. It can be a miracle drug for some dogs but others can have gi upset. Best if done on empty stomach but most dogs exhibit vomitting or diarhea if not given with a little bit of food. It takes the drug 30 days before full effect so many dermatologists give with temarilp until it kicks into the system full born to give dog relief. DD would vomit after taking for a year even with food so i did not want to do anti-vomitting drugs to stop a drug from causing vomitting as not a huge fan of drugs but dd needed relief. I have been dealing with allergies for 5 years with her and not fun  This is an immune suppressant drug so be careful if feeding raw food diet. Honestly did not see a huge relief with this alone so we did temarilp along with it so when vomitting kept occuring figured one drug better than two but still hate doing steroids. I had to come to the conclusion a long miserable life or a short happy life and still battle with the wholel steroid thing. I just did a thread on allergies and while there is no cure it just needs to be managed to keep the dog comfortable. 

Have you done all the steps to rule out all other things like food allergy, hypothyroid, mites, flea allergy, etc before determining this to be environmental? Because if it is not just environmental then this drug will not work. Most allergy dogs have to be on limited ingredient food diet as well - My dd is also hypothyroid which is an auto immune disease that affects the skin as well 

so sorry allergies are not fun but would be happy to answer any questions as we have been going to a dermatologist for years 

the first step they did is food allergy elimination diet after doing scraping for mites and checking for flea allergy which is back 1/3 of dog 

Next step was an antihistamine trial with 4 different anthistamines but have since learned antihistamines work best with fish oil and if doing fish oil have to supplement with vitamin E -- fish oil i prefer is www.nordicnaturals.com omega 3 for pets as has both in it 

I would recommend joining allerdog on yahoogroups.com as you want to try all natural approaches first before doing long term drugs - i did it and still ended up the drug route so maybe you have as well. 

Also the nice thing about atopica is you can go on and off it no prob where as steroids you have to ween on and off to not affect the adrenal glands and cause issues such as cushings. So if you live in an area where it snows and no mold allergy you can go on the drug in spring and go off in winter but it does take 30 days to fully kick in 

hope this helps 


QUOTE (MrBentleysMom @ Jun 30 2009, 01:23 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=798915


> If so what were your results? Bentley just started on the medicine last week. I havent noticed any change yet and was wondering if other people have had good results and how long it took to show results.[/B]


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

as long as he isnt having side effects give it at least 2 mo before u throw in the towel. works great on most dogs.


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## MrBentleysMom (Dec 19, 2007)

We did the food diet first for 10 weeks. It didnt seem to help at all. We just started the Atopica about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I had to take Bentley to the vet today. He had throwing up and loose bowels since yesterday and today he would not eat or drink. They gave him some meds and he is starting to feel better. I wonder if it could be from the Atopica even though we are only giving it every other day?


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

it prob is the atopica...it has castor oil in it which can cause some tummy upset and they reccomend putting a pet on antinausea meds for the first week of atopica. we always start with every day for a month then decrease to every other day


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## totallytotontuffy (May 16, 2007)

Tuffy has been on 25 mgs of Atopica for over a year. Her dermatologist prescribed antinausea meds in the beginning also. I had to give them 1/2 hour before the Atopica. We started out with giving her the Atopica daily and right now I'm giving it to her every other day and she is handling it but strangely when it gets colder outside her allergies get worse and I have to go back to every day. I agree with Jaimie, hang in there and try to give it a chance to work.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

oh good so glad you posted  i knew it was working well for you 

do you think she has a mold allergy if it gets worse in winter ?


QUOTE (TotallyTotoNTuffy @ Jun 30 2009, 09:52 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=799122


> Tuffy has been on 25 mgs of Atopica for over a year. Her dermatologist prescribed antinausea meds in the beginning also. I had to give them 1/2 hour before the Atopica. We started out with giving her the Atopica daily and right now I'm giving it to her every other day and she is handling it but strangely when it gets colder outside her allergies get worse and I have to go back to every day. I agree with Jaimie, hang in there and try to give it a chance to work.[/B]


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## lillykins (Oct 15, 2007)

QUOTE (dwerten @ Jun 30 2009, 10:17 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=799138


> do you think she has a mold allergy if it gets worse in winter ?[/B]


or dust allergy?


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## LittleDogLVR (Oct 24, 2007)

> I recommend temaril p over prednisone as prednisone is harder on liver than prednisolone. Temarilp has tavist and prednisolone and much easier on the liver. The tavist is an antihistamine. Best to do steroids every other day at the lowest dose you can do to stop symptoms. My dd is 6.7lbs and takes 1/2 temarilp every other day which is a very minute dose so you may want to consult with vet as dd has mvd and been on temarilp for over a year with perfect blood work. If using steroids you need to do blood work at minimum twice a year preferably 3 times a year to make sure not affecting the liver. My dd was on prednisone 5mg and she looked like a cushing dog - pot belly, lost hair, drank tons of water and peed alot, was reverse sneezing alot as she put on alot of weight from it - went from 5lbs to 8lbs so i do not like prednisone and much prefer prednisolone as have not seen any of those effects and been on it a year
> 
> Hi Debbie
> 
> ...


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

they usually will do daily at first to calm down the dog from itching like crazy then taper to every other day but prednisone is stronger than prednisolone - prednisolone is broken down already so the liver does not have to work as hard to break it down so i do not like prednisone. I prefer prednisolone or the temarilp which has prednisolone and tavist mixed. Some vets do not like mixed drugs so our vet does not carry it but he buys the whole bottle for me and charges me his cost as dermatologist and jean and internal medicine specialist all prefer temarilp for dd with her mvd and it is just much safer. The temarilp is 2mg of prednisolone so dd is getting 1mg every other day so i is even less than prednisone as it is broken down further. Just safer if going to do long term as dd was on prednisone and definitely saw a difference. She was on it for about 2-3 months and her blood work was off and definite signs and only doing 5mg a week. DD is 6.7lbs - i personally hate steroids but after 5 years of trying everything holistic i have to keep her happy and comfortable. We have had her blood work after on temarilp for a yr and came back perfect. I would consult the vet about the differences and if your dog does have allergies i would be dealing with dermatologist as that is all they see is allergy dogs so they know alot about it and specialize it and use the latest medications - we now only go once a year just for an annual check up. 


[/QUOTE]

Hi Debbie

So if I am seeing a difference in Lizzie with her being on it for 2 days, now mind you she is only taking 1.25mgs a day I should change to Temaril P ?
My vet knows Lizzies history in regards to MVD and thought at that low dosage she would be fine and it would not compromise her liver.
I asked if it would be safe for her, and was told yes.She did say at the 5 mg dosage there would be side affects like you mentioned above.

Like I said she is only taking a 1/4 pill a day for 5 days and then going to every other day.

It seems to be helping her, is it really possible to working this fast ?? And no side affects....she isnt drinking alot or peeing.

Im new to all this, I did join Allerdog but forgot my password and just about to change Emails today....

Thanks


John R
[/QUOTE]


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## jenniferhope423 (Jun 25, 2007)

Bailey was on Atopica for about a week but it upset her tummy so much I quit using it. She was running to the door to go outside like every 20 min or so and it was dirreah every time. I couldn't keep giving it to her when it made her tummy so upset so I started giving her Benadryl and it worked great. She isn't even on any meds right now but I just keep an eye on her and when I see that she's scratching or chewing her feet I give her Benadryl and it works great for her.


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

Harley was taking 50 mg Atopica (he is a big boy, 14-ish pounds) every 2 days .. for 18 months. He is having desensitisation treatment, so also gets a shot (of all the things he is allergic to) every 10 days. 

At first the Atopica did seem to help, but in the last couple of months it has been upsetting his tummy (vomiting, loose stools), so I have stopped giving it.

All in all, Atopica did serve its purpose for us, but I feel he can no longer tolerate it, so have stopped using it.


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