Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Trying Bethanechol - AGAIN.














Last time we tried Bethanechol, we had some bad RG weeks. But what I didn't realize was that we shouldn't give Sidney the Metachlopromide AND the Bethanechol. It's one or the other. We did both and it obviously didn't work well.

So we decided last week to try and change from the Metachlopromide to the Bethanacol to see how it works. Instead of getting the 2.5 ml of Metachlopromide 3x per day (1/2 hour prior to each meal), we now just give him .5mg of Bethanechol 2x per day.

So far he has done great and has had ZERO regurgitation. Another big reason I hope this can be a permanent change is time we can save. With both of us working, the 2nd (after-work) meal limits what we can do that evening when you have to administer the Metachlopromide 30 minutes before he eats. With the Bethanechol only twice a day in the morning and evening, that middle medicine session is eliminated!! Why is that important?

Let's say I get home after work at 5:30pm. I have to get him out of his cage and walk him. Maybe I can get him the Metachlopromide by 5:45, which means that he cannot get his meal until about 6:15pm. Then, 30 minutes in the chair and it's almost 7pm. Plus we like to take him to the dog park, but given that we do not want to risk food sliding out of his stomach and back into his esophagus, we really need a minimum of an hour after that for digestion. So, to get Sidney to the dog park at 8pm? Heck it's almost bed time. Plus, a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game may be on. I need a life too!

So what I am getting at is that I can skip the Sucralfate I give him at lunch (and switch it to after work) and feed him his 2nd meal instead, since there is no 30 minutes to wait prior to his meal and we can go straight to the dog park after work at 5:30pm instead of at 8pm. HUGE difference. As for the Sucralfate? I just give him it before we head out to the park. This will free up my time and his time to exercise.

Goal here is a happy and exercised puppy, as well as a parent with some sort of life. So far, so good.

2 comments:

  1. Is the bethanechol still working for you? We just started it tonight and have high hopes. Did u guys have any side effects?

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    Replies
    1. None that we can tell. We just stopped doing it after 8 years and he seems to be doing well

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