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Old July 27th, 2008, 12:03 AM
greenchris greenchris is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Soloxine Question - Side Effects?

My 11yr old boxer was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism (about 7 weeks ago), and put on Soloxine .7mg twice a day. When diagnosed he weighed 108lbs, he was very lethargic at the time, difficult to take on walks, low metabolism. The weight gain was not due to over-eating (he only eats about 2.5 cups of low-fat dry kibble daily, half the recommended dose and walks regularly). He has always been big (not overweight), he weighed about 85lbs when we moved to New York from Los Angeles 2 years ago, but since has slowly gained 20 lbs (i always attributed it to age). After the thyroid issue, my vet put him on Soloxine and since he’s been on the medication he has lost 11lbs approximately 5 weeks after dosage began. Immediately I noticed an increase in metabolism, longer walks, increase in alertness…the drug was working and he was losing weight.

Recently, over the last 2 weeks (about 7 weeks after medication began) I’ve noticed that his appetite has decreased (this is the first time I recall him not finishing his food, ever), is not walking as fast as he was when first put on the medication, overall more lethargic than the previous weeks on the meds, excessive panting (a lot of panting), and has collapsed twice (did not knock out, more of a weak collapse from not being able to hold himself up). I mentioned this to my vet a week ago (who is known for being a boxer specialist) and he said that it was either due to the heat (it’s been very hot here) or possibility of having a heart condition where his heart skips a beat but recommended that I stay on the medication since he was losing weight and overall seemed that his metabolism was better. Over the last 2 weeks I think his health/personality (with the exception of the weight loss) has regressed almost to where he was prior to the medication and I’m concerned as to whether I should continue administering the medication.

I plan on speaking with my vet on Monday but wanted to ask your advice/suggestions on whether I should continue with the medication, if there is an alternate you would recommend, any other tests you would recommend (he’s had 3 blood tests since he started medication, his thyroid level was around 3.1 at latest test if I recall correctly), and any other questions I should be asking. Any general advice?

Thanks in advance, very much look forward to your response.
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