u/barelylocal

my 6 yr old bichonx has been known to have a lot of allergies. She has been on a kangaroo diet and her treats are strictly bison, venison, or kangaroo. I dont know what happened, but last night at 330am, she woke me up by being restless and trying to scratch. When I took a look at her, her entire body was covered in huge red hives. I called the emergency vet and they recommended that she take a 50mg dose of benadryl. Shes 25 pounds, and i told them that, but they said it was fine. I gave it to her and she pretty much passed out after about an hour or two.

This morning after her morning walk, about 830am, she was itchy and restless again. I called my vet and they could squeeze her in for an appointment at 12pm. I bathed her in some dermachlor 4 I had from the last vet appointment where she broke out into hives, and she seemed to slowly improve. She was nearly normal by the time of the appointment, as she seemed sleepy in the car and relaxed at the vet. The vet said it seemed to be getting better, so he recommended giving her benadryl again at night and a 5mg dose of prednisone twice a day. More than anything, I just wanted her to go back to herself, so i did what he recommended.

I dont know why but since taking the prednisone she seemed to be worse. Her body broke into hives again and she was unable to relax herself. She has been pacing and restless. I rinsed her under some water again trying to relax the hives. She even scratched herself so hard she started bleeding. I called the vet back and they said that I should continue the course the vet recommended and give benadryl at night.

Well, I gave her another does of 5mg prednisone as prescribed and a 25mg dose of benadryl, as prescribed, and she is once again restless, agitated, itchy, and uncomfortable.

I am at a loss. Whenever I call the vet they just tell me to wait a few days, but i cannot sleep when she is pacing and crying and scratching! I dont want her to hurt herself and bleed again! A few years ago during an episode like this, they gave her an anti-inflammatory shot and she was back to normal. I dont know why the vet didnt want to do this today or suggest something other than benadryl... it seems from reading up that anti-histamines dont do fuck all.

All this to say, am I asking myself: am i doing the right thing by trusting the vet? Will the prednisone help? Is this a reaction to the prednisone, or is it just that nothing is working? What the heck do I do to get her a little relief for her? To i go to the emergency vet and waste money?? The poor girl usually sleeps like 16-18 hours a day and has had maybe 3 hours today....

Im losing sleep here and I feel like im going crazy just waiting for her to relax long enough to sleep... so then I can sleep too.

Edit: for anyone interested, she was told to stop all anti-histamines and lower her dose of prednisone. Shes only taking 2.5mg now but he wants her to take it for the week. The vet i spoke to this evening told me she thought this was a pretty complex case as she has never heard of a dog worse off after taking pred. By this afternoon, she was sleepy and resting and basically no longer itching. Some pawing at her face, but just mild. But when it came down to her nighttime dose, the pred makes her go insane. She runs around scratching herself on every surface and is unable to settle. Fortunately for me, I have figured out that she just needs a reset to stop her scratching. Last night, it was a bath that put her to sleep. Today, it was a car ride around the neighbourhood with lots of prolonged stops for sniffs. Unfortunately for me, she doesnt settle until waaaaaaay past my bedtime. The things we do for our animals, I guess. I am going to see how she does in the morning and if she is still itching after her morning dose of prednisone I am calling the vet office again. I almost rather she take nothing and ride it out then continue to be tormented by whatever pred does to her.

To preface, for the last 2-3 weeks I have had a new bout of health anxiety (honestly I might have OCD surrounding my health at this point), where I feel my heart pounding in my chest and I was having shoulder and chest pain. I went to a walk in doctor and they told me that if I was worried I was having a heart attack to go to the ER without looking at my shoulder. My heart rate and breathing were fine and my blood pressure was a little high but not alarming.

I dont know why, but since, ive felt constantly on edge about my heart and left side. I do a lot of sensorimotor checking and even when I dont I cant ignore the visuals of seeing my pulse in my chest. I dont want to go to the ER (it will be probably a 12 hour wait and I will be told im fine) but i dont know what else to do.

Ive had anxiety since I was a child and I used to have panic attacks in high school and university that would end up with me sobbing crying or hurting myself to try and focus on something else. I took SSRIs, but they made me feel shakey, so i stopped in my early twenties. Im in my 30s now.

Last night, I felt a little lightheaded and decided to try and sleep. I got ready for bed, saw something triggering for my health/contamination anxiety (bugs), and then got into bed. My arm felt weird on my left side but I tried to ignore it, then I started to feel really cold and had full body chills. My body felt strange and restless. I put on warmer pajamas and got some water, but i just started catastrophizing and feeling like something wasnt ok. Like I was having a stroke or I was about to have a seizure. I ended up waking up my partner for help and then I started crying and sobbing. He told me i was having a panic attack because I was hyperventilating and didnt feel cold to the touch and he told me to take a hot shower and go back to sleep. I did. I fell asleep only when he was awake to watch me.

But this morning ive been feeling like shit. Im groggy from not getting to sleep until 4am and im frustrated with myself for having a panic attack and unable to relax and feel normal because im so worried and preoccupied with my health. I just want to feel normal. Im half inclined to go to the ER and be told im okay just so I can reason with myself again.

All this to say, what do you do when your unreasonably panicking in the middle of the night?

I used to be an avid bike rider in my teens. I could easily go 20km without any problem. I could wax on and on about how easy riding was then... but I wont.

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Im now 31 and after many years of not really focusing on my health and exercise (havent done much exercise during most of my 20s) I figured I would get back into riding my bike for the health benefits but also because it was genuinely something that used to help me clear my mind and relax.

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I went on my first ride and my stamina is not what it used to be. If anything, it made me feel very old (yes, i know 31 isnt old but I felt every second of those 31 years as I peddled uphill just now).

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Any tips for building stamina for people out of practice? I really want to love riding again.

5 (almost 6) yr old female bichonx. Shes a little pudgy but we have been dieting her and she is walked 3-4 times a day (10-20 mins each time). She is allergic to beef and eats a special diet of kangaroo as her protein. She also tolerates bison and venison and fish.

I have a vet appointment for next week on tuesday, but I am feeling worried about these bumps that seem to have grown on her rather quickly. I pet her pretty thoroughly (she is well loved and pet) and in the last 2-3 weeks these bumps appeared. I want to know what I should prepare myself for. Of course, Google has provided me the worst case scenario (cancer and she will die in a few months) but im hoping perhaps there could be other explanations that will help me get some sleep at night.

Edit: pictures in the comments