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Post by pritchyxx on Aug 16, 2016 18:44:47 GMT
I have a Welsh sec C, for the first 4 years of owning him he never used to head shake, in 2014 he used to headshake when walking down a particular pathy which I put down to midges ( close to water and trees) I thought nothing of it, the pony went on loan at the end of 2014 and I got him back late 2015 and moved from a built up town to the countryside during winter he showed no symptoms of head shaking, he started head shaking (late April) and so my problems began, I bought a fly mask complete eyes, ears and nose, which relieved his issues for a month or so, since he's been a nightmare, so I had his teeth (which are done regularly) checked again, I was advised it could be his wolf teeth causing his problems, and so I had them removed by a vet where we talked about the possible pollen allergy and we talked about the different treatments ( nerve blockers, copper coil blockers, allergy relief and other medication)after being ridden several times I've come to the conclusion it hasn't helped, so the vet has suggested Gabapentin, which I have started today he is on 1200mg twice a day, there is not much on the internet reviewing horse use, as it is used to treat epilepsy, and as a nerve block for Chronic pain, highly addictive as noted. As any horse owner I'm dubious and concerned about continuing treatment and would like to know if anyone else has given their horse this medication for head shaking ( or anything) and what the outcome was?!!
Many thanks !!
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bugs
Junior Member
Posts: 121
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Post by bugs on Aug 24, 2016 13:17:56 GMT
Not sure about gabapentin for horses but I was prescribed it by my doctor for a neck/shoulder injury due to its impact on nerve pain... It was awful stuff... Took 300 3 times a day and I felt like a zombie.. Lots of evidence to say it makes teeth brittle and it certainly made mine painful. Horrible stuff... I preferred the pain and that says a lot as it stopped me doing everything I wanted to do!
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Aug 28, 2016 11:15:31 GMT
I took it when I had a pinched nerve in my neck and it was a life saver for me. Before that, I was on max amounts of almost all other painkillers including liquid morphine all together but nothing touched it until the gabapentin, and it didn't make me sleepy either. Having said that, it's not to be embarked on lightly and you need to come off it gradually which I did after having had an op on my neck so had no problems, but for head shaking? I'd regard that as a sledgehammer to crack a nut, although maybe if the horse's pain is due to the facial nerve it's the only possible option left.
As a boring scientist, I know full well that one single case, neither mine nor the previous poster's, is not enough on which to make a sensible decision, you need the figures from a large sample.
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