Grand mal seizure after Sedalin :-(

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bexybeach17

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Hi guys, just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience...

My TB (15yrs) has had a foot abscess which has meant he has been boxed for over a week. Bless him he has been pretty anxious, sweating up and pacing in his box despite leaving a friend in for him, or radio on, boredom toys etc.

So when vet came out to see him on Saturday, I asked for sedalin to help calm him as he was quite stressed and it was horrid seeing him like that. He had been IV sedated the day before (not sedalin) when checking feet and was fine, so Vet prescribed the Sedalin and I gave him the recommended 2ml in the morning so I could poultice and let him relax and rest his foot, as surely the amount of pacing he was doing was not helping!.

Within about two hours of the sedalin (by mouth), he had a grand mal seizure. Went really sleepy, lay down and then lay flat and legs thrashing, noises, eyes rolling. It really was the scariest thing I have ever seen. After a couple of minutes, he stopped, got up, urinated and ate some hay as normal. Vet came out within ten minutes and checked his temp, hear rate etc - all normal. took some bloods and tested - again all normal. Then within an hour, he had another seizure. He seemed to know it was going to happen, as would go through the same process, really sleepy, went to the same corner of stable, lay down, then started thrashing.

he had two further seizures about two hours after the second and within 15 mins of each other. Each time, he seemed to come out of it a bit more alert. Vet came out agin, did the same checks. Checked his vitals and said sedalin appeared to be wearing off. Was told to check every hour until approx 5pm when sedalin should be out of his system. If still fitting we know it it something else.

5pm onwards, no seizures and is back to his normal self today, boisterous and lovely :-)

It was absolutely horrific but I am so pleased he has come out of it. Relieved is an understatement. Vet stated it was a very rare occurrence and he had never come across it before, but that adverse reactions can occur even if he had had sedalin before. He said perhaps his blood pressure had dropped and that caused the seizures.

Just wondered if anyone has ever experienced or known of this happening before?

Thank you :-)
 
No experience but you need to make sure it is reported to the drug company as an 'adverse event' - your vet will know the process. Unless these things are reported and tracked, an accurate estimate of risk with any product cn never be established.

Curious to see other responses to this one.
 
I've not ever had a horse seize on Acepromazine but I was always taught there was a risk it could drop blood pressure, sometimes precipitously. Because of this I was told never to give it to a horse that could be in shock or was bleeding heavily. Obviously this is not the case for your horse but something to bare in mind generally.

Glad he seems to have bounced back.
 
My mare hasn't had a reaction to Sedalin (she literally didn't react to it at all!!).

But she did have an alpha 2 reaction (never heard of it before it happened) to an iv sedative that the vet gave her when she injured her leg. She colicked badly within an hour and was pretty much collapsed. Scared the living daylights out of me.

She hasn't had to be sedated since, but I know she will have to be one day, as she is terrible having anything done treatment wise with her legs if she injures herself. Dreading it.:(
 
I had that happen to me but with a different drug, Calmivet.

We gave it to my mare so she could be clipped, then she was put in her stall. My trainer came in an hour or so later, reported she wasn't her normal self but still tacked. On the road from the yard to the arena, there is a big ditch on each size. Mare decides to lie down into the ditch, and then proceed to make a scene similar to what you described. Fortunately I wasn't there (or I wouldn've been absolutely in shock) but vet was called out immediately and had nothing to report. Just like in your case, vet supposes it was a bad reaction to the sedative.
 
Most sedatives lower the seizure threshold and so make the risk of a seizure much greater. Don't ever use it again, or ACP -check the ingredients of any other make very carefully. My mare was epileptic and the only thing we could use was valium.

Be happy that your horse had his fits lying down and had the wit to get down first! Glad he is all ok again now.
 
Thanks all for your responses...

I'm relieved, now that I know at least one of you have had a similar experience so thanks for sharing :) Such a scary event, I honestly thought I was losing him. Just happy he's OK x

Vet is coming back tomorrow to check on him and his foot, but never thought to report it to the drug company so I will mention this to the vet. Thanks for that x

Thank you for your responses, feel much better knowing that this is not as rare as first thought.

Vet did say it was most likely anaphylactic shock which caused the seizures, but as it was a mild sedative, I had no idea there would be such a risk! Otherwise, perhaps would have thought twice, given he was in such a stress.

Vet has marked notes to steer clear of ACP based drugs! I NEVER want to see him go through that again :eek:

one of the things someone mentioned is possible brain damage as a result of the seizures...he's not showing any signs of this, but those whose horses have had seizures, has this been mentioned by your vet?

Thanks again :-)
 
Very unlikely to have caused brain damage. You would see brain damage from prolonged seizures and situations where the brain is starved of oxygen for a length of time. He should be fine.
 
bexybeach17 said:
Thanks all for your responses...

I'm relieved, now that I know at least one of you have had a similar experience so thanks for sharing :) Such a scary event, I honestly thought I was losing him. Just happy he's OK x

Vet is coming back tomorrow to check on him and his foot, but never thought to report it to the drug company so I will mention this to the vet. Thanks for that x

Thank you for your responses, feel much better knowing that this is not as rare as first thought.

Vet did say it was most likely anaphylactic shock which caused the seizures, but as it was a mild sedative, I had no idea there would be such a risk! Otherwise, perhaps would have thought twice, given he was in such a stress.

Vet has marked notes to steer clear of ACP based drugs! I NEVER want to see him go through that again :eek:

one of the things someone mentioned is possible brain damage as a result of the seizures...he's not showing any signs of this, but those whose horses have had seizures, has this been mentioned by your vet?

Thanks again :-)
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Seizures do cause brain damage but on the microscopic level so I really wouldn't worry. My old girl had a fit every tenth day until she started on medication, and then the odd breakthrough - she should have just had mush for a brain after that lot. Thinking about it, that could actually have been true!! Just keep an eye, because they can make the brain a bit trigger happy, so a seizure is more likely to lead to a repeat, but there are plenty of horses out there who have had one or two fits (usually due to toxins) and been totally unaffected during the rest of their lives.
 
Movement is what horses with abscess need, not box rest it delays the abscess bursting then healing, a lame horse with a sore foot will not run around and injure himself, it is not like the horse is lame and you dont know why so hence keep it n box rest.
 
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