Why is my dog's head sunken and muscles weak while taking prednisone?

Question

My dog has Blastomycosis. We have been treating her for a little over 2 weeks now. The vet put her on itraconazole 185mg caps (x30) 1 by mouth daily, and just last week put her on prednisone tablets 20mg 2 times a day for 7 days then 1 time a day for 7 days, then 1 every other day till gone. But it seems since we have passed the 7 day mark and dropped dose down to 1 a day now. Her muscles seem to be more weak..... her head is very sunk in, but she is drinking and eating just fine.....any idea wh. Pet's info: Dog | Pit Bull Terrier | Female | spayed | 75 lbs

Kevin Sanada, DVM · Accepted Answer

This is most likely the prednisone causing this. Prednisone causes muscle-wasting, which will make her a bit more week and give her a more sunken-head appearance. The muscles that surround the side of the head are quite prominent, so when they shrink, it will make the head look more caved-in. Prednisone will also change their behavior. They will often seem more dopy and not quite as responsive as they were. You are seeing this just now, because this drug takes a while to accumulate in the body before it starts having its max effect. That is one of the reasons for tapering it down, because once the levels are adequate in the blood, it does not take as much to keep the drug at the optimum level in the body. Luckily, all of these things are reversible when the prednisone is stopped. I know it can be difficult to see them go through these changes, but they actually tend to feel much better when they are on the prednisone. If she is otherwise doing OK, then I would not worry too much. If she is not eating, or showing signs of pain, then I would take her back to the vet for an evaluation. I hope that helps and Karrma gets better soon.

Why is my dog's head sunken and muscles weak while taking prednisone?

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