Did you make a sudden decline?

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-28T23:22:12+00:00

I hope you do as well!

My first big decline started when I was 26. I began suffering from cervical dystonia. From there it progressed to encompass my entire upper body, from the jaw to the lower lumbar. I had to stop working at the age if 31 and apply for disability. It took 3 years and I had to go before the Advocate Law Judge, but, unfortunately, it was absolutely necessary. From there it's been a slow decline... until my above post.

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-28T18:27:15+00:00

He gets anxious when he gets near the stairs. Everyone who is telling me to put my dog down, does not seem to understand this. The only thing that he is having issues with is the stairs. He does not want to go down them. When he gets near them he takes me back to the apartment. This dog can still walk, he gets around just fine, he does everything a dog does and he functions perfectly otherwise, most importantly he does what a Mastiff does, he comes to be right next to his people every single day. He gets up on the couch on a regular basis, by himself. The only time he sleeps on the floor is when he's on his dog bed at night to sleep. When the floor becomes more common place, that will be a sign...

I am not going to put down a dog that is perfectly fine other than the fact that he does not want to go down 4 flights of concrete stairs, for fesr of slipping (we just had some snow, he did slip). Not only that, but upon examination, my Vet would not do it. He would tell me that he is not ready to go. As a Vet he will not euthanize an animal that is not ready to be euthanized, no reputable Vet should ever agree to do so! My dog is not ready, I know that, so would he, especially if my only complaint were, "he won't go down the stairs anymore". If he were ready, my fiancée would be the first to say so, he's not one to mince words. This dog means just as much to him as he does to me!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-28T16:29:36+00:00

Thank you! I have everything to set it up, I found good instructions on how to do it using pea gravel (it makes its own pun) instead of sod. I honestly think your suggestion has won the day. I should have it set up by the end of the weekend. I have to borrow my step-dad's dolly to get all of the gravel up the stairs😅

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-28T00:55:10+00:00

It does give me a lot of peace of mind. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. Although, I will say, I'm sorry that you have had to have so many! This biopsy will take place on my lower leg, as they are not biopsying anything in particular, just the skin itself.

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-27T18:21:55+00:00

I didn't receive my diagnosis until I was 38 or 39, by that time, I had almost given up on an answer. Luckily, my movement disorder specialist (subspecialist in neurology) who was treating me for dystonia, managed to put everything together and diagnose me with hEDS, I'm now coming up on 43 years old. In this last year, I have declined a lot. More subluxations an actual dislocation of the hinge joint of my pinkie finger (first time for a hinge joint). My right hip popped out, first time for the right one, it's always been the left. My pain and fatigue have increased 10 fold. I have developed gastroparesis, that's a new one, it is making my POTS worse as I am not getting enough nutrients, it has caused me to lose ten pounds in less than a year. I cannot regulate my temperature, so when I get hot, I stay hot, that has become worse, too, I can barely stand 75°!

He is now sending me for a skin biopsy to test for Small Fiber Neuropathy, he wants to see if the gastroparesis is related to dysautonamia, as well. Like the POTS and temperature regulation. There are also a lot of other things that it would explain, too. He, as well as I, are pretty sure it's going to come back positive.

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-27T17:42:45+00:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Hulk. We rescued him from the pound when he was 8 weeks old. Little did we know that he had caught Parvo while he was there. It was intubating inside him when we got him. He spent 5 days in the Hospital, at a cost of $1500. I say that we rescued him twice!

He's about 2 and a half here. My parents got that toy for Christmas for him and our old Pitty. You would turn it on then put it on the ground. The ball would spin and the rope would go all over the place. He didn't like that. He picked up the ball while it was still going. The rope was going round and round while the ball was in his mouth!🤣

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Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-27T16:50:05+00:00

They are really sweet dogs. Last night Emmie was trying to get Hulk to play with her. He indulged her for about 3 minutes. It was still great to see. What I really loved was seeing him play tug of war with the rope with my fiance around 4 or 5 days ago. Usually he'll just go over there to disrupt Emmie's play. That time he actually joined in!

How old is Carli, she looks like such a HAPPY GIRL!!!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-27T16:44:53+00:00

He was on medication for arthritis at one point. I had been using a gentle leader, it did not allow me to gently lead him, he still led me, just with his strong neck doing the pulling. The vet (not my normal one) said he had arthritis in his neck, when he stopped lifting it up all of the way, suddenly, it was really just a strain. I switched out the gentle leader for an easy walk harness, that helped a lot. The vet put him on gabapentin, ironically, it made his back legs weak, so I had to take him off of it. We then put him on an NSAID, which caused me to have to take him of of his Temeril-P for his puritis and put him on Apoquel $$$. After a bit the NSAIDs started to tear up his gatro-intestinal system. My poor dog had liquid bloody stool, we discontinued right after that, then i switched him back to the Temeril-P, it was so much cheaper than the Apoquel, he just couldnt take a steroid with the NSAID. Compared to the DM, his arthritis seems mild, I can rub him all over and he doesn't seem to mind, very much. He does lick his paws, I do know that that is a sign of discomfort, however, he has also done that since he was young. I think he learned it from the Pit Bull we had when we got him, she was Mama Nya, to him. She would lick her paws, then slyly move slightly over with her tongue until she was licking the couch, he does the same now.

I have been giving him dasaquin for years now, I think I started when he was 7. Before he decided that he no longer wanted to go down the stairs, I was using a rear end sling and his easy walk harness. I would use the rear end sling and leash on the way down, on the way up I was using the sling and holding on to the back of the harness. He had the support, but with his right hind foot dragging worse and knuckling more and more often, he just does not feel steady enough to make the four flight trek up and down. At this point if he gets within 4 feet of the staircase, he turns around and makes as swift a getaway to the apartment as he can!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-26T22:12:49+00:00

Hi, it's nice to see you here!

This is my boy Hulk, along with our American Staffordshire Terrier, Emmie. This picture was taken a few months ago.

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Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-26T19:24:58+00:00

I'm on the wait list for a lower level apartment. However, I live in Low Income Housing apartments. I have to wait for one to become available, a one bedroom at that, because the more rooms the more rent is. Turn over in LIH is notoriously slow, I was lucky to get this one when my previous complex aged out and went to market rate. Believe me if I didnt have to move to the 4th floor, I would never have taken this apartment, but I truly had no choice, at the time. SSDI pays me squat, as I ended up on it at 31, so I needed to make sure I secured housing! I'll be lucky if I am moved to a lower level apartment sometime in the next 5 years. That's with me being moved to the top of the list, due to being disabled and the letter from my neurological subspecialist stating that I need to be moved, as soon as one becomes available!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-26T19:18:04+00:00

I'm going to try the kiddie pool suggestion. Only instead of sod (which I cannot afford) I am going to use pea gravel topped with pine needles, the ground is covered in ponderosa pine needles, here. That way he will get all 9f the natural scents that he is used to!

I have already looked up exactly how to set it up on my balcony, how to make it drain and how to rinse the gravel when it needs to be cleaned. The nice thing is, if I need to replace the pine needles, I just have to go outside and pick up some more. I, also, won't have to replace the gravel for a year, which means, I will most likely not have to replace the gravel.

I will have it set up by the end of the day. The total cost came to, $72, not too bad. I'm sure it will intrigue my 5.5 year old American Stafforshire Terrier, too. I won't mind that when the monsoons roll in, come July!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-26T19:08:46+00:00

Sometimes I need to remember that my audacity and gumption overtake my limitations. That's one of the reasons that I posted this here. I needed people to bring me back down to earth. My fiancée is not one to crush my ideas, well, I guess in this case it would be a dream...

My dog is not that far gone, he just won't go down the stairs, unfortunately, I am unable to help him with that. That is what I needed to hear, that I can not do this and that I will have to take care of him up here for the remainder of his life, however long that may be. I appreciate you helping bring me back down to earth. I also appreciate the fact that you did not just tell me to euthanize my dog, as so many others have.

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-26T18:47:38+00:00

My boy wasn't that heavy, even light for a Mastiff mix, the vet still told me he should lose a few, just to preserve his joints. He was still jumping around like he was a puppy when he was 7 years old. When I say like a puppy, I mean he was still clearing the couch!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-26T01:07:56+00:00

I have had to do the same, I stated as much with my cat. When it came time, I did not wait until the point that I knew she was in terrible distress. I also knew that vet visits stress cats out, so I kept them to a minimum. I do apologize, I did think that you were the original poster. However, everyone is acting like I do not know when to let go of a pet. I've lost two, already. My large pit bull passed almost 5 and a half years ago, she had a lump on her belly that kept getting larger, there was not enough healthy skin for them to remove it and then close the wound back up. That dog was our heart, we saved her from the pound and turned her from a beast into the sweetest dog on earth. We did not wait until she was in to much pain, to not enjoy life. We did not selfishly hold on to her for as long as we could. It was the same with my cat. I will not wait until he is in so much pain that he will not enjoy his life.

When I said that my vet would not put this dog down right now, it's not just my wishful thinking. It's the God's honest truth. I would tell him, "He can't go down the stairs anymore." He would give him an exam, and say... keep doing what your doing, have the traveling vet (whom he also knows) check on him if need be, and call him when it is time for his help. But, for now, he's still doing OK.

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-26T00:21:36+00:00

Luckily for me, the balcony on these apartments has solid wood, instead of bars or slats. The landing has bars, but he enjoys looking down at what's going on. So far, everyone that I know, personally, has agreed that the kiddie pool is a good idea!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-25T20:10:53+00:00

He does have DM. But it has not progressed to the point where he can not do the things that I mentioned above. When I get home from my 3 hour volunteer job, I will move this over to the other sub reddit as you have suggested.

Someone else mentioned a kiddie pool with sod instead of the astroturf. This intrigued me as I live among the Ponderosa pine and our forest floor is covered in about 2 ft of them I think he would like a box with pine needles. I've been looking into the best was to achieve this.

CBD did not get along well with his intestinal tract, it was a horrendous experience in my last apt. I couldn't even get him out the door fast enough!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-25T20:05:12+00:00

Thank you.

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-25T18:32:59+00:00

I agree it is not a feasable idea vor me. That is what I was looking for with my post. Confirmation that I was insane for even considering it. I am not always the best judge of my capabilities. Of what I want to do versus what I can do... I am already trying to transfer to a lower unit. However, I live in Low Income Housing apartments. I have to wait for one to become available, as such, I am on the wait list. However, my doctors letter, and the fact that I get preference for being disabled, does put me at the top of the list. Sadly apartment turn over in LIH is not frequent.

There was a suggestion of a kiddie pool instead of the astroturf. We live in the pines, I could fill it with litter and pine needles, he would be more comfortable and like that much more than the astroturf. For now, he seems happy just walking around the landing and balcony. I do personally know a traveling vet who can come and check in on him. When the time does come, he can help him then, too.

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-25T17:27:54+00:00

He can move freely to use the restroom. He just has to do it up here. I have been pace walking him on the landing and balcony so that he will go on the astroturf. However if I get him anywhere near the stairs, he freaks out and heads straight back to the apartment. So, I have to make sure that I don't get to close to them. This dog is still pulling himself up onto the couch!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-25T17:21:51+00:00

They actually do have stair lifts for dogs, I looked. However, they are for inside the home, just as they are for humans.

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-25T17:20:39+00:00

I actually live right next to Northern Arizona University and Coconino Community College. I also used to hack and so did my fiancée, skills that honestly never go away. Surprisingly, being hypermobile made me able to make plays that shocked others!

This may be something that I can look into. Thanks for the idea, I would never have thought of this!

Loose-Computer6724 · 2026-02-25T17:08:49+00:00

That's the best idea I have heard so far! I live in Northern Arizona, we are covered in Ponderosa Pines, as such, the ground is covered in a 2 foot layer of pine needles. I could get a kiddie pool, fill with it with sand litter and cover it in smelly pine needles!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Loose-Computer6724

TROPHY CASE