[Britster]

For anyone who reads this thread in the future when it pops up on Google searches, here is some evidence of why I would never give this to my dog (and please note: I am not in any way against all herbs or natural supplements - many of them have their place and my vet approves of them, so this is not some vendetta against chinese herbs from my standpoint- simply THIS particular one).

"Commonly Seen Toxic Chiese Herbes and Precautions"
Double P II is derived from the classical formula Da Huo Luo Dan. Herbs containing aconitine such as Double P II are toxic to the nervous system. Aconitine excites the vagus nerve and central nervous system first, and then leads to successive inhibition, and finally death because of paralysis ... Herbs containing aconitine include Aconite (Chuan Wu), Aconite (Cao Wu), Aconite (Fu Zi ), and Aconite (Xue Shang Yi Zhi Hao). It has been reported that 0.2 mg aconitine per patient by mouth caused toxic reactions in people, and 2-6 mg per patient orally could kill a human. Signs of toxic reaction are tremors and numbness of lips and limbs, excessive salivation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, anxiety, disorientation, convulsions, dyspnea, paresis or paralysis, fecal or urinary incontinence, arrhythmia, coma and death. Fu Zi is the most commonly used herb containing aconitine in veterinary practice.21 ...The most commonly used herbal formulas that contribute to GI upset are Ku Shen Si Wu, Stasis Breaker, and Double P II (modified Da Huo Luo Dan).
www.tcvm.com/doc/TCVMNews2010SummerR.pdf

Translation: Strychnine
Here’s what we do know:

The fourth ingredient listed is strychnos, or Ma Qian Zi. The TCVM “action” listed states that it “moves Qi” and “relieves pain.” Imagine if all that we were taught in veterinary school was that carprofen moved qi and relieved pain. Would that be sufficient?

Upon further examination, one would learn that strychnos, or Strychnos nux-vomica, refers to the strychnine tree. The tree’s seeds, the part of the plant used in Chinese herbs, contain the two deadly alkaloids, strychnine and brucine.6

Strychnine is an excitatory neurotoxin that, depending on the dose, can cause nervousness, neck pain, muscle spasms, trismus, continuous convulsions and death. It is excreted slowly, and circulating levels become cumulative over time.

Strychnos nux-vomica appears in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Poisonous Plant Database.7 According to WebMD, “No one should take nux vomica, but certain people are especially at risk for toxic side effects. … The strychnine in nux vomica can cause liver disease or make liver disease worse. Don’t use it.”8

Another ingredient in Double P II is aconite (Huang Qi), also known as monkshood. Severe poisoning can occur after ingestion of the wild plant as well as after consumption of an herbal decoction made from its roots.9 Patients poisoned by aconite exhibit neurologic, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal disturbances. Refractory ventricular arrhythmias and asystole constitute the main causes of death from aconite overdose.

And yet, the authors discussed none of these dangers in their paper, only citing that Double P II treats pain and moves Qi. They failed to describe potential interactions that could occur between its neurotoxic and cardiotoxic contents and pharmaceuticals that treat pain, muscle tension and wind-up.

They did not mention comorbidities that might be present in any of the test subjects. They only stated that all dogs received the same dose and all improved.

Might that inspire other veterinary practitioners to follow suit and prescribe Double P II without knowing exactly what it contains, let alone the damage it could do? Such are the risks of veterinary herbal practice based on metaphors instead of science.
https://www.veterinarypracticenews.c...chinese-herbs/