cyclosporine for allergies in dogs

Three year old Labrador developed skin allergies this Spring for the first time ever.
We have changed food and everything she ingest with no relief.
She has taken Benadryl ( 75 mg twice a day for a month ), then three Zyrtec a day for 3 to 4 weeks, now she is taking Claritin ( three a day ). No real relief.
She took prednisone for two weeks while taking Zyrtec, and got complete relief. But, the scratching, biting started again as we were weaning her off the prednisone ( when she was down to one tab every other day ).
The next drug we are considering is cyclosporine. I am seeking any one's experience with this treatment.
Please advise.
Thanks,
David

[chasha33]

I use Atopica (Cyclosporine) for my Bulldog and it has been great for him.He has been on all kinds of other meds for his allergies in the past and the Atopica has been the best med of them all.He takes 100mg 2-3 times a week.When he first went on it ,He took it every day for a month then every other day for a month and now he is down to 2-3 a week.His skin was so raw before he went on it.The steroids would work for so long and then when he would go off of them  he would get raw again and then we would have to change his meds to something else.The streroids would help as long as he was on them daily,But we didnt like keeping him on them all the time like that.Benadryl never really worked for him.We tried changing his food but that never really worked.I would try the Atopica and see if it would help.I hope your baby gets to feeling better soon.Take care and keep us posted.

[chasha33]

I use Atopica (Cyclosporine) for my Bulldog and it has been great for him.He has been on all kinds of other meds for his allergies in the past and the Atopica has been the best med of them all.He takes 100mg 2-3 times a week.When he first went on it ,He took it every day for a month then every other day for a month and now he is down to 2-3 a week.His skin was so raw before he went on it.The steroids would work for so long and then when he would go off of them  he would get raw again and then we would have to change his meds to something else.The streroids would help as long as he was on them daily,But we didnt like keeping him on them all the time like that.Benadryl never really worked for him.We tried changing his food but that never really worked.I would try the Atopica and see if it would help.I hope your baby gets to feeling better soon.Take care and keep us posted.

[ddsr38]

I started Sophie on Atopica yesterday along with predawns. She got relief from the use of the prednisone, and hopefully the Atopica will give her long term relief.
My vet said she may have some vomiting, but they get used to the Atopica over time.
He said he had to give it to his dog with some food in order to keep it down. He had good results with it.
Did your dog have any vomiting?
Your results help me decide to give it to Sophie. Thanks for the info. I will keep you posted.

[chasha33]

When my Bulldog went on the Atopica he was fine.It has been the best med for him.Sometimes if he starts to look like he is getting irriatated we put him on steroids every other day for a week.But we havnt had to do that much.His skin would get so bad that he would bleed and then he would get yeast as well.But since he has been on this,he is so much better  and we can tell that he feels better to.I hope that the Atopica helps Sophie soon,i am sure that you will be able to tell a big difference in her.Please keep me posted and if you have any questions just let me know.Take care and God Bless