Dovobet in England
from Vix

Hi Ed:  I don't know whether I'll catch Julys mail but I thought I'd let everyone know about a 'new' treatment available on prescription in England. It's called Dovobet, and (as you can probably guess by the name)  I've been told it's some kind of mixture of Dovonex & Betnovate.  My mothers been using it with reasonable results, so I'm running off to my GP as soon as he comes back off holiday (I would make an appointment with his partner but he keeps trying to fob me off with cheaper alternatives, and we all know how effective they can be!).

My P, which was so improved by the zinc, kelp & ginseng tablets [see Vix’s email from June, ‘01 -Ed], has gone down hill rapidly since winter and I've become a flake factory again. I never kidded myself that I'd found a cure but I also didn't expect the lesions to return to the party and bring friends.

It doesn't help that I have a 15 week old kitten who prefers my arms to her scratching post at the moment so I have a lot of scratch shaped patches appearing as well.

Anyway I'll let you know how I go on with the cream when I get it. -Vix

*****

Ed’s Response:  Gosh, the Dovonex/some steroid combo therapy is taking off all over.  Now that the combo popularity is suddenly being talked about everywhere, I go back and find that it has been going on almost since Dovonex was first introduced — but quietly, until now.  So far I’ve heard about Dovonex and Ultravate, Dovonex and Temovate (clobetasol propionate) and now Dovonex and Betnovate.  All these are Dovonex mixed 50/50 with a potent corticosteroid.  I suppose it was just a matter of time before somebody would package the combination.  Dovobet has a certain poignantly appropriate ring as just about any therapy for P is a crap shoot—

—Including your zinc, kelp and ginseng regimen, Vix.  Fortunately for you, the natural supplements gave you a good run.  I hope you’re not too disappointed that things took a turn for the worse.  It happens all the time.  Leave it alone for awhile and then, when you’re feeling like another gamble, try the zinc, kelp and ginseng regimen again.  Often things that worked before will work again if left alone for awhile.

So kittens are going to provide you a lesson in the Koebner phenomenon.  (I.e., skin trauma — in this case kitten scratches — turning into P lesions.)   Well, if the playful affections of a wee kitten or two aren't worth a few more plaques, what is?

Stay in touch, Vix.  -Ed

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