Has anyone had experience with OSPHOS causing GI issues? My horse got an injection in April, was standing on two legs twenty-four hours later, and then every day forward looked like he was having an episode of ulcers. At the time, he was classified as “bored”, but that doesn’t fit his behavior profile. He was scoped today, and the stomach looks “pebbly” which is a concern, and a tissue sample has been sent out for biopsy. He tested positive for hindgut and stomach ulcers with the Succeed test two weeks ago so he was prescribed misoprostol and Gastrogard. The treatment made a huge difference, and within days he quit pawing, circling to lay down, chewing on trees, and sitting on his stall wall. We strongly suspect hindgut ulcers even though the stomach has only this “pebbly” appearance and no stomach ulcers. He gets ample turnout on pasture, good quality hay, almost no grain, and a really nice vitamin supplement from HorseTech. He was on vacation, so no training, trailering, showing stress there. My cognitive dissonance is that this was not a problem before the OSPHOS and lameness treatment, and I don’t know that I want to use OSPHOS again. The other personal theory is that he had an calcification in the suspensory tendon, and there is evidence that in people given shockwave for rotator cuff calcifications, the bone disintegration can cause a lot of pain. Maybe that kicked off the stress leading to a significant GI issue. Any ideas as to why there was such a severe reaction to OSPHOS and shockwave?
I’ve had my older girl injected with OSPHOS 2x now (11 months apart) and each time, she was a “little” off for a couple of days afterwards. My vet does watch for signs of colic as that is an adverse effect. Perhaps your guy had underlying ulcers which he was dealing with and the OSPHOS pushed him over the edge so to speak. Glad he is doing better. With the severity of his symptoms, I would also be reluctant to use OSPHOS again
That is an excellent idea. He was being “pushed through” his lameness, and then had several days of saddle fit on top of that. I would very well be the case that he was already dealing with underlying ulcers and being stoic. He was incredibly unfocused and girthy the whole time he was being ridden. Finally we got the suspensory injury diagnosis. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you Gailbyrd! Did the OSPHOS work for your mare? I hope she is doing well.
It has helped. Her issues are her hocks and a weird left knee problem. Along with whole body arthritis setting in. If I can keep her hocks happy, her left knee seems happier. While I may never ride her again, as long as she’s happy doing a little ground work and being a happy horse in the pasture, I’m happy 
I understand completely! I am glad to hear she is content and enjoying life!
