Has anyone had good results from using Chlorambucil for the treatment for IBD?

[kathydogmama]

My yellow lab, Lulu is about 12 or 13 years old and for the past month she started pooping black tarry diarrhea. My original vet thought it was caused by a stomach ulcer due to the Galiprant medication (for her arthritis); so she took her off Galiprant ad started her on antacids. She lost her appetite and the stools were still black. Took her to the emergency room for x rays, ultrasound and then an endoscopy. The vet thinks she has IBD. Put her on Prednisone one week ago, along with antacids, and other meds to stop the diarrhea. She got very lethargic and lost her appetite. Took her back for one week checkup and vet explained large breed dogs some times react negatively to Prednisone by getting lethargic and haivng muscle atrophy. Cut her Prednisone in half and wanted to start her on Chlorambucil 2mg. I looked up that drug when I got home and learned it's used to treat cancer - and needs to be handled with gloves. I'm hesitant to give my dog that chemo-like drug.

[ginger899]

This does sound rather strange. Chrlorambucil is normally used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and low grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma!
Yet your vet did not mention either of these diseases....
It sounds odd that it should be used (and I have never heard of it being used ) to treat irritable bowel disease!
You didn't miss something that the vet said...?

Now some "chemo" drugs, in different and very low doses, can be used to treat auto-immune diseases. For example, Methotrexate in much lower doses than is used or chemotherapy -can be used to treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. And in such treatments, the side effects are greatly diminished, if many are present at all.

By any chance....is the vet thinking the IBD is auto-immune? And that's the reason for the Chlorambucil?

I am sorry, I am not a vet so can't really advise you as well as you need.
But I can understand your reluctance to dose her with that without knowing the full story, plus her history of slightly paradoxical reactions to a drug such as Prednisone.

I am presuming all her tests and investigations came up "normal" or they didn't discover anything?

There are a couple of options if you are unsure.
1) You could get a second opinion from a completely different vet.
2) You could maybe try to find a Naturopathic /Holistic or Herbal vet. There are many safe herbal treatments which help with IBS and IBD. That includes dogs, not just for humans.
But of course it's wise to know first that you wouldn't just be trying to treat symptoms, while an underlying disease process was going on unaddressed

But I would also suggest having a detailed discussion with your current vet about her treatment and why it is considered necessary, and your concerns.