MY BETTA IS SPASMING AND WONT EAT

Question
Chris,
How long should I give the medication to take effect?
I hate the idea of my sweet friend suffering.
What would you do?
Debbie
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Followup To
Question -
Please help me.
For almost a week now my Betta Neptune.  Has been spasming.  He hasn't eaten for almost 2 weeks.
He has no external symptoms.  He lost his appetite
and within a couple of days looked like he had
a stroke.  His back half looks bent.  He has
always been active but started sitting in one place. After a couple days he started having, what looked like seizures.  He lives in a gallon size bowl.  I usually change his water about every week.  I thought he might have an internal parasite, so I treated him last night with medication for that.  He was living in my office but I know now this was too cold.  I bought a thermometer to put on his bowl and he is being maintained at 81 deg by a heating pad. I went to the pet store to get a ph kit (now around 6.8). His ph was high since I was using spring water. Dont know the rest of the stats. I mixed his water with some distilled to bring the ph down.  Now I see I should have left it the way it was.  I bought some aquar salt and added that for stress.  What should I do.  I have had him since Jan and only feed him freeze dried worms cause that's all he will eat.  I got rid of the plant I had in there since I was worried he contracted something from it.  Is there meds I can get to help him.  How long should it take before he shows improvement if the meds I bought worked?  thanks for anything you can suggest.
Debbie
Answer -
Hi Debbie;

Poor guy. You've done great cleaning and keeping him warm. Dont' bother with the pH. As long as you are changing his water at least weekly it will be fine. A stable pH is more important than what seems like a "correct" pH.

Sounds like he has something internally wrong but it may not be treatable. You could try an antibiotic like "Maracyn 2". It absorbs inside the fish to treat internal infections. Other medicines treat only the outside of the fish. If he has cancer or something there really isn't anything left to do. Wish I had better news.......

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Answer
Hi Debbie;

If he isn't improved in two or three days he probably won't recover. I know how hard it is to think about and it's a very personal decision, but if it were my fish I would look into euthanizing him. There are humane methods so here are links to that information in case you need it;

http://www.vetcentric.com/magazine/magazineArticle.cfm?ARTICLEID=1387
http://www.fishjunkies.com/euthanization.php
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-most-humane-way-to-euthanize-a-fish.htm

Hoping for the best.....

Sincerely;
Chris Robbins