Reply To: Gait improvment

Hello. I was diagnosed in May 2013 and started treatment a few weeks later. Overall my symptoms are fairly mild (at least compared to some of the folks I see in here). One of my concerns was gait; I found it was particularly noticeable when going up or down stairs, where I found I had to make sure my hand was on or near the railing so I wouldn’t take a tumble. I’m 53 and gait had never been a problem for me until last year.

I don’t completely agree with GH when he/she says “Gait problems are due to damaged nerves. No treatment for CIDP repairs damaged nerves.” The demylenation of the nerves is reversible, so it depends on if the gait problem is caused by demylenation, or by a more permanent kind of damage.

In my case, my legs were getting weak, particularly the right one. Since I’ve been on IVIG they have strengthened noticeably. The “drop foot” is mostly gone, most of the time, and the muscles around the knees seem stronger. Those were the things that were giving me gait problems.

But if I’ve learned anything in the past 8 months it’s that you cannot make any absolute claims with CIDP. It affects everyone differently. This is the way it affects me (and the way the treatments affect me). That doesn’t mean it will affect others the same way.