Reply To: IVIG Treatment – To Continue or Not

IVIg is usually given in a ‘loading dose’ for GBS where you get it daily for about 5 days. I was given it daily for 10 days and it did little to stop the progression for me. After the loading dose, maintenance doses may be given every 1-2 weeks to keep GBS in check.

IVIg stops your autoimmune system from making more bad antibodies, but does not remove the bad antibodies already released into your system, these can continue to do damage. Plasma Exchange (PE) removes the bad antibodies but does not stop your body from producing more. I think, depending on the severity of individual cases, that treatment should consist of 3 days of PE followed by 5 days of IVIg (or SCIg).

Some info about IVIg can be found here: http://www.cidpusa.org/P/ivig.htm