Reply To: Excessive Physical Exertion Takes a Toll

Thanks to GBS/CIDP/MFS I have a bad case of Axonal damage on top of Myelin deterioration. My legs and feet have never returned to anything close to pre-CIDP. My arms and hands have though. It took about three years.

There were many setbacks; many times the feeling of exhaustion was discouraging. My fingers wouldn’t straighten and I would tape Popsicle sticks (later tongue depressors) to them at night to hold them straight. I have many “helper tools” because I couldn’t even hold eating utensils for a few years. Now I can open a quart of soda with just my hands, without using one of my adaptive wrenches 🙂

The general rule of healing from CIDP is about three years. Most people continue to improve well after the first year and continue at that rate until the third. After the third, healing slows. In my case, Rituximab helped boost my healing and continues to do so nine years post affliction. But it’s not enough to repair my ankles and feet.

I’m encouraged that you are on top of this disease and still in the early recovery phase. You may never regain all pre-CIDP abilities, but you will likely heal better than many.