Better Now!

Anonymous
June 26, 2009 at 10:35 am

Hello, all!

I’m feeling MUCH better now! I’m back at work and have even started working out again. I just wanted to thank you for your warm wishes and to respond to some of your posts.

First, to those who suggested that I might be experiencing flu-like symptoms as a result of the IVIg treatments: I had a positive flu test, so I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the IVIg. Also, they symptoms started several days after the treatment ended. My nurse has said that if I were going to get those symptoms they would generally occur right away — is that not the case for you?

For those who said “NO flu shot” or “NO vaccines at all,” I would really like to see scientifically valid evidentiary (not anecdotal or theoretical) information that supports this viewpoint. My neuro and I both felt that my lifestyle puts me at high risk of exposure to the flu and that it was safer to GET the flu shot, which might rouse a WEAK response in my immune system, than to risk the full-blown flu, which would be likely to rouse a STRONG immune response. Now, one case does not prove anything, but I had no reaction to the flu shot (I never have) and only a very mild case of the flu, possibly because I was protected by the vaccine. MY CIDP symptoms became slightly more noticable while I was sick, but not so much (per my doctor) to warrant a change in my IVIg treatment schedule. In my book, the calculated risk I took paid off.

Perhaps a blanket NO to vaccines is the best choice for some, but I made the choice to take the flu vaccine in cooperation with my doctor based on my medical history and risk factors and, until there is [I]scientific evidence [/I]to prove that it is the wrong thing to do, I’ll evaluate whether to take other immunizations based on the risks involved, too.

Hope that you are all doing well!

B.