Diagnosed with CIDP

Anonymous
May 17, 2011 at 3:33 pm

I first had problems in October of 2009. I had five days of IVIG, and was much better when I was released. My neurologist thought at the time that it was GBS, but warned me that my problem might also be a chronic form of the disease. When my symptoms returned, I went back to him, and he immediately suspected CIDP.

He explained to me that there are several criteria that must be met, to meet the diagnosis of CIDP:
[LIST]
[*]Symmetrical weakness in both legs or arms (legs in my case) that persists for more than 8 weeks, or returns after a remission.
[*]Loss of nerve conduction as measured by EMG. I think there is a specific conduction pattern they look for, but I am not technically astute enough to know what that is.
[*]High proteins
[/LIST]in spinal fluid, as determined by spinal tap.

I met all these criteria. He started me on Prednisone, which really did not help. He then switched to IVIG, which really [I]does[/I] help. The fact that IVIG works supports the diagnosis of CIDP, since there are some similar conditions, which do not respond to IVIG.