How Long Depends

Hello Rod,

For me, I usually see improvement during by the third treatment in the round, with effectively full recovery within 10 days after the completion of treatment. However, we are all different, so I would not panic quite yet. I think I have seen some people report that it can take more than one round of plasmapheresis to see improvement.

Why aren’t you are a good candidate for immunosuppressants? We CIDP’ers have four treatment options: IVIg, prednisone or other corticosteroids, plasmapheresis, and immunosuppressants (azathioprine, CellCept, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, rituxan, and others). Let’s say that the plasmapheresis does not provide improvement. You really only have the immunosuppressants left as an option. Why rule them out?

You might also be one of those people who need a combination therapy. In my case, plasmapheresis alone is not enough, nor is prednisone alone enough. I need both. Further, to try to reduce the amount of prednisone, I take azathioprine (which does seem to be helping). My goal is to eliminate the prednisone and rely only on plasmapheresis and azathioprine. Since steroids are not an option for you, it might be worthwhile to try one of the faster acting immunosuppressants, not that any of them are fast, to see if that route will help.

Godspeed in finding a useful treatment.
MarkEns