Plasmapheresis vs. IVIg

Anonymous

October 15, 2010 at 6:57 pm

[COLOR=black]Lori,[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]Plasmapheresis takes about the same amount of time as IVIg for me. I am currently getting plasmapheresis (as known as therapeutic plasma exchange, or TPE) once every other week. It takes about 3.5 hours. If I had to do IVIg every other week, and experience with it suggests that I would, the treatment would take about 4 hours.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]I have a permanent catheter because of small, deep veins. It is a nuisance, but it is not really all that bad. In my case, I take good care of it (weekly maintenance and avoiding water near the entry site) and it works fine. It is definitely easier access than when I was having infusions, where three or four tries to get venous access were common.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]TPE many not work better than IVIg, but it certainly works differently. If the response to IVIg is not ideal, TPE is certainly an option to try. As is always true, side effects vary for each patient. For me, the only side effect of TPE is minor orthostatic hypotension, which lasts only a few minutes. IVIg, on the other hand, left me with a severe headache for a day or so each time.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]By the way, typical protocols for treating CIDP would use IVIg every four weeks or more frequently. Is your paraneoplastic syndrome why your doctor is not using IVIg more frequently? I take it your reference to antibodies to potassium is shorthand for antibodies to voltage-gated potassium channels (which are a class of proteins partially responsible for controlling the electrical potential of the cell wall).[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]Just another point of view, but I am very glad to use TPE.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Godspeed in finding the right treatment for you.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]MarkEns[/COLOR]