[QUOTE=Kristin]My Dr started me off with a few weeks of IV (solumedrol) to make sure that I was able to tolerate it and then switched me to oral (prednisone) to make it easy for me to take. It is the way that he does it, he said that there was no difference when I questioned him on it. My Dr use to have papers listed on the clinics site, but now I can’t find them of course since someone is asking…:(
Kristin[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the info. Kristin. If you find the site, can you let me know please.
Laurel

Gabrielle, what dose of solumedrol are you getting? Is it really high and was it given only one day or several? IV IgG theoretically works by displacing bad antibody/competing for binding as well as being negative feedback to stop production of any (and therefore also bad) antibody. Solumedrol acts on the lymphocytes and reduces inflammation, so it acts differently. Where I work, often IV IgG and pulse decadron are given once a month for autoimmune conditions (neurologic or blood associated) with good results. The high dose pulse steroid can cause moodiness and trouble sleeping the days it is given and still has a smaller risk of affecting bone density, immune sufficiency, etc but little risk of adrenal suppression or stunted growth in children. There is also much, much less weight control issues although this can still occur. We are pleased with the results and the families are pleased that the children have trouble for four days a month and not all month (with moodiness and wanting to eat everything in sight, etc). the other big problem about daily or frequent steroids are that they predispose to muscle weakness and you definitely do not need this in GBS. I think pulse steroids make a lot of sense if you are going to use steroids for an autoimmune process. I would not go so far as to say they will not hurt anything, because as above there are risks, but they are a lot less than daily steroids and the benefits might be as great in some people. It is also worth stating in case someone is on daily steroids that you have to be careful in changing from daily steroids to pulse steroids and have to do this slowly so there is not a flair of the disease. It is also worth noting that the pulse steroids at the time of IV IgG help in some people to decrease the side effects of the IV IgG like aseptic meningitis.

WithHope for cure of these diseases.