recovery times

I dont think with GBS the text book recovery times can be taken as anything other than a ball park estimate … recovery times seems to vary so much from person to person and age, prior level of fitness etc dont seem to make much difference.

My doctors told me often the quicker the onset the quicker the recovery … i dont know if there is any real evidence of this but i know from reading others stories it is not unusual to hear of someone who has gone downhill very quickly and required vent etc that goes on to make an almost complete recovery whereas some people who were not as badly affected initially who take longer to recover and often suffer more residuals.

I think certain variants ie MF and AMAN tend to have a quicker recovery although i am not quite sure why.

having said all that, i would say i have had a very quick recovery – i went from perfectly normal to paralysed in a coma in 48 hours and spent 4 weeks in ICU, but then left hospital 3 weeks after getting out of ICU able to walk on my own and without needing any further PT or OT. I returned to work less than 6 months after getting GBS. I was totally independant probably 3 months after GBS but gave myself time to recover before going back to work. I think 3 months would be a very optimistic timeframe for recovery. Initially I was told anywhere from 3-24 months.

i dont mean to sound negative but i dont think there is anything to be gained by putting expectations on yourself. Unfortunately there is not a lot you can do to speed recovery up … you just have to do all the right things and heres the hardest part, have patience!