Reply To: Hope

I don’t think calling it a “combination of both” makes sense. It’s only a label, anyway, for a class of disorders. The particulars of the presentation can vary widely. Usually, CIDP does not require a ventilator. Steroids are not helpful with GBS but can be used to treat CIDP. It all comes down to what the particular presentation is and what treatment works.

I am classified as CIDP but in some resprcts I am more similar to a case of GBS than to a typical (if there is such a thing) case of CIDP. I am atypical under either diagnosis.

I had nine plasma exchange treatments in the hospital, after two rounds of IvIg failed to halt the progression. Typically, about five treatments are given, but in my layman’s opinion, the more the better. After the trouble of installing the catheter, you might as well make good use of it. With no way to prove it, I believe the high number of treatments was the key to my quick recovery.