Starting Imuran

Anonymous
March 8, 2011 at 10:30 pm

In my case, it took several months for the diagnosis of CIDP. It was believed at first to be GBS. Only when it recurred, and further tests were done, was it diagnosed as CIDP.

My neurologist started me on just Prednisone at first. That is, apparently, the simplest treatment, and works well for some folks. But, it didn’t do much for me, and my CIDP came back like gangbusters.

Next, he started me on regular IVIG and Imuran (generic, actually). My problem was that I reacted badly to the Imuran, and my platelet count fell like a rock. He had to take me off the Imuran, and just use IVIG for several months.

Finally, he restarted Imuran at a relatively low dose (50 mg per day), in conjunction with the IVIG. After several months at that level my platelet count was still pretty good, and he increased the Imuran to 100 mg per day. I have been going at that dosage for two months, platelets are still OK, and I have been doing fairly well. In fact, I have increased the interval between IVIG treatments from 3 weeks to 4 weeks, and I still feel fairly good. This month I am going to try to go to a 5 week interval.

My point is that every patient is different, and all doctors may have a somewhat different approach. I appreciate the fact that my neurologist admits he does not have all the answers, and must adapt and adjust the treatment according to the results.