Aseptic Menengitis from IVIG

Call your doc’s office today and ask about that reaction! It’s either the rate is being done too fast and/or you need some pre-medications. Read any brand of IVIG’s ‘prescribing information’ and it’ll say the same things…Yes it could be AM, but it could be that the rate was too fast [resulting in that or what are euphemistally called ‘flu-like symptoms’] or an allergic reaction…
for most tylenol and/or benedryl helps a lot. Few require additional pre-meds and I’m sure you can find out about the alternatives in prior posts around here.

Call the doc’s office…get it on record. Things will be adjusted accordingly…
Good luck!

My 10 y/o had the same problems. He had a vey slow rate and was pre med. Every time he would be sick, headaches, elev. blood pressure, throwing up. We did pre med. Tylenol, benadyl and zofran for nausea. We started medicating every six hours around the clock the whole infusion time (three days in a row, 7 1/2 hours each day) on the last day, we continued to medicate a full 24 hours after. As awful as it was, he did not want to stop because he knew he needed it.

Regarding your talking funny, one of two thoughts, you could be dehydrated from the vommiting, pottasium could be low, this causes confusion. Something I personally noticed with Kevin, all the benadyl seemed to confuse him, once it was out of his system in a couple of days he was back to normal. I do not know if this is the case with you, I would watch it closely!
Was your blood pressure elevated? Mention it to your doc.

Kevin at first recieved gammaguard powder which was mixed, he seemed to have worse reaction with this, then we trien the premixed liquid form and the side efeects were about 25 % better, but still obvious. Good luck to you!
Dawn Kevies mom

Make sure you pre medicate(unless you are allergic to the meds) and if it happens again change brands of ivig, if it still happens get a lp-if its really elevated its more then likely am-if its only slightly then its the brand of ivig you are getting. How are your numbers? gluc, reds, whites etc.

You’ve not posted about any follow-up….sooo. one other at least tends to get a bit worried.
Hope things are going really well. Nothing else!

Sheila,

Just had the same reaction as you last week. About every 3rd time I go thru this and I get my ivig every month. I am premedicated with prednisone, tagamet and benadryl and still get it. I don’t have any answers unfortunately. Sometimes the rate–too fast– has something to do with it or a change in brands. Also, try icing your head and neck, seems to help with me.
Lisa B

Sheila,
I, like you, get the aspetic menengitis from the infusions. I pretreat with Dexamethasone **4mg before each treatment and a couple of days after} along with the Benadryl and Tylenol. We also keep the rate around 80. It takes longer and I still get alittle bit of symptoms sometimes but nothing like it use to be. Hope this little bit of info helps. Good luck, Pattie

I’m late posting – been sick, in hospital but I’ve had asceptic meningitis with IVIG’s and it’s terrible! I found that one brand was especially lethal for me so I avoid that brand. Just a thought………….:)

I had asceptic Meningitis 2 times from Ivig. I had Ivig 4 times total. The first two times, I did not get AM, the last two I did. The last two were a gammagaurd and the first two were carimune (I think I spelled that right). SOme peopl have reactions to one kind and not another. I also pre-med. but still got it. They even put me in the hospital the last time and did the spinal tap and everything…joy joy. Now we are avoiding ivig altogether and I am on prednisone, but if we have to go the ivig route again, we will go back to the first brand I used that didn’t cause the AM. Hope this helps.