CIDP Success
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Hello,
I was diagnosed with CIDP in 2005. My case was not overly severe: I never really lost the ability to walk, for example. Still, it was severe enough that without treatment, I likely would have been paralyzed in my arms and legs. I was treated initially with prednisone, then plasmapheresis, IVIg for a while, CellCept, and Imuran. By 2008, my treatment regimen was stable and effective, with most symptoms at bay.
In 2010, the Foundation published a study that suggested that a significant percentage of people with CIDP could experience remission and even cure (by analogy with cancer patients). Because my symptoms had been stable for over a year, I decided it was time to go without treatment and see what happened. My neurologist was supportive and guaranteed that treatment would be there if I relapsed.
At that time, I was getting one plasmapheresis treatment every other week and taking Imuran. I knew three things: that I responded quickly to plasmapheresis, slowly to Imuran, and that it took about three month to develop bad symptoms. I therefore stopped plasmapheresis. After three months and no change in symptoms, I stopped taking Imuran. I had a central venous catheter for my plasmaphereis, which I left in just in case things went down hill after I stopped treatments. I remained asymptomatic for further eight months, so I had the catheter removed. In April 2012, I was treatment free for a full year, so by the definition of the study, I am in remission.
It is still a mystery why I am in remission. Perhaps the multi-pronged, aggressive attack on the syndrome helped. Perhaps just the prednisone (I did massive doses for a while) did the trick. Perhaps Imuran suppressed my immune system just enough to allow it to start regulating itself properly. Or perhaps it was simply God’s grace to remove it from me (not that grace and medical treatments are mutually exclusive). In any case, neither my neurologist nor I claim any credit for my recovery. Nor can we responsibly suggest that the approach that I took will lead to remission in anybody else.
Unfortunately, not everything is perfect. I am slower than I used to be, have more balance problems, tire more easily, and still suffer from occasional neuropathic pain. My last NCV was abnormal, just not enough to provide a diagnosis of CIDP. However, if in four years I am in this condition, I will happily call myself cured.
~MarkEns
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congratulations MarkEns, It must feel so good to be treatment free. That was long time to have to deal with a catheter, I was more than ready to have mine out after only 10 days of haviing it.
Best wishes on your remission–Lori
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That should be NCV — Nerve Conduction Velocity. It is a test which can be indicative of demyelination.
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Hello,
An update is in order, but it can be much shorter than my first post. I am still in remission, after four full years without treatment. Residuals remain, at about the level described above, but otherwise things are fine. I have just one more year to go until we can call me cured.
~MarkEns
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Hello,
A final update is in order. After five years of remission, my status is now happily that of cured. I would not have thought it possible when first diagnosed. Nor would I have made the attempt to find out without the work of the Foundation.
If you find that your symptoms have been stable for a while, it is certainly worth discussing with your neurologist about tapering or stopping treatment. You may find that remission and cure is possible, but you will never know until you try.
~MarkEns
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Hooray, Yippee, Yahoo… Congratulations!!! We are all envious of you Mark! Thank you for giving all of us hope!
Sincerely,
Jim
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To Nasdaq7,
No, I did not follow any specific diet. My diet would not be one that any doctor would characterize as unusually healthy.
~Mark Ens
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Hello jk,
I am pretty much where I was in 2016. Balance is perhaps somewhat worse and occasional sharp pains and muscle spasms seem to happen more frequently. But I don’t have a diary to allow me to compare in any sort of quantitative fashion, so perhaps not. Regardless, I don’t think I would attribute the apparent changes to a relapse, though, but to ageing.
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MarkEns,
I too was declared in remission, based on no worsening without treatment, in 2016 by Dr. Jeffery Allen, a member of the GBS-CIDP Medical Advisory Board.
Recently I felt weaker and sought out Dr. Allen up in Minnesota. He compared my recent EMG/NCV and Clinical picture to that in 2016 and before.
This sentence from his notes sums it up- “… His condition blurs the clinical distinction between MMN and mCIDP (Lewis Sumner Syndrome), and I think blurs the pathobiology mediating these disorders as well.”
Just restarted IVIG every 3 weeks. Sigh.
Happy New Year, everybody.
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What an amazing story! I am newly diagnosed. Getting a lot of good info. Thanks for sharing your story.
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