Gbs- Cipd

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2007 at 1:45 am

      I think this is a dumb question, but I really don’t know the answer: Can GBS become CIPD? At what point would that happen? In other words, how would anyone be able to diagnose CIPD once GBS has been diagnosed? (Please forgive me ignorance here)

      I know someone out there has the answer to this- you are all such a great wealth of information!

      Thanks!
      Jenn

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2007 at 2:29 am

      GBS and CIDP are two different disease but are similar. GBS is a sudden decline with slow improvement. CIDP is a slow decline with quick improvement (in our case) from medication. With GBS the myelin is attacked, the attack stops & the myelin regrows. With CIDP the myelin is slowly attacked, the attack stops, a little healing occurs, the myelin is attacked again and the cycle repeats.

      Many people are dx’d with GBS first because the symptoms are the same. Once the person has a relapse then they are usually dx’d with CIDP because the dr’s realize it’s not just going to go away.

      That’s a very basic explanation. I hope it helps.

      Kelly

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2007 at 8:40 am

      Could this reattack be several years out?
      The reason I ask is I DX with GBS, but when I look back the times I was sick
      before the full onset was months before. Also, when I look back I remember things happening to me. Example hand going numb why typing at work…oh I must be getting carpel tunnel. Things of that nature.
      The Nuro DX me when I finally got in as GBS.
      Now if you you CIDP is the attack over and over again….or can you be well
      for several years and then get attacked again?
      Our Illness is so Strange. With the Residuals and the actual sickness it can be so confusing.
      Thank you,
      parker0507/JB

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2007 at 8:50 am

      parker,

      it could be. but it also could be recurring gbs. or, as you said, a residual flareup. take care. be well.

      gene gbs 8-99
      in numbers there is strength

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2007 at 11:47 am

      [B]In my husband’s case the answer is yes. He had a fast onset of GBS, then after that he kept relapsing and was sent to a Neuromuscular dr who specialized in GBS and CIDP, he then was diagnosed with CIDP after months of decline. He also never got better, only worse over the 6 years he was alive.[/B]

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2007 at 2:35 pm

      Hi, Jenn.

      There’s no bad or silly question except the one that isn’t asked.

      There are occasions when a person is diagnosed with GBS and in time has the diagnosis changed to CIDP. The question is whether he actually had GBS and it turned into the chronic form, or if he had CIDP all along and it was initially misdiagnosed as GBS. I don’t know that there’s a definitive answer to that.

      The guide on GBS published by the UK GBS group states:

      ‘CIDP is only distinguished from GBS by virtue of its pattern of progression. GBS is always defined if the low spot is reached within four weeks (and sometimes up to six weeks) although it typically happens within a few days. If the initial progressive phase lasts longer, and usually it is much longer, then the illness is called CIDP. Some CIDP patients are initially diagnosed with
      GBS and only when the deterioration continues over an extended period, or when one or more relapses occur after a period of improvement, is the illness reclassified as CIDP.’ ([url]http://www.gbs.org.uk/info/gbs.pdf[/url])

      Hope this helps.

      Deb
      London