what is max ivig dosage

Everything that I’ve read has said the max per dose is 2g/kg. However, I have NEVER read anything (until today – I’ll get to that in a minute) that has said anything about frequency. As far as I know there aren’t any guidelines on how often a person should get IVIG.

I got my new IG Living magazine today & it has a page on current medical guidelines for IVIG therapy (pg . 13) This is what it says for treating neurological disorders:

“A standard loading dose of 2 g/kg is usually administered over several days, depending on tolerance and convenience. It is then followed by booster doses of 0.5 to 1g/kg every 2 weeks, or 1 to 2/kg every month, for a total of 2 to 3 months, at which time the neuropathy is re-evaluated. Improvement may be seen at 2 weeks to 3 months after beginning therapy, but if there is no improvement in 2 to 3 months, the IVIG is discontinued. Maintenance therapy is usually continued until there is maximal improvement, and then discontinued or tapered to see if it is still needed. In approximately one-third of cases, the disease is monophasic, and the improvement persists. In the other two-thirds, however, the disease relapses so that maintenance therapy is needed. The dose is then adjusted as needed. In such cases, therapy can be considered a holding action, until a cure is found.”

However, there isn’t anything on auto-immune diseases specifically. Primary Immune Defiency Diseases & Idopathic (Auto-immune) Thrombocytopenia Purpura are listed.

Kelly