Hi all. My understanding of IVIG is that the antibodies of up to 1000 people are filtered into one dose of it. Those antibodies are infused into us to confuse our antibodies, which are on a fast track to destroy our nerves. It is also my understanding that the ivig only keeps our antibodies at bay so that further damage is stopped and the nerves have time to heal from the damage that has already occurred.
What confuses me is that some are able to walk or run pretty quickly after getting it and others not. Does that mean that their nerves were less damaged when starting it?
If someone feels results for the first few days before returning to less mobility does that mean the ivig is actually working or could it be just a placebo effect?
Why does ivig effective in weekly doses for one and monthly doses for another when it has a 21 day life?
Any further knowledge, beyond these questions, would be greatly appreciated.
I don't know where you have been getting your information but antibodies are only found roaming the plains of Africa every 76 yrs when they come out of the ground to breed, antibody hunting only lasts for 24hrs when hundreds of hunters can be seen plucking this veracious creature with tweezers as they poke their little heads out of the ground.
ok so I made that up so heres the real science bit IVIG works by infusing good immune cells into the body that overwhelm the bodies own faulty immune cells temporarily to allow the body to recover from the effects of the faulty immune cells, the effectiveness of the IVIG is only temporary because the body produces more new immune cells that eventually overpower the infused cells but in some people the new produced cells aren't faulty or the body had a chance to recover more then others its pretty random in it duration and effectivness
IVIG can be completely ineffective in some people and with others it can become ineffective over time as for going into remission IVIG does not actually work by curing CIDP it merely stops it in its tracks (or that's the hope anyway) so remission will occur with a variety of elements IVIG only gives the impression of remission by temporarily reducing the autoimmune response in the body
I was confused, also regarding the "immediate" effects of the IVIG. A lot of that has to do with the IVIG antibodies slowing down or at least temporarily stopping the inflammatory process being caused by the "bad" antibodies. Over the long run, it should promote nerve healing, but the short term effects seem to be due to decreasing inflammation.