Treating And Diagnosing Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Guillain-Barre syndrome is an autoimmune disorder, ladies. It means your immune system isn't working properly! Ladies, in this case, your immune system is going to attack your central nervous system. The first symptoms? Numbness and tingling in your extremities. You'll also experience some weakness in these areas. And yes, these symptoms are going to spread. Doctors haven't pinpointed a clear cause of it, but there's hope. Ladies, many patients say they had an infection within 6 weeks of their first symptoms.

It can be treated, but there's no cure for Guillain-Barre syndrome. Ladies, expect to be in the hospital as part of your Guillain-Barre syndrome treatment. Part of this will be for you to receive immunoglobulin therapy! Besides the hospital, there are natural treatments for Guillain-Barre syndrome, like physical therapy. It all starts, of course, with the appropriate diagnostic tests.

Electromyography

Ladies, electromyography is great at detecting problems in your nerves and muscles. It's an excellent test for diagnosing Guillain-Barre syndrome. Your doctor gets a detailed view of your muscle and nerve connections. This is the best test for pinpointing the cause of your problems! Yes, it can be in your nervous system or muscles!

This test measures the activity of motor neurons. They're responsible for your muscle contractions! You will have needles with electrodes inserted into the affected part of your body. The electrodes on the ends are going to record all the electrical activity! The machine in this test will take that activity and turn it into a graph. You'll also get a nerve conduction study with this one. Ladies, this means electrodes on your skin!

Lumbar Puncture

A lumbar puncture (spinal tap), ladies, is common when you're being tested for Guillain-Barre syndrome. This test takes some spinal fluid from your lower back! Doctors do this by inserting a hollow needle into your back and guiding it until it reaches your spine! This needle is what's filled with spinal fluid.

Once they have the fluid, it needs to be examined, ladies! Some specific changes in spinal fluid appear with Guillain-Barre syndrome. Specialists will find them! Of course, they'll also check for other nerve conditions and rule them out at the same time. This test is easy and doesn't have much recovery time linked to it. In and out, ladies!

Physical Therapy

Ladies, you need physical therapy as a Guillain-Barre syndrome treatment. Remember, this condition saps your strength and mobility. It's painful and can mean paralysis. However, physical therapy helps! This therapy keeps your body moving safely. It'll maintain your mobility, ladies, throughout your illness! It even brings back more mobility when it's used regularly throughout the illness and after. Ladies, expect your doctors and caregivers to move your limbs carefully. You can help them with this if you're able! Of course, formal physical therapy is great. It gives you the best and safest exercises to keep up your strength, mobility, and endurance. It'll even make your fatigue from this syndrome go away!

Immunoglobulin Therapy

When it comes to treating Guillain-Barre syndrome, get ready, ladies! Immunoglobulin therapy is pretty standard. You'll have an IV line where you'll be given donated blood. The idea is to get healthy antibodies from this blood. They are going to stop your unhealthy antibodies from attacking your nerves!

However, you'll need a high dose to achieve this effect. And ladies, this isn't a cure for Guillain-Barre syndrome. Your symptoms will simply be much easier to manage! Intravenous therapy is so important because of its immediate effect. Ladies, getting this treatment subcutaneously takes too long! It's not worth the convenience of being at home. You need the hospital anyway!

Plasmapheresis

Plasmapheresis is a great treatment. Ladies, you'll also have heard it be called plasma exchange. It means that doctors will take some blood and blood plasma from you. They'll separate the plasma from your blood cells. After that? Doctors add saline or albumin to the blood cells! Once that's done, ladies, your blood cells are given back through an IV.

Your body is going to make more plasma to replace what the doctors took. The goal? It'll make plasma with healthy antibodies! Yes, the ones that have been attacking you are generally in plasma. This process is going to stop your body from attacking your nerves as often. It'll slow down the progression of Guillain-Barre syndrome. Your symptoms? Much easier to manage!