IVIG #3: Third Time’s a Charm

Could IVIG #3 be the end of PANS for me?
Could IVIG #3 be the end of PANS for me?

Today, just two weeks after my third IVIG, I’m happy to say I’ve made tremendous progress. I’m no longer afraid of food and calories, so I’ve probably gained back about half of the weight I lost. I’ve gotten strong enough to run (slowly). My POTS symptoms are basically gone, and my parents have told me that there’s life in my eyes again. Oh, and I’ve even finished all of the summer coursework for the classes I had to take incompletes in—including a twelve-page research paper!

So am I better now? Is life perfectly peachy now that I’ve had IVIG?

Not even close.

As I’ve said in the past, IVIG is really only the beginning of recovery—not the end. I spent much of the summer trying to hold myself together long enough to make it to IVIG, but now that it’s over and I continue to struggle, I’m realizing I still have to keep holding myself together. It’s not like you get IVIG and then you’re better. No, it can be up to a year before IVIG has its full effect.

I’m no stranger to this long healing process, though—this is my third time going through it. But of course, I don’t like to think about how long it can take to get better and what it entails. I’m not going to lie to those of you out there doing this for the first time… It’s hard—but so worth it in the end.

Some days and weeks, you might do extremely well and maybe even forget PANDAS is part of your life. Others, you might be worse than you were before IVIG. But a lot of the time, you won’t be sure if IVIG has done much good at all. Yet the truth is, if it’s working (and it does fail 10-15% of the time), it’s probably working so slowly that you can’t even tell. Blogging and keeping track of symptoms has helped me in the past, because it’s given me reference points for comparison that showed me I was getting better, even if I didn’t feel like it.

Every IVIG is different, however, because it’s always a unique set of people’s antibodies, and you never know how your body will respond to them. (This is one reason it sometimes fails.)  You and I will have unique experiences with our different IVIGs.

Each time I’ve had this treatment, it’s taken a different amount of time to work. The first time, it was two months, and then it stopped working another two months later. The second time, I improved some right away, but it was nine months and a tonsillectomy later when I felt like my symptoms no longer interfered with my life. This time, I’ve also improved right away, but now I have to wait to see what happens next.

I know this might be a long and difficult journey, but I’m not afraid of it, and I’m optimistic that I’m going to beat PANS for good this time around. I’ve already made huge progress. Plus, my doctor says she’s finding IVIG to be more effective when you don’t have tonsils/adenoids like I don’t.

I can’t know what the future holds, but I’m choosing to believe that, when it comes to me and IVIG, the third time’s a charm.

14 thoughts on “IVIG #3: Third Time’s a Charm

  1. EVVIVA! – I say in Italian. I am so glad you are back on you feet. Let’s cheer and rejoice now! Hurrah!
    Love,
    Claudia

  2. We start IVIG with my son for the first time tomorrow. He had his tonsils out so hoping it will have positive results!

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