Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare auto-immune disorder that typically occurs after the person has been sick with a minor viral infection that is gastrointestinal or respiratory in nature. This syndrome can affect anyone, yet it is most common for those between thirty and fifty years old, whether male or female.
Generally the person will have recovered from the viral infection before Guillain-Barre symptoms start. Affecting only one person in 100,000, besides a viral disorder triggering the disease it can occasionally follow vaccinations like those for swine flu and rabies, or surgery. Guillain-Barre syndrome can also occur alongside viral infections like AIDS, Herpes simplex, and Mononucleosis. It may also double up with medical conditions such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Hodgkin’s disease, or occur when someone is already critically ill.
Once the symptoms start, they can progress within hours, or take days and weeks to fully manifest. Generally those affected with Guillain-Barre will be at the maximum level of weakness within two to three weeks from the first signs of the disorder.
What is Guillain-Barre syndrome?
When the body’s immune system is out of whack, it can attack portions of the nervous system. This is how Guillain-Barre syndrome begins. The immune system attack causes nerve inflammation that result in weakness in the muscles. This disorder can threaten life, by interfering with the patient’s ability to breathe, or with the body’s ability to maintain a consistent heart rate and blood pressure.
Often those with Guillain-Bare syndrome have to be on a respirator, monitored for blood clots, infection, abnormal heart beat, and either a blood pressure that is too low or too high. It is important to note that with today’s knowledge of the disease and the treatments available that most patients can recover from Guillain-Barre syndrome, although some will have lingering weakness.
There are other names for Gullain-Barre Syndrome, including Landry-Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Acute Idiopathic Polyneuritis, Acute Inflammatory Polyneuropathy, and also Infectious Polyneuritis.
Guillain-Barre Syndrome Symptoms
The initial symptoms of Guillain-Barre Syndrome encompass tingling sensations and weakness in the legs that cover many degrees. Often this weakness and the strange feelings will spread to the upper body and arms, and even to the head and neck. Typically the sensations increase, the intensity making it difficult to use certain muscles, ultimately causing complete paralysis in some patients. It may take just a few hours for the disease to progress, or this progression may occur over several weeks.
Those with Guillain-Barre often have difficulty swallowing, problems with vision, and in the early stages they may become very clumsy as their muscles and nerves slow down or quit working. As the muscle weakness and paralysis spreads it will affect the body. The paralysis before spreading to the trunk, arms, and even the head, generally starts in the legs which is why it has been labeled “ascending paralysis.” For those patients where the nerve inflammation and muscle weakness affects the diaphragm, the patient may require ventilator help to breathe.
There are a lot of “may be(s)” with this disorder as it covers mild to severe cases. The symptoms may begin at the same time in legs and arms together, or it may only occur in the head nerves. It typically starts in legs and moves upward, but I may start in the arms and move downward. It may reach its worse point in hours, or it may take several weeks to reach the crisis point in the illness.
Typical Guillain-Barre Syndrome Symptoms:
- Reflex loss in arms and legs
- Paralysis, muscle weakness, or loss of muscle function
- Numbness, decreased sensation
- Change in sensations
- Tenderness or muscle pain, cramps
- Uncoordinated movement, clumsy
Less Common Guillain-Barre Syndrome Symptoms:
- Blurred vision
- Difficulty moving face muscles
- Muscle spasms or contractions
- Palpitations, where you can feel your heartbeat
Emergency Symptoms of Guillain-Barre (seek immediate medical help):
- Unable to breathe deeply
- Breathing stops temporarily
- Any trouble breathing
- Trouble swallowing
- Drooling
- Feeling dizzy when upright and standing, or fainting
Guillain-Barre Syndrome Treatment
Treatment of Guillain-Barre Syndrom will depend on the specific symptoms of each patient. The main focus is to support life, for instance if the patient can’t breathe, they are put on a ventilator to help them breathe.
Another supportive treatment is plasmapheresis. This process cleans antibodies from the plasma to remove the ones that are attacking the nerve cells. Once this is done, normal antibodies are put back into the body through intravenous immunoglobulin.
Additional treatments may include:
- Blood thinners to prevent blood clots
- Anti-inflammatory medicines and narcotics for pain
- Use of a feeding tube
- Physical therapy to rebuild damaged muscles
Recovery time can also vary between just a few weeks, to months or years.
Guillain-Barre Syndrome Information
There are many resources on the internet that can provide information, medical facilities for treatment, and even groups that will help you learn about how to handle the disease. One of those is the Guillain-Barre Syndrome Foundation International.