Since my preliminary diagnosis of CVID, I of course have been researching my butt off. This week hopefully I'll have a confirmation. I would be heartbroken if it somehow ends up being negative. I digress however.
The treatment for CVID is IVIG, which is Intravenous Immunoglobulin. Immunoglobulin, I have read is basically another name for antibodies which is easy to say and probably understand since I think most of know what antibodies are =)
In researching IVIG, I've found there are quite a few off-label uses for it. It seems it has been used for auto-immune diseases along with a host of other illnesses. Crohns isn't specifically mentioned but I have found one source which states that it has been used effectively in Rheumatoid Arthritis, since many Crohns folks deal with joint pain and some also have RA, I thought it might be useful to bring it up here as a possible treatment alternative for those who haven't had success with traditional approved therapies like Remicade, Humira, Imuran/6-MP/5-ASA drugs.
The treatment is very expensive, running around $10,000 US per treatment but varies as the dose is based on weight. The 10k figure was based on a 220 pound man. I believe Remicade is similar in cost though, please correct me if I'm wrong for those who are receiving that treatment.
I bring this up as perhaps another avenue for people who are considering what treatments to try next. I know LDN has been used by several here, this might be worth discussing with your doctor as another possibility.
Here are a few sources for those who might think about investigating this option.
http://www.suite101.com/blog/daisyelaine/ivig_therapy
http://www.cidpusa.org/P/ivig.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous_immunoglobulin
The treatment for CVID is IVIG, which is Intravenous Immunoglobulin. Immunoglobulin, I have read is basically another name for antibodies which is easy to say and probably understand since I think most of know what antibodies are =)
In researching IVIG, I've found there are quite a few off-label uses for it. It seems it has been used for auto-immune diseases along with a host of other illnesses. Crohns isn't specifically mentioned but I have found one source which states that it has been used effectively in Rheumatoid Arthritis, since many Crohns folks deal with joint pain and some also have RA, I thought it might be useful to bring it up here as a possible treatment alternative for those who haven't had success with traditional approved therapies like Remicade, Humira, Imuran/6-MP/5-ASA drugs.
The treatment is very expensive, running around $10,000 US per treatment but varies as the dose is based on weight. The 10k figure was based on a 220 pound man. I believe Remicade is similar in cost though, please correct me if I'm wrong for those who are receiving that treatment.
I bring this up as perhaps another avenue for people who are considering what treatments to try next. I know LDN has been used by several here, this might be worth discussing with your doctor as another possibility.
Here are a few sources for those who might think about investigating this option.
http://www.suite101.com/blog/daisyelaine/ivig_therapy
http://www.cidpusa.org/P/ivig.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous_immunoglobulin