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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Acute Motor Axonal Neuropathy (AMAN) - Guillian Barre Syndrome

Only 1 in every 100 is supposed to contract this disorder.  Well, if you are in the Acadiana area, you might be more likely than that if your immune system is low.  Let me give you the benefit of my personal experience with Guillian Barre Syndrome (AMAN).

 I felt it was important to discuss because I saw first hand exactly what it can do because it happened to my mother.  While she was in the hospital and then later (about 1 month) in rehabilitation we learned that there were at least 2 other patients in the same hospital with that same diagnosis.

First of all, what is Guillian Barre Syndrome?  Without going into all of the scientific explanations, it is generally a paralyzing and potentially fatal disorder which can attack your system and have you paralyzed within a few weeks if not treated.  I want to discuss a type of Guillian Barre Syndrome called Acute Motor Axonal Neuropathy.  How does one contract this?  First of all a lowered immune system allows it to manifest from a bacteria (common in China but also found in Mexico) which is then activated by a virus into this auto immune disorder.  In short, the body attacks itself.  In this case it attacks the inside of the cell (the axonal part).  She could still feel but not control her muscles.

For those who would like a more scientific description, here is what Wikipedia says, "Acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) is a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome. It is characterized by acute paralysis and loss of reflexes without sensory loss. Pathologically, there is motor axonal degeneration with antibody-mediated attacks of motor nerves and nodes of Ranvier.

The neurologist who treated my mother asked if she had ongoing diarrhea.  He then asked if she had eaten any Chinese food recently.  Of course I asked why.  His response was that she had contracted a bacteria usually common in China. After more research I learned that it is also found in Mexico, although not as much as China.   This bacteria called Campylobacter jejuni was then activated by what was probably a common stomach virus that she contracted.

Within only a couple of weeks she went from babysitting my sister's 8 month old baby to being unable to swallow, hold up her arms, grasp anything, walk, or even roll over in bed. She tired easily and lost a lot of weight (not in the healthy way) and she was extremely weak.   I knew this was going to be the first thing I'd need to rebuild when I got her home.   She had to have a feeding tube inserted in her stomach because she lost almost all of her ability to swallow.  Fortunately she did not end up needing a respirator (which is not uncommon in these cases).

Fortunately, most people who contract this disorder are able to be treated and recovery is almost 100%.  The treatment given to my mother was called Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg).  It was given in 5 doses, 1 per day.  Within an hour of the first treatment she was moving her arms noticeably.  Although the treatment is not without risk, as it can cause renal failure if already predisposed to kidney problems or with persons who are diabetic prognosis for recovery is at least 98%.

Needless to say it was a terrifying ordeal.  Approximately 1 or 2 weeks after her treatment she was in the rehabilitation unit where she stayed for a little more than a month.  She made great progress there, but of course it was slow.  Rebuilding your cells takes time.

Once she progressed enough, she was sent home for further recuperation.  Home Health came by 2 to 3 times per week to administer physical and occupational therapy.  I made sure she did her therapy the rest of the week as well as voice therapy.  The voice therapy was important to rebuild the muscle strength so that she would be able to swallow food and liquids properly..  As she still had a feeding tube installed, her blood sugar would not regulate.

I received approval from her doctor to begin rebuilding her system using natural supplements and diet approximately 1 or 2 months after she came home.  I started her very gently and carefully because with an auto-immune disorder you don't want to overstimulate the immune system and get the body attacking itself again.

The program that I put my mother on consisted of a shake that could be administered through her feeding tube.  Love and Peas  (Stock no. 3082-9) was the meal replacement I chose.  I then added Ultimate Green Zone (the powdered form) (Stock no. 1103-6) is a superb formula of food supplements that gently detoxifies the system while nourishing the body).  I also added some Liquid Chlorophyll (Stock no. 1689-6) so that she would get more oxygen into her system.  Liquid Chlorophyll is also a blood purifier that works gently.

Antibiotics were administered to my mother in the hospital so I included Bifidophilus (friendly gut bacteria) (Stock no. 4080-4) to rebuild her gut flora so that it would be back in balance.  Proactazyme Plus (Stock no. 1525-0) was the form of food enzyme that I went with to aid in digestion. I simply opened the capsules and poured them into the shake.  These were all key ingredients in the first part of her program.

After a couple of months, I started noticing in general that her strength was gradually starting to pick up.  Her energy levels were slowly increasing as well. Her blood sugar levels were lowering, too.  Approximately 4 months of home therapy was rapidly bringing her to the point where she advanced to outpatient therapy.  This was far more extensive and aggressive than any therapy she had undergone thus far.  She told me that there were 2 other people in therapy that had suffered from Guillian Barre Syndrome.  My mother's rate of rehabilitation was far more advanced than that of the other 2 people.  She believes that the addition of the food supplements as well as her diet were major factors in her rapid recovery.

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