CBowman
Oddly enough, I was reading the Sunday paper's magazine insert entitled Body & Soul. I reached the page on "Health Issues" with Dr. Cindy Pan and a caption that reads "Some nerve" - Weakness and tingling in the extremities are symptoms of Guillain-Barre syndrome.
Dr. Pan describes the initial symptoms as weakness and tingling in the extremities. She also goes on to say that "typically the symptoms of Guillain-Barre syndrome come on fairly rapidly, over a period of a few days or weeks, but sometimes over the course of a single day."
In the section entitled "What causes it?" she states the following: "Exactly what causes the immune system to start attacking the peripheral nervous system (in particular the myelin sheaths covering the nerves) is not fully understood. It is, however, recognised that in many cases the onset of the syndrome is preceded by a viral or bacterial infection, such as a respiratory tract infection, gastroenteritis (most commonly food poisoning with Campylobacter jejuni), herpes zoster (shingles), glandular fever or viral hepatitis.
Other potential triggers that may precede the onset of Guillain-Barre syndrome include surgery, insect bites, pregnancy and very rearely, vaccinations."
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Sorry this is so long... but I need to communicate this just in case someone benefits from the information... I have the rest of the article in front of me about how it is diagnosed? What are the treatments? The Outlook for Sufferers...
It is my brother George who put me onto this forum as he was loosing his ability to use the computer. His greatest fear was not to be able to search for answers... I am able and I can do it for him.
Anna