All about Guillain-Barré Syndrome - Angelas GBS began with a stomach upset.

Hello!
My name is Angela, I'm 30 and a speech & language therapist in the UK.

I am recovering from GBS, which started with a stomach upset (nausea, diarrhoea, fatigue) and about 10 days later I got the neurological symptoms of tingling/numbness in my hands, feet and saddle area (that's the bottom to you!), horrible pains in my back and then weakness and dificulty walking developing over the next 3 days.

I knew a bit about GBS due to my training and called out my GP, telling her that's what I thought I had. I was given an appointment at the neurology ward of my local hospital the next day, was diagnosed with GBS and admitted onto the ward. That was 5 weeks ago, i.e. early November 2002.

I received 5 days of IV immunoglobulin and was worried that it wasn't working. Actually it got worse first, with my left eye affected and my walking deteriorating so I needed a wheelchair.
Every day I worried that it may spread to affect my breathing and swallowing. Thankfully, although I felt a little shallow of breath at times and suffered some discomfort on swallowing, this never progressed.

Then after I had finished my 5 days of treatment, I started to feel a slight improvement and more control in my walking with a frame. I was discharged from hospital after a week because my recovery really speeded up in the last day or two. Being discharged was a shock!

I continue to recover now at home. I can now walk without a stick, go up and down stairs without needing to hold, can drive and am preparing to return to work after christmas (albeit on a part time basis initially). I no longer have pain or numbness or tingling, although I do fatigue more quickly than normal.

What I am writing for is to encourage those who are newly diagnosed. A lot of GBS sufferers are like me and recover very quickly. The two other women on my hospital ward with GBS also recovered very quickly too. Some of the stories I have read on this website are truly heartbreaking and I have shed a few tears reading them.

I am not writing to brag about how fast I have recovered, simply to say it really isn't always the worst case scenario, although it is very easy to get gripped by the fear of the worst in the early days, as I was myself.

Good luck!
Angela
12.2002