All about Guillain-Barré Syndrome - GBS attacks even those in good shape..

Symptoms of the Guillan-Barre syndrome started appearing on September 4th of 2005, I thought my muscles were just aching because of the kick-boxing and rock-climbing I had done that previous week.

I bypassed going to a Doctor, thinking that it's just a sports injury and headed directly to see a physiotherapist. I attended 4 sessions of physiotherapy over a course of 2 weeks. My legs were still weak and I was having difficulty walking (especially with a laptop bag on my shoulder). My hands started getting weaker as well (I couldn't spray deodorant with one hand or even open a bottle of water). I was not even able to go on my tip-toes, felt very weak and overall fatigued. These symptoms were getting worse and worse as the days passed.

I finally decided to see a pediatrician on September 22nd of 2005 and after doing his check-up, he advised me that I should seek special attention at a hospital. The fastest way for me to see someone was to go through the emergency at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.
After waiting there for 5 hours, I was finally seen by two doctors. I took a urine test and a blood test and they said that I should see a Neurologist first thing the next morning.

After seeing the Neurologist, he asked me to schedule an EMG test which would help us identify exactly what I had. Finally, EMG test was taken and the neurologist made sure I got special attention. The next morning I started plasma-pheresis treatments, which made the difference in the world. After my second treatment I was feeling some improvement and continued my treatments until I finished the 7 which my neurologist had requested.

Today, I am still improving and have realized that all it takes is a lot of motivation, positive attitude and patience. The harder you work on getting better, the faster you will. I was blessed by having my family, friends and colleagues around me and supporting me. I cannot thank them enough for all the love I got from them which was the most important factor in my recovery.

I would describe GBS in phases:

Phase 1: Tingling and weakness in legs, spreading to arms, becoming overall fatigue and can spread to lungs and almost complete paralysis.
Phase 2: Start treatments as soon as possible, rest a lot and stack up on DVDs, TV series and books (you will need them).
Phase 3: Recovering and getting stronger. Use stress balls to get your strength back in your hands and to help build up endurance. Get on a stationary bike and start exercising everyday, slow and easy to build on endurance, muscles and overall strength of your legs. Also, start doing some very light weights with multiple reps. Of course, eat healthy too!
Phase 4: Get better, be happy, and feel proud and thank God for your health.

The more you work on yourself, the faster you will recover. I hope this helps many others who are going through GBS; it sure helps to know that the rule with GBS is that even the most severe cases usually recover.

Signed: Anonymous
(name known to Editor)
2005