Advantages: Noninvasive. Pretreatment with NS 250 mL; Tylenol and Benadryl can mitigate complications.
Disadvantages: Risk of hypersensitivity with IgA deficiency (should check IgA levels before starting), aseptic meningitis, headache, chills, myalgias, transient hypertension, fluid overload, acute tubular necrosis, hyperviscosity syndrome (stroke, MI, cryoglobulinemia, monoclonal gammopathy, high lipoproteins, or preexisting vascular disease). Benefits last only a few weeks.
This last comment is what bothers me the most... benefits only last a few weeks. Currently, my Oncologist ordered the treatment every other month. So, 3 weeks after the treatment, all the adverse situations that the IVIG treatment eliminated are back in full force and I have to wait another 4-5 weeks before my next infusion takes place.
Today... I receive my every other month infusion and by Sunday, I should be experiencing the benefits of the two and a half hour treatment. the port that has been put inside my chest is accessed and within seconds the premeds are flowing through my body and as my legs begin to twitch nervously, my body feels drowsy and I close my eyes... I wake up two hours later... in 30 minutes another treatment is over and I am heading home.
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