What is Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP)?

(adapted from the Guillain-Barre Foundation International website)

CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy) is an auto-immune disease, a rare disorder of the peripheral nerves characterized by numbness in the feet, gradually increasing weakness of the legs and, to a lesser extent, the arms. There may be pain and tingling sensations. These symptoms are caused by damage to the covering of the nerves, called myelin. It can start at any age and in both genders. Weakness occurs over two or more months. The cause of CIDP is unknown but infections, immunizations or chemicals are suspected

Anti-MAG IgM is a “cousin” of CIDP presenting very similar symptoms except it usually develops very slowly, generally over years. It presents mostly sensory and not so much motor loss. Usually it is not accompanied by pain. This is the variant I appear to have.

 I decided to present my story as a chronology to give it some order and make it easier to understand. I also decided to talk about the events that preceded the appearance of the first symptoms because I suspect they played an important role. Some of it is a summary of our stories posted in other places, just from a different perspective.
 

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