I have been diagnosed with CIDP, and have gone through the "normal" protocol.. prednisone, IvIG, plasmapheresis, with no real help. My neurologist now suggests therapy with cytoxan or cellcept. He is "saving" the stem cell/bone marrow transplant as a last resort. I have read all of the info on both drugs and the risk/benefit for each. Because this disease robbed me of my life, I am leaning towards cytoxan therapy because it seems to be more aggressive than the cellcept (which is used mainly for transplant rejection). I really don't care about the side effects IF THE END RESULT IS GETTING MY LIFE BACK.
My question, therefore, is this: do most neurologists use cytoxan as a last resort for CIDP patients? Have the results been beneficial to the patient (remission of the disease process)? Would you, (a neurologist) recommend the use of cytoxan for a patient that has laboratory/emg results that prove the diagnosis of CIDP and has had no real benefit from the "regular" treatments?