is Treatment delay for CIDP a problem?

[Barbara__0__0]

  I have previously obtained outstanding help and information from this forum, for which my internist and I are both most grateful.
  I now have all of the criteria for CIDP, including hyporeflexia (which was the last thing missing before, but has just showed up in the ankles).
  My appointment with a skilled sub-specialist is not until Nov 24 and I have been unable to find from the literature if delaying start of Prednisone, etc. makes any difference.
  Any thoughts?
  Many thanks
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I suspect that the reason you cannot find the information you are looking for in the literatiure, is because this specific question has not been addressed, as a general principle one would like to start treatment for any disease process as soon as possible but in the absence of any trial which compares people who had delayed treatment with thoase who had it earlier it is impossible to give a definitive answer.
Prednisone is only one of the treatments available for CIDP, plasmapheresis and IV Ig G being also widely used in conjunction with steroid and sometimes more aggressive immunosuppressant therapy.
If the diagnosis is already so securely made I would suggest that you talk to whoever has made the initial diagnosis and discuss getting therapy underway sooner than November 24th, whatever about doing you damage the delay is certainly not doing you any good !