PatientsLikeMe : Plasmapheresis Treatment Report

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What is Plasmapheresis?

Plasmapheresis or plasma exchange, is a procedure which involves the removal, treatment, and return of blood to the body to remove antibodies, thereby preventing them from attacking their targets. This blood purification procedure is used to treat several autoimmune diseases.

Reasons had & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons had	# of patients	# of patients evaluated by
Slow my Devic's progress	13	3
Slow my MS progress	7	3
Other	2	1
Exacerbation (relapse) MS	2	0
Reverse MS Attack	1	0
disease-related symptoms	1	0
Myasthenia Gravis	1	0
just finished a series of plasma exchange for an exacerbation	1	0
rescue from being paralized	1	0

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Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe	0	0%
Moderate	3	43%
Mild	2	29%
None	2	29%

Most commonly reported side effects

Fatigue	3	43%
Dizziness	2	29%
Precipitous drop in blood pressure	2	29%
Dizziness and increased fatigue during the course of treatment.	2	29%
Precipitous drop in blood pressure, and bleeding from site.	1	14%

Mild
Moderate
Severe

See all 5 reported side effects ▼

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always	7	100%
Usually	0	0%
Sometimes	0	0%
Never	0	0%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very	1	14%
Somewhat	1	14%
A little	5	71%
Not at all	0	0%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+	0	0%
$100-199	0	0%
$50-99	0	0%
$25-49	0	0%
< $25	6	86%

Patient Evaluations

See all 7 patient evaluations

LSK

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Mild

Cognition: moderate

Vision: none

Speech: mild

Swallowing: none

Upper limb: mild

Walking: mild

See profile
LSK

as needed

since Jun 01, 2008
Efficacy Major for Slow my MS progress
Side Effects Moderate
See full evaluation