Re: Re: Valtrex or IVIG? Which is more effective treatment?

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Valtrex stops replication of viruses.  IVIG provides antibodies.  They work in two completely different ways so I do believe you can do both at the same time if you wanted but I'm not 100% positive.  I recently spoke with our doc about ivig and imig and the way he explained it was it is used to give the immune system a boost, a little extra added help (which is why I believe you can use it while doing Valtrex - the implication was there but not directly stated).  It's not something that you can do once, it has to be done several times and it's not necessarily a permanent fix - the hope is that the body will then begin to produce it's own antibodies after a sufficient amount of time.That's my understanding so far.  Can't say if it's all that correct, though!  :)CherylI think it's difficult to compare the two, as they really are targeted at very different things. We have now done 10 monthly IVIG infusions. We saw some gains in the first month or so, then nothing new for months, then some small steps forward, but with everything else we are doing it is difficult to give credit specifically to the IVIG. On the other hand, we know that my son has immunoglobulin deficiencies, and so IVIG is a proper treatment in any event -- indeed, one of the things that convinced us to try IVIG was our doctor's statement that he would do IVIG with anyone presenting with immune deficiencies like our son, whether or not they also were autistic. Our immunologist says that 1/3 of his autistic patients show improvement in functioning as a result of IVIG, although I'm not sure the results are that good in the very small sample of folks I have talked to that have gone down this road.We have not yet started Valtrex yet (we need to clear up some other issues and get Diflucan on board, but hope to be there within 1-2 months). Although I am not sure anyone knows the precise mechanism by which Valtrex helps some of our kids, it seems that it must be different than IVIG. So, in terms of efficacy, it's hard to compare one to the other. IVIG is far more expensive (unless your insurance covers it), and your little one gets to spend a day each month attached to an IV pole for hours and hours (we go slow, so it takes about 8-9 hours between the saline and the IVIG). Valtrex seems so often to come with that healing regression.For me, I think that the driving issue in my son's autism is an autoimmune-based, inflammatory disease process. That's why we went down the road of IVIG first, followed by an attack on his GI problems (autisitc enterocolitis, LNH, inflammation throughout his GI tract), and now are turing to Valtrex.Good luck,> >> > Someone clarify this for me... If a child has an IgG deficiency, > > they get sick more often, therefore have a compromised immune > system. > > Then, exposed to certain viruses - gets sicker (in some cases, > > exasporate (sp?) autism symptoms). Then, what is the better > treatment, > > Valtrex to blcok the virus (or make it dormant) or IVIG, to replace > > what's missing in the blood to fight off viruses to make immune > system > > stronger? > > > > Someone with more experience, please help me understand the > difference > > and which is a more effective treatment for children with > compromised > > immune systems, particularly, that have regressed or are recovering > > from autism.> >>