My mom told me about IVIG when her neighbor had a baby with a compromised immune system. It was a very interesting story. The mom who was single had had a baby who had a compromised immune system. The hospital put him on some type of immune boosting treatment. I’m pretty sure it was IVIG. The hospital somehow was able to get custody of that baby for some reason. Then the hospital paid this single mom to have IVF done so she could have another baby. In the meantime she and her boyfriend got pregnant on their own and the 2nd baby had the same immune system problem. That baby also had IVIG done. After hearing this story my mom told me that I should try or ask for IVIG. I didn’t look much into it at the time, grateful that I didn’t because I would not have tried it at that time.
After we had mold again in 2021 I searched for some new doctors who could help us figure out how to detox mold for my daughter. We found one that mentioned IVIG fleetingly. I recall that we never really had a big conversation about it but the term has stayed in my mind since then.
It’s actually not as complicated as I thought at first. It is a biological agent meaning it is made from biological materials instead of synthetic materials that has antibodies. This blood product has helped many inflammatory states and autoimmune diseases. It is meant to help normalize a compromised immune system.
Jessica’s gastroenterologist had mentioned “biologics” at one point also. Human growth hormone and insulin are considered biologics. “Biologics have identified new targets for treating anemia, cystic fibrosis, growth deficiency, diabetes, hemophilia, hepatitis, genital warts, transplant rejection, and cancers. Biologics predict genetic propensity to diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Nondrug biologics include cultured tissues and immune system suppressants for transplantation and growth factors for tissue reconstitution to treat conditions such as diabetic foot ulcers.” Monoclonal antibody is a field that develops biologics. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3564302/.
IVIG was recommended by doctors for children during COVID-19, “The Panel recommends using IVIG in combination with low to moderate dose glucocorticoids in hospitalized patients for the treatment of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) ().” IVIG is not recommended for children with MIS unless glucocorticoid is contraindicated. https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/miscellaneous-drugs/intravenous-immunoglobulin/.
What is it? What’s it used for? Some alternatives
“Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is a pooled antibody, and a biological agent used to manage various immunodeficiency states and a plethora of other conditions, including autoimmune, infectious, and inflammatory states. The ultimate goal of this therapy is to normalize a compromised immune system. This activity reviews the indications, mechanism of action, contraindications, adverse effects, and monitoring of IVIG in the treatment of several immune deregulated states.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32119333/.
From book entitled Autoimmunity from bench to bedside: Chapter 41 Intravenous immunoglobulin-customized therapy.
“Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is a biological agent though developed for the therapy of immunodeficiency states, is now utilized for many types of diseases including infections, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. While IVIG is beneficial in organ-specific diseases, especially of the skin and nervous system, it is also efficient for systemic autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and vasculitis. The mechanisms of the positive of IVIG effects are manifold. The realistic goal of such therapy is to normalize the immunoregulatory system that has been compromised.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459449/.
I have been giving my daughter a supplement called Mega Mucosa which is possibly like IVIG except way safer. I am not sure I could even compare the two because I don’t fully understand IVIG. The product she currently takes is a serum-derived immunoglobulin concentrate that has IgG, IgA, and IgM. This seems to be helping her a little bit but has not completely stopped her from getting sick too often for my acceptance.
Researching IVIG so far has satisfied my curiosity. If we should ever need anything like this in the future I would research much more and ask many more questions of the doctors involved. But for now IVIG is not something that makes sense for us.