Scary but real…GBS is no joke

[00:00:00]He felt completely better. The stomach bug was gone, he was back at work, life was normal. Two weeks later, he couldn't feel his feet. By the time his wife drove him to the ER, the numbness had already climbed past his ankles to his knees. He kept saying the same thing over and over again. I already got over being sick. I don't understand what's happening. That's exactly what makes this condition so disorienting and weird. You think the story is over.

[00:00:22]You're recovered. The infection is gone.

[00:00:24]Whatever your body was fighting, it won.

[00:00:26]Except it didn't fully stop fighting.

[00:00:29]Here's the biology of what actually happens. His immune system did its job.

[00:00:32]It identified the infection and attacked it. But somewhere in that process, it made a critical error. It began recognizing a protein in his own nerve cells as a target. It kept attacking after the infection was cleared. What it was destroying is something called the myelin sheath, which is the protective coating that wraps around nerve fibers the way insulation wraps around electrical wires. And without that coating, the nerves can't conduct signals properly. And because it starts at the longest nerves first, the ones that reach all the way down to the feet, symptoms begin there and climb.

[00:01:01]Tingling, numbness, weakness, moving upward. That ascending pattern is a signature of Guillain-Barré syndrome.

[00:01:07]And it's the detail that tells you this is not something to monitor at home, cuz it doesn't always stop at the legs. It can climb to the trunk, to the chest, to the muscles that control your breathing, control swallowing. Some patients go from walking to the ER to being on a ventilator in a matter of a few days. He was admitted that night, and he spent 3 weeks inpatient. He recovered, but only because his wife thankfully didn't let him wait it out at home. The window where treatment can interrupt the progression is very narrow. If you or anyone you know develops tingling after they got sick, go to the ER and get checked out. Especially if it's moving upward in that pattern.

[00:01:41]Not medical advice. Dial 911 if there's a medical emergency.