IgM deficiency

[colleendonny]

We are on our way to see Dr. B. I am looking over my son's labs. He will be 3 in July. His IgM is 44, with the reference range being 43-207. So, while his is in "normal" range, it is still 2 points from low. What do you do for children with a low IgM? Is the only option IVIg?

Can this number change to go into more of a normal range on its own?

[dcmom]

My older daughter had a brief period of low IGM (or IGG- don't have labs in front of me). We took a wait and see approach, and her numbers have gone back to the normal range. I definitely think (esp with pandas kids) lab numbers should be followed for a while prior to any intervention. IMHO pandas can mess up lots of lab numbers.

 

Good luck!

[sf_mom]

Our younger DD had similar low immune deficiencies at the age of 2 1/2 and 3 years of age plus many other abnormal labs including low RBC, Low WBC, etc (much, much lower levels at 13 for IgG 3 and 200s for IgG 1). We spoke with Dr. K (PANDAS Dr.), went to Immunology at Stanford Children Hospital and saw three different Dr.'s there that ran numerous tests, reviewed all labs with LLMD and have continued to track immune deficiencies. None of these Dr.'s felt IVIg was an option at this time. Both Dr. K and Stanford Dr.'s wanted to follow her labs for at least one year before diagnosing anything like selective immune deficiency. Our LLMD felt once she was properly treated for chronic infection these numbers would normalize. At last check (one year ago) we saw improvement but still out of normal range. She is still being treated for chronic infections as well as many other issues including methylation, gut issues, biofilms, viruses, etc. and continues to make slow and steady progress. We are hopeful IVIg will not be necessary for full recovery.

Edited June 20, 2012 by SF Mom

[colleendonny]

Thanks for your replies. We are just going to keep an eye out for it.

[michiganpandas]

My daughter (started Pandas last year w/ sudden onset) had low IgM.....just did a check again and it's even lower....Dr. T said that IgM is not helped with ivig. We have no current infections that are showing up...my daughter is getting better with time it is just slooooooooooooow progress w/ lots of ups and downs with anxiety/ocd.....but, what is important is that she has learned to try to deal with it... She was on antibiotics from Nov.--May (azit. 3 x's per week) and now i'm giving her a break in the summer.

[thenmama]

IgM is the early response immune globulin--Sort of the system's first line defense. This is why they test igm levels to see if someone has had a recent infection w/ a particular antigen. The IgG response follows.

 

Igm def. (SIgMD if only igm low) could leave one open to more severe or longer lasting infections, greater susceptibility to complications and secondary infections, etc. SIgMD is often paired with SAD. SIgMD is pretty rare, so there's little info about it/ treating it. In some cases ivig is used bc even though it doesn't give the igm the pt needs, they may need the

Passive immunity it provides for other reasons.

 

But don't worry- IgM in the 40s isn't likely to be worrisome. My dh, ds, and dd are igm deficient. Dh was around 25 last check. Dd around that too (she's lower--relatively-- in her igg). Ds's igm fluctuates between entirely absent and barely there-- like one time it was 11, the next time they couldn't detect any.

 

Curious how low others are--And wondering if levels fluctuate with flares?

 

Typing on phone stinks so that's all for now... Lmk if you want more info.

[thenmama]

Edit double post.

Edited June 21, 2012 by thenmama