Low IgA

[Rachel]

What causes low IgA? My son has had his checked several times. He is not deficient. His last test showed he was at 56 and the range is 71-263. I've also been told when someone has low IgA that IVIG may not be an option. What is the reasoning behind this. I've tried to find research but I'm coming up empty handed. In all his testing, his IgA has never shown to be in a normal range.

 

My son's cardiologist is considering doing a low dosage of IVIG to see if it would help his low blood pressure and get rid of the antibodies. However, he has held off on this treatment because the Bixan seems to be helping with the low blood pressure but not the rest of his symptoms.. However, I'm wondering how we are going to get rid of the antibodies in the brain. Is IVIG and PEX the only way to do this when your kid has been sick for over 3 years?

 

Is a low dosage of IVIG better to start with when your kid has a low IgA? I am getting ready to go see the cardiologist this next week. Our cardiologist has already got approval from our insurance for the treatment. Not sure if we should go for it. Any reasearch or opinions would be helpful at this time.

 

I am reading Buhner's books and really want to pursue the herbal route first. Has anyone done IVIG with herbal supplements?

[momslove]

Our daughter's IgA was 50 when last tested before her high dose IVIG. We specifically asked about the risks in getting IVIG with the lower level of IgA. We were told that the risk comes when the IgA level is even lower, but I don't recall how much lower. I have read somewhere that there are IVIG products made for patients with low IgA. Our daughter had no problems with the IVIG and her IgA level.

[pr40]

can you say why would would not do IVIG? if your cardiologist suggested it and if it is a standard treatment for pANDAS, why the hesitation?

IVIG is a kind of blood transfusion not really medicine and as such may be less invasive than herbal treatment.

[mamaluvsyou]

OUr dd just had high dose ivig, she has PANS and low IGA and IGM. My understanding is that IVIG is made up mostly of IGg, also you can not give IgA intravenously (it would be dangerous) that's why IVIG is made up of IgG. Our immunologist and well as neurologist feel that low dose ivig probably does not help PANS/PANDAS, because we considered that too before deciding on high dose. The low dose would help the immunodeficiency but not likely to help PANS/PANDAS. Therefore we went for hi-dose to try to help both issues. We might follow up the high dose with low dose monthly for a few months. So far no big change, a waiting game for us. But I don't think there is any issue with being low IgA and receiving IVig. Good luck.

[qannie47]

My ds has been borderline low IGA anytime he was checked. He also had high dose of IVIG....no negative reactions....we used DR.K, so that will tell you about the dose level.

[kimballot]

My understanding is that in SOME cases IgA deficiency is actually caused by the body destroying its own IgA through anti IgA antibodies. Most IVIG contains a small amount of IgA. If a person with IgA deficiency gets IVIG with some IgA in it - there is a risk of anaphylactic shock. There are some IVIG preparations that are made with extremely small amounts of IgA and those are generally used for people with extreme IgA deficiency just to be safe.

 

Here is so me info from http://primaryimmune.org/about-primary-immunodeficiencies/specific-disease-types/selective-iga-deficiency/

 

Patients with Selective IgA Deficiency are often considered to be at increased risk of life-threatening allergic reactions, or anaphylaxis when they receive blood products, including intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), that contain some IgA. This is thought to be due to IgG (or possibly IgE) anti-IgA antibodies, which may be found in some IgA-deficient individuals. However, most patients with IgA deficiency do not have adverse reactions to blood products or IVIG.

There is no consensus among experts in this field regarding the exact magnitude of the risk of these types of reactions in patients with IgA deficiency, or the need for caution or measurement of anti-IgA antibodies before administration of blood or IVIG. However, these reactions are very rare overall. Furthermore, anaphylaxis has not been reported in patients with IgA deficiency receiving subcutaneous immunoglobulin infusions.

[sf_mom]

A couple of things to add to the posts above.

 

IgAs are not fully developed until around the age of 15. It is important to understand age range results when looking at your son's numbers. Our DS's IgAs are 38, 40 and are not considering IVIG at this time. Both son's are close to symptomless with those numbers. Our DD who is 6 years old has IgAs of 21 and immune deficiencies in all subclasses. Even these numbers were not that concerning to Dr. Gupta - Immunologist out of LA area. More important is the direction of the subclasses over time. We had repeat blood work on DD's subclasses over 3 years and because her numbers worsened she easily qualified for monthly IVIG treatments.

 

She does have underlying infections inclusive of a mold issue that can suppress the immune system. It is common with Lyme to have deficiencies in your 1s and 3s. She receives 9 grams of Octagam which is a low IgA product. We did her first treatment in our LLMDs office over two days to confirm there was no allergic reaction. We now do her monthly treatments in our home by a nurse and we have an Epi Pen on hand just in case.

 

 

 

Thought I'd include a little blurb on one of the black molds that is an issue for our family. We believe our children's exposure to the black/white mold that was behind the walls in our old home was contributing to their low IgGs/IgAs.

 

"Aflatoxicosis is not contagious and drugs and antibiotics do little to help. Aflatoxicosis damages the liver more than any other organ. Aflatoxin mycotoxins also suppress the immune system."

[Rachel]

Thank you so much for your information. Our cardiologist will start with a low dosage if we agree to it. I will be visiting with him about this next Tuesday. My biggest fear is that it will make my son's symptom's worse (headache, scalp pain, and tremors). However, we know that we are dealing with some type of immune issue since the antibodies are present. Just really scare of making things worse for my son. I know many of you have been there and have had good results with IVIG. I do have another question about IVIG and something else. I will make a seperate post for it. I'm sure some of you have had some experience with this next issue that I will post.