Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare disorder that causes your body's immune system to attack your nerves. Muscle weakness, tingling, and sometimes paralysis can result.
Other terms for Guillain-Barré syndrome are acute ascending polyneuritis, acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and Landry's ascending paralysis.
No one knows for sure what causes Guillain-Barré. Usually it happens after a viral infection, such as a cold or flu. It may also occur after infection with bacteria called Campylobacter. You can be infected with Campylobacter by drinking contaminated water or eating food that has not been cooked enough, especially poultry.
Sometimes Guillain-Barré happens after surgery or a vaccine shot.
Sometimes there does not seem to be a trigger. All that is known for sure is that something causes the body's immune system to stop working properly.
The symptoms of Guillain-Barré syndrome usually start in the legs with tingling and weakness. You may have some numbness. The symptoms often move up the body during the next few days or weeks. The arms and upper body start to have weakness and tingling. Sometimes the heart rate slows and the blood pressure drops as the disease worsens. You may have trouble with eye movement, speaking, or swallowing and trouble controlling your bowel or bladder. Some people complain of severe pain in their low back.
Sometimes the weakness gets so bad that you cannot move at all. You may become almost completely paralyzed.
Your healthcare provider will ask about your symptoms and examine you. Tests you may have are:
There is no treatment that cures Guillain-Barré syndrome. However, there are treatments that sometimes make the symptoms better:
You will probably need to stay in the hospital so you can be watched closely for possibly life-threatening symptoms. If the muscles that allow you to breathe are affected, you may need a machine to help you breathe until your symptoms get better. The most important thing is for you to be watched closely. Complications such as pneumonia and blood clots need to be prevented while you wait to get better.
You may have physical therapy even before you start to recover to help keep your muscles flexible and strong.
Usually people with Guillain-Barré syndrome recover, but it can take a long time. For most people the weakness gets worse for 2 or 3 weeks and then starts getting better and, after a time, goes away completely. Some people have weakness for months, and a few have it for years. Some never get all of their strength back. Sometimes the syndrome comes back many years after the first attack.
Guillain-Barré is not contagious. It cannot spread from one person to another. There does not seem to be anything in particular that you can do to avoid getting it or having it again.
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