[Stevenc131]

“Too bad but you can’t expect to live very long weighing as much as he does.”

Guillain-Barre is an immune response to a viral infection, you body’s immune system attacks the nerves. It’s similar in effect to polio, but most of the ill effects are not permanent for the majority of folks who come down with it. In my case I had an upper respiratory infection and a couple of weeks later came down with GBS. I was in good health otherwise and not overweight by any means.

GBS got a lot of attention in the late 70s some people who received the swine flu shots came down with it in reaction to the vaccine. Inspite of the fact the resulting paralysis is often described as temporary, it’s a very serious illness. I was quadraplegic for about 3 months and had to undergo months of physical therapy to get back to a near normal state.

[FReepaholic]

...Guillain-Barre is an immune response to a viral infection, you body’s immune system attacks the nerves. ...

Fascinating. Lots of stuff coming out about how our own immune system is the cause of ailments.

I seem to recall reading recently about how they think common colds are a result of an over-reactive immune system.

[murron]

I think Andy Griffith had that several years ago, and he couldn’t walk for about a year, but it went away.

[Doomonyou]

I got it about 10 years ago. The first thing I felt was my hands and feet get numb and within about 4 hours my whole body felt that way. I'd say I lost 50% of my strength. It was a chore to go up stairs and down right scary to go down a flight. It's as bad as it gets in those first hours. According to the Doctor, I had a "mild" case. I had no reflexes, he scraped a needle on the bottom of my foot and I barely felt it. There is no medication for it and the only treatment (for bad cases) is a blood transfusion. It took about 4 months to get back to full strength.

It's nasty.