Originally Posted by jrip

I'm a 75 year old male and have had Anti-MAG demyelinating polyneuropathy for probably eight or nine years. It began with a numbness in my feet. I became aware of it trying to walk on beaches while hunting. My balance was poor. I began losing weight, mainly muscle. It was at this point that I was diagnosed with neuropathy. My neurologist put me on Cytoxin, which seemed to arrest it for awhile. Lately my balance problem returned with a vengeance.
I just returned from a visit to a neurologist at Virginia Mason, who told me after some tests that my neuropathy is quite bad. I walk now with the aid of a cane. He told me of a controlled study for Rituximab that concluded it is an effective treatment in patients with A-MAG-DP and suggested I consider it. Any benefits only last a year and, as one posting mentioned, it is so expensive I'm not sure my insurance will go for it. I'm trying to make up my mind whether to give it a try. Sometimes I have pain but for the most part the neuropathy's effect has been on strength and mobility.