Tim,

I'm sorry you're having to go through all of this. I've been there so I know how it feels. If you're having trouble getting air, it could have been a myasthenic crisis. Its probably hard to get help out in the woods, but normally this would be a cause to go to the ER. Its also possible it could have been a cholinergic (sp) crisis depending on how much mestinon you're on.

Just for future reference, I had a cholinergic crisis when I first started mestinon and was put on too high a dose. The ER doc sedated me and had me sleep it off (since my main problem was seizure like muscle twitches). My neurologist at the time was upset when he heard and said they should have given me atropine since I could have stopped breathing while I slept.

I used to get the talking issue quite a bit. I found that coworkers, even ones that didn't know I had MG and thought I had some kind of speech impediment, would be quite forgiving and give me time to get the words out. Family and friends who should have known better would get upset and tell me to get the words out.

The other issue I used to get was a feeling that my eyes were glued shut when I would try and look too many directions too quickly. This was really a problem at meetings at work and I tried to limit my meetings to only those necessary. This led me to skipping an ongoing meeting that had been assigned to me, but I really had no business going to since it concerned a system I had no access to and never would.

Long story short, my being there played into politics far above my grade level and I was gumming up the works and almost lost my job over it. I handled the situation poorly, but this was prior to my diagnosis and I didn't know how to tell my boss that my eyelids had stopped working.

I had my thymus removed about a year ago and the speech issues are pretty much gone and my eyelid problems, while still there, have gotten much better.

Social issues are another matter. Sometimes I feel like I was better off socially as an invalid because then I had an excuse for not having much of a life. Now I can get around, but have nothing to do. Everyone I work with is older and I've had some limited contact with my old friends through Facebook, but haven't really gotten far on that front.

I've tried finding groups to go to, but they're either too expensive or for an older age group. There's a nightclub near me that offers swing dancing and line dancing lessons on Thursday evenings and it says singles are welcome, so I was thinking I'd try that.

There's a couple nightclubs and bars close to me. I think I should be ok going to them and sitting at the bar for a drink or two so long as I give myself plenty of time before I drive. My parents have gotten upset at me for both drinking (with my meds) and going out alone. As far as the first, they're probably right, but if I sit there long enough the alcohol is out of my system; as far as the second, I'm starting to feel like a prisoner sitting at home since I don't have anyone to go out with.

Sorry I got a little off topic, but give the thymectomy time to work and things should start improving. My biggest problem is still double vision, but even that has gotten much better. Its only been a year for me, so I'm hoping things will keep getting better.