Hi Melanie,

You must be so relieved to have a diagnosis!I know how hard it is when you don't feel well and can't understand why! I wish I could tell you exactly how long until you'll feel better - but MG is such a funny thing. When I was first diagnosed I went for years just taking Mestinon every four hours and feeling fairly "normal." THEN about 2 years ago I started to get worse for no apparent reason. Last Christmas was terrible - I'm a very positive person, but I was actually depressed. I couldn't walk up my stairs, dress myself, even get in the tub on my own. My doctor started my on pred and azathioprine and things have been improving. Now my new "cocktail" of medications seems to be working and I've been really healthy again. Of course I still have to be very aware of my limitations, but I can go grocery shopping on my own again, etc etc. It took about 6 months for my Azathioprine to start working, so be patient with that drug. Steriods are amazing for the good they do, but the side effects are horrendous. I'm currently taking 40mg every second day and would like to reduce them futher but I'm scared I'll end up back where I was a year ago!

I've had my flu shot too - better safe than sorry! My husband had the flu and he was off work for almost 2 full weeks - and he NEVER gets ill! I'm so glad I escaped it. I'm also going back next week for a pnemonia vaccine.

Don't worry about a crisis - I think keeping a positive attitude goes a long way. I've been lucky that the only crisis I've experienced was in the hospital and was induced by anesthetic I had been given for an operation. Lots of people have MG and never experience a crisis. My only word of advice would be to educate your kids and family that if anything were to ever happen they could tell people "mommy has MG" Or carry a bit of paper in your purse/have something posted by your door that they know to give to someone in case of emergency. This should list all your current meds and doses. I wear a medic alert bracelet, but I've never needed it. That's more as a precaution than anything else I guess. A sort of worst case scenario!

Anyways, blah blah blah - I've been rambling. Sorry. Have a great day. Good luck with everything.
~Kathy