You are tapering up on Pred and having muscle pain? Did the two coincide?

Yes, some people - me included - can get infections very easily on immunosuppression. It caused me to have folliculitis, a staph infection of the skin, followed by an antibiotic and then clostridium difficile. And then the infections make MG worse. No, it's not good or nice.

Now I'm wondering about your muscle pain. You need to be fully evaluated for a larger infection. Is the pain like an ache, like you would get with a high fever? If it is, you may have an even worse infection. When I had C-Diff, my erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) went up to 104 (normal is 20 and under for women). Your primary could run that on you and a CBC to make sure there isn't a worse infection. When I have an infection, my CBC remains normal but my ESR goes up.

When you've been sick in the past, have you ever noticed how a fever is worse at night? Yeah, this sounds really suspicious now. And anti-inflammatory drugs do help with symptoms of an infection such as a fever/aches.

Pred will masque infections too, not only bring them on. If you ever have any new symptoms, your doctors need to fully check them out. Please call your primary doctor first thing tomorrow morning. Sepsis is not out of the question!!! That kind of system-wide infection is dangerous, if you have an infection.

When my Dad had rheumatic fever (from strep throat that gets worse) in the Navy, all he had was an earache! There's another test called a strep titer which they can do. It's a blood test which shows if strep is running around in your body.

When you are immunosuppressed, you really have to be proactive about any infection. And you have to eat as well as you can to get the nutrients you need (antioxidants, etc.) to help fight off infections.

Are you on an antacid by any chance? The "cocktail" of Pred, an antacid and an antibiotic can lead to things like clostridium difficile. We need acid to fend off infections!!!

If you even suspect you may have "the flu," either the regular seasonal one or H1N1, then you need to go get some Tamiflu right away. Don't wait. The signs may be less noticeable while on Pred.

I hope you will get help and feel better. I know there are all these trade-offs with drugs to make MG worse. It's not fair! And I'm really sorry you are having such a rough time right now.

Annie