Rach, I wasn't sure I could respond to that without swearing profusely and getting kicked off the forum!!!! OMG. I'll say it's outside of his expertise . . . like the expertise it takes to look a drug up on his computer.
Well, the congenital slow channel myasthenic syndrome (SCCMS) certainly does respond to Atropine. Those people get too much acetylcholine.
Listen up, UK doctors, time for a lesson in pharmacology. Chime in here anytime, Mrs. D.
Atropine: Does the opposite of Mestinon and has longer acting effects than it does. Like those eye drops they use to numb your eyes. It "paralyzes" the muscles. DUH. It reduces the amount of acetylcholine in the neuromuscular junction.
Mestinon: Gives you more acetylcholine for longer, due to it's effects on the enzyme acetylcholinesterase.
http://neuromuscular.wustl.edu/synmg.html
So when did they give you the Atropine? Its effects tend to last longer than Tensilon. Did they give that too? In what order. I imagine they would all be injected.
SCCMS shows what is called a Repetitive CMAP or R-CMAP after Tensilon is injected while they are doing a repetitive nerve stimulation. This is taken directly from the book "Neuromuscular Junction Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment" by Doctors Matthew N. Meriggioli (University of IL), James F. Howard, Jr. (UNC) and C. Michel Harper (Mayo Clinic).
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/j...TRY=1&SRETRY=0
Just Google "repetitive CMAP" for more articles. Do you think your doctor could've taken a couple of minutes to look up Atropine?
So, if you have a slow channel syndrome, you have basically been given the opposite of what you should have. I am most definitely NOT recommending this but quinine is in tonic water. It's sort of like Atropine. People with MG should not have it.
Who knows what you have, however. If you responded to the Atropine, did you respond due to the drug or due to the drug wearing off? Atropine and Tensilon can "cancel" each other out, making you look fine. Although no amount of Mestinon after an eye appointment with those Atropine drops makes my MG better. Atropine makes me so unbelievably bad for the next couple of days.
I cannot believe this insanity. Theirs, Rach, not yours!!!
I have to go take a nap now. Wish I could drink. I wish you could drink.
Annie
Okay, I tried to think of an example equally as crazy as giving someone Atropine during a Tensilon test. Which, BTW, is NOT done over here in the US. They either give saline or Tensilon. Too dangerous to give an MGer Atropine.
EXAMPLE: If an allergist wanted to know if you had an allergy to peanuts, would they give you Benadryl before testing you for it? NO. You have to be off of all antihistamines two days before testing. TWO DAYS. Histamine and an antihistamine cancel each other out. Well, depending upon the amount of antihistamine and the severity of the reaction.
