My particular "brand" of this led me straight away to research the parasympathetic nervous system because I noticed at first more a regular, pronounced relaxation of muscles involved in voiding - my peak involves either bladder or bowel (ick- graphic but may be relevant). After this, if I "listened" to my muscles, I could return my system to a state of relative harmony.

I told my dear brilliant cousin, who also happens to be a nurse, and immediately she asked me if I had been checked for Myasthenia Gravis, er, well no, but in what I have learned I wonder if we are in uncharted territory of a new sort of movement disorder. This could all be crazy, over simplistic leaps but let's keep an open mind....

Myasthenia Gravis manifests as extreme muscular weakness. It as autoimmune disorder that results when our T-cells develop antibodies for our...drumroll for Paula...acetylcholine receptors. The T-cells either destroy or block the receptors.

Sound vaguely familiar? There is a newish theory that PD happens to be autoimmune as well. Furthermore...

Symptoms...unstable or waddling gait, weakness in arms, hands, fingers, legs, neck, a change in facial expression, dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing), shortness of breath and dysarthria (impaired speech, often nasal due to weakness of the velar muscles).

The severity of weakness fluctuates during the day, usually being least severe in the morning and worse as the day progresses, especially after prolonged use of affected muscles.


Key difference...we have absence of tone- not induced by use.


Factors that worsen myasthenic symptoms are emotional upset, systemic illness (especially viral respiratory infections), hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, pregnancy, the menstrual cycle, drugs affecting neuromuscular transmission, and increases in body temperature.

Of particular interest to me is the mention of estrogen- I have noted that pregnancy often results in worsening of PD - same thing with MG.

Patients with anti-MuSK-antibody positive MG may have focal or regional weakness and muscle atrophy that are more suggestive of motor neuron or muscle membrane (myopathy) disease.

Interesting to that neurology has noted links between PD and MG. With people having one disorder then developing the other. How about seeing them both essentially as one disorder with people experiencing varying degrees of impact on various neurotransmitters?

So all this leaves me wondering have we either seriously f***ed up our other neurotransmitter receptors OR are the two together somehow one other option in a spectrum disorder?

What I find interesting in all this is that I think it is highly indicative that we also have an autoimmune disorder that maybe attacks more than just dopamine uptake?

Common treatments for MG include steroids, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories...hmm, haven't we been lamenting how PWP might also benefit from these same treatments?

I am going to stop here because it is mere speculation and most likely has been researched. I keep losing my posts these days, so will leave this for further commentary or not. I just want to stress that I think what we are experiencing is more than dopamine dysregulation.

Please note: all italicized portions are directly from the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation site.