Hi Folks-

I haven't posted anything over the past many months and I have only infrequently been reading the forum during that time. I had been waiting to be sure that the path I chose was going to be long term successful before posting again with an update. I feel confident that my disease is gone or at least under control and I wanted to let you all know what I have learned.

A very quick synopsis for new members and for those older members who may not remember. I am a 57yo male who woke up July 10, 2009 with a very severe form of bulbar MG. In retrospect I believe I was also suffering from very mild general weakness although at the time I had attributed that to not being able to eat. All blood markers were positive for the disease and the diagnosis was confirmed by two different neurologists. They both had prescribed mestinon as a first step, with the second neuro suggesting that I was a good candidate for prednisone therapy.

In my mind things don't happen without reason. I therefore believed that a certain set of conditions must have occurred to bring this on, therefore a certain set of conditions could make it go away. Naive you say? Maybe. But I decided I would try anyway as, like all of you, I did NOT want this disease. So - against all protests from friends, family and doctors I decided to try and identify and treat the cause rather than take drugs to treat the symptoms. I never took any mestinon, prednisone or other treatment for the MG. I did not want to mask the symptoms because I would then not be able to tell if what I was going to try was working or not. Yes it was scary at times, especially with two neuros telling me I may wake up dead if I don't start taking meds. At the time though it didn't really matter. I had made up my mind that I was not going to live with this disease - one way or the other.

Suffice to say, there was an ungodly number of hours spent researching and reading. There was ample evidence found that diet, nutrition and supplements play a key part in this disease as well as many others.

Here is what I learned in MY CASE. I had been unknowingly suffering for many years from a gluten intolerance. The symptoms were so mild that I really didn't think that there was a problem. However, looking back it is now clear that my intestines had been mildly inflamed for a long time and that I was not absorbing nutrients properly.

Research showed that the two key players in the immune system are the thymus and the thyrioid. The thyroid requires iodine to function properly. The thymus requires manganese to function properly.

I stopped eating all products that contain gluten. I started taking manganese and iodine supplements. Other nutritional changes were made. In four months of very slow improvement my symptoms finally disappeared and I have been symptom free since then. Obviously my gut healed up and I was now able to absorb the nutrients necessary for proper immune function. Teresakoch(sp?) is right on when she says that gluten intolerance may play a part in MG.

In a couple of weeks it will have been a year symptom free. In addition my joint pain and swellings have gone away, my nails are stronger and I even grew a little hair back on my head. All by not putting into my body what it didn't want and giving it what it did need.

Simple - although it didn't seem like it at the time. Do a search for my earlier posts for more details and a better understanding of what I went through. Pretty obvious that a lot of times I didn't know if the things I was doing were doing any good or not. Patience, perseverance and prayer saw me through.

I am not the only one who has had success in doing this. It is POSSIBLE that some of you may also have success and that is why I am posting this one last time. Do your own research and make your own decisions. I - and others - are living proof that MG can be defeated and it is so simple! But you must be consistent and patient. There is no magic 24 hour pill.