I studied biochemical engineering in college and remember learning about how nerves work so this subject is so familiar. I am going to get out my college textbook and re-learn about nerves and muscles.

Thanks Annie for the info. Understanding what is happening is very helpful to me.

Your info about caffeine being similar to mestinon helps for me to understand an experience I have been having. Before MG came into my life I could not drink very much coffee (about 1/2 cup was my daily limit). Drinking one cup of coffee or more gave me(before MG) the jitters, mostly shaky hands. Now that I have MG I have started drinking one cup of coffee or tea regularly in the early afternoon since it helps for me to feel almost normal for a while. I do not get shaky or jittery from cafeine now with MG. I am going to research this more before I change my habits of course, but maybe drinking coffee or tea will become a regular afternoon drink to help my MG. Annie, do you have a website or source for this information? This is something to discuss with my doctor as well.

Nightshade foods? Is this food in the nighshade family such as potatoes and tomatoes, etc? Again, do you have a source for this information?

I will post any info I find on these subjects if I find it and if I have enough energy to follow through.

I am laughing at my feelings just now. I have some good feelings about myself just thinking about learning and sharing info-I actually got excited! I have such a loss of self-confidence due to MG, that any feeling of usefulness makes me feel good. I feel so useless in general... But right now I feel good.

Hey Desertflower,

I can totally relate in the caffeine depot...For the longest time, I could not tolerate coffee at all...Having just one cup would cause me serious anxiety...Shaky fingers, sweating, heart palpitations...I was always able to tolerate tea, though, I guess since there's less caffeine...I also would drink it with a lot of milk...Almost like chai tea, for anyone who's had it...pretty scrumptrulescent...lol...

Anyway, I'm digressing...When I started experiencing the severe weakness, I came across something on the net saying that caffeine was good for MG...So I started drinking coke...It helped a lot...Not so good for anything else, but good for the weakness...I also smoked...Prior to developing the severe MG symptoms, I had quit smoking a few times for a few months at a time...Each time I'd quit, I'd notice a lot of muscle 'relaxation' (this is how I'd look at it during that time)...I felt a lot more chill but also weak...I didn't understand how quitting smoking could make a person feel so 'heavy.' Smoking is obviously really bad, and may have in fact contributed to my developing a thymoma, but the nicotine definately helped at times with the weakness, but would back-fire if I smoked too much...Makes sense...