I have only been on this 30mg x 3 daily for about 3 weeks, but gas and pain was very uncomfortable - so like others trying to find the magic formula.
I have noticed a lot of relief from side effects last cpl days by taking a combo of some type of food along with 3 Fiber capsules when I take the Mestinon.
This may not work for everyone but wanted to pass it along for anyone having trouble and looking for a possible solution...
Good Luck...

Any advice people can offer on tolerating Mestinon would be very welcome. My fiancee has a terrible time with it. She has the worst pain, N/V/D from it and has likened it to drinking gasoline. She's tried Reglan, Phernegen, and Zofran to no effect.

I must have a cast iron stomach, the Mestinon doesn't bother me at all even if I take on an empty stomach.

Do you take with food?

I take it with/without food.

What I noticed is that if I start snacking on fruit, especially an apple, boy oh boy, is there gas.

I have struggles with the same. I had to stop taking it during the first the winter with Dr S who has treated me so minimally. She has consistantly not prescibed me ANY even saying stop taking the mestinon just last year to solved the problem which truly showed me how little she understands my symptoms, how bad the MGis. Thankfully I get better in the winter as the cold really improves me. But I had to find a way to go back on in January of of 2010. So started with bitting off the side of the pill. For me it didnt help me do much but breath better and that was a blessing. About 2 months later I did a pulm test and had to take 30mg. Even with food in me I vomited twice on way home.

Since I 'happened' to go thru a major learning experince in July when the neuro-optho department tested my vision muscles by givimg me an injection of neostigmine AND atropine leaving me with only moments of a tiny bit of bowel feeling of ya gotta go I say get your doc to do an atropine drug. I found 2. One is Lomotil and one is Saltropine. I talked to my pharmacist about this and when he heard this worked for neuro-optho he said take atropine! I didnt know it came in any over the counter version. Now docs worry about it affecting you heart it seems so in my case I still havent got the presciption. I think my new neuro will do it eventually.

Annie59

I thought atropine was the 'antidote' for Mestinon overdose. If I'm right about that, atropine would make the nausea better - - but only by virtue of it 'deactivating' the Mestinon altogether.

Drinking a big glass of water after taking Mestinon seems to help me a lot. Eating food with it helps as well. I think yogurt and cottage cheese are among the best foods to eat with Mestinon, and I agree with the previous comment about apples and other fruit. Mestinon and fruit don't go together well. I avoid fruit at the same time as taking Mestinon.

I also think that the digestive effects of Mestinon get better over time, somehow the body adjusts to it, maybe not completely, but at least I have stopped getting the worst of the digestive problems.

I googled mestinon and atropine and got the following from drugs-dot-com site:

'Atropine may also be used to abolish or obtund gastrointestinal side effects or other muscarinic reactions; but such use, by masking signs of overdosage, can lead to inadvertent induction of cholinergic crisis.'

There is a lot of returns on the above search...I guess everyone has to make their own decision on pros/cons about different drugs 'playing well together in our bodies'!!

I agree, Sue, to use Atropine is dangerous. It is indeed the "opposite" of Mestinon. I can't imagine any neuro suggesting that use or supporting it.

Annie

i've been taking for nearly 2 years now. when i began it was awful. at the time i had to take 90 mg/4 hrs. to relieve the symptoms. i recommend NEVER taking it on an empty stomach! eating before helps. after a while my body pretty much acclimated to it. the pred and imuran apparantly helped as now i have reduced my dose to 30 mg, and can even miss a dose and not immediately go symptomatic. like everthing m.g. though, there are no constants. occaisionally i still have to bolt for the bathroom shortly after taking.