[Kim12]

Hello Everyone,
I just found this forum and spent the last couple of weeks reading the posts. I'm not sure if I feel better...or worse. All of the little symptoms make sense now. Tripping and choking on nothing, running into walls, not being able to read for more than a few minutes (a real heartbreaker), getting winded too easily, and on and on. Now I can see that these things are all related to MG. Darn!

I think that I've had MG since I was a teen. My mom would make me stay home from school for a few days once in a while. I wasn't sick, just worn out. I love sports and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't do endurance sports. I was very good at sports with short quick intervals, then rest. I played volleyball, tennis and racketball, but I couldn't run or swim long distances. I've never been a shopper, I poop out, and I was told that I had bedroom eyes because my eyes drooped, especially the right one.

I was diagnosed with MG in 1992. At the time I was in my third year of law school, working full time with a husband and two kids. My right eye was almost closed. My eye doctor sent me to an opthamologist who sent me to UCLA where I got a diagnosis of probable MG. Of course I didn't believe it and did not believe it up until recently. I took Mestinon and ephedrine for a while and went into remission for over 15 years.

I started working in a law firm and eventually became a managing partner working very long hours and driving all over California. Three years ago the MG reared it's ugly head. I started to have a very hard time reading and concentrating. I took naps in my car at lunch and went to bed at 7 pm. I gained 30 pounds because I thought that eating would give me energy. I then started to have problems swallowing and I lost that 30 pounds. My pcp told me that I needed to stop working and it took me 8 more months to pull the plug.

I've been off work for a year now. My husband watches me like a hawk to make sure that I don't overdo things, which I still do. I thought I would be feeling better, but I'm not. Things seem to be getting worse. This forum has convinced me to get aggressive with my treatment. Right now I am taking 3 Timespan Mestinons a day. I take a nap every day, have trouble swallowing, breathing and walking. I hate spending so much time sitting down. I am going to take my neuro's suggestion and ask her for Cellcept and IVIG when I see her in May.

Thanks for the info and all of the help on this forum. I haven't told many people about my MG, so it is very helpful to tell my story to people who understand.

Kim