So coffee and dark chocolate give me some relief to my MG. Have you experienced the same results? Do you think it is save in moderation to use these on a daily basis to help during bad periods?

Let me know what you think or if you have had a bad experience with these.

Thanks
kathie

Kathie, Mestinon is a cholinesterase inhibitor (CI). I found out in 2007 after trying to stop chocolate and getting weaker, that caffeine is a CI too. Then I began having one cup of coffee daily and it's amazing how that helped. Yeah, it can put you into dopamine/serotonin highs and lows but it does help with MG and I'm not giving it up!

So, both Mestinon and caffeine inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) whose daily job it is to mop up after acetylcholine (ACh) is done with its job of making your muscles stronger. It keeps too much acetylcholine from building up and making "normal" people weak but MGers want ACh to build up temporarily, however.

Mestinon inhibits that enzyme so that we can use our muscle gas longer. Caffeine, to some unknown degree, can do that too. So you'd only have to be cautious of having too much, losing the benefit of it and getting weaker. They are NOT treatments for MG, however, and you should always report an increase in weakness to your neuro!

The nightshade foods (potato, tomato, eggplant, tobacco, peppers) do that too. That's why they are often listed as being contraindicated in MG.

Sugar is toxic. Yeah, I'm pretty extreme when it comes to that topic. It wreaks havoc on the immune system and can cause cancer. If you can find a form of chocolate that doesn't have sugar, like in a health food store, that would be much better. Dip a banana in sugar-free cocoa powder. Then you get potassium and chocolate.

Here's the old caution thread.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread80534.html

I hope that helps.


Annie

Amazing. That would (no joke) explain my "chocolate usage" (minimal - I also do not do flour or much sugar) yesterday. I've had to cut down my caffeine consumption, so I guess my body was screaming. Thanks for the info.

There is a sugar-free chocolate called ChocZero. They use monk fruit instead of sugar. That might be a good one for people to try.

Coffee is my favorite MG drug. It does me more good than Mestinon ever did. I think, too, in general, the recent consensus is that both coffee and dark chocolate have many health benefits, even for people without MG.

I have read here that coffee suppresses the enzyme that breaks down the chemical that our nerves use to communicate with our muscles--in other words, it works like Mestinon. It may be that, or it may just be the caffeine. Caffeine also dilates the bronchial tubes, for what that's worth (a couple of strong cups can ease an asthma attack).

I say, go for it! Of all the drugs that treat MG, coffee and chocolate are probably the safest.

Abby

Yep Coffee is better than Mestinon for me!!!!!!!!
Mike

Thanks everyone. I am thinking about going back to work on April 1st on a reduced work schedule. I have used coffee and dark chocolate in the past to get me through the day or help for the ride home. I just wanted to make sure that is was ok.

I am going to ask my boss for a big computer screen to reduce the eye tiredness. I was thinking of getting one of those clip on eye shades and remove one side if I start to get double vision working on the computer.

Are there any other accomodations or tricks that would be helpful in returning to work to reduce the fatique and get through the day easier? I usually have a cup of coffee in the morning. I will bring a second as a backup as well as my stash of dark chocolate in case I get fatigued and need to drive home.

As always, thanks for your help,
kathie

I get very disoriented with coffee and chocolate -- loss of balance and dizziness (maybe migraine related). So I get my caffeine from tea. I like to mix my teas together. I usually mix black tea, green tea, blueberry tea, and acai berry tea. I boil them together in a huge pot and then fill an empty juice bottle with the tea and refrigerate it. The tea does wonders for me especially when I feel the pyridostigmine wearing off and it tastes really good.

I don't know exactly what I have... but coffee also helps me tremendously!!! I cut it out for months and months when I got hit hard with all of this stuff.. when I was in the hospital after I really went down, i decided If i'm going to feel bad, i'm at least going to have my coffee- and it seems to really help!

I am new to this site. And I can see that these posts are about 4 years old. Very recently, I had an interesting event. I have not been a coffee drinker but recently started drinking coffee. I felt significantly better. I felt that I was getting more oxygen. Then I got worse where weakness is concerned. And my ankles became much weaker than usual, so bad I could barely walk. I had to stop drinking coffee. I looked on the Internet and found out that coffee is a bronchodilator, and on this site that it improves weakness with myasthenia gravis and makes it worse if you drink too much coffee.
I have not seen improvement with other caffeine sources, with the possible exception of chocolate.
How much coffee do you drink in a day, and how many grounds do you use in it?