Several things that concern me:

1. Sleeping pills. Ambien has recently added a specific warning against using it with MG. It can suppress respiration and kill you. I had personal experience with ambien. I was using it before my diagnosis and before the new warning. I went absolutely crazy. I had memory loss. I had weird, illogical behavior. I was diagnosed with "dissociative disorder" because I obviously had two separate people hanging out in my brain and they failed to communicate with each other. Bat sh** crazy. I was most likely dying of oxygen depravation. I quit taking the drug and I am much better.

2. Prednisone. If you have only been taking it short term, you can quit taking it without withdrawals. If you have taken it long term, it is not so simple. The drug is not psychologically addicting, but it suppresses your own production of similar stuff, (cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone, aldosterone) and you have to have that stuff to live. So after taking prednisone for several months, you have to wean off of it over a period of several months.

I am a veterinarian, and we give prednisone on an every other day basis to dogs because it greatly decreases the side effects and physiological addiction issues.

The kicker with this drug is that physical addiction without any psychological addiction is very dangerous. Your brain doesn't care whether you take it but your body really, really does.

(I know it sound confusing that I said earlier that I am a college teacher, and I am also a veterinarian. I am both.)

Sleeping Pills
 

Celeste,

I will look into this when I get off work tonight. I was prescribed 50 MB Trazodone tablets. Trazodone is described as an "oral antidepressant (trade name Desyrel) that is a nontricyclic drug used as a sedative." Took one when I went to bed around 6:00 a.m. and had a good "days" sleep for a change. I even woke up earlier than normal, feeling no residual grogginess. But this is only after one day.

To be safe, do you think I should try it out on my cats first? No that won't work. They are already crazy. I would not be able to tell if it was the pill, or their normal state of behavior. :)

Here is a link to some photos of my cats, Boris and Natasha, when they were younger and less crazy:

http://www.losgatosphoto.com/gallery/Album10.htm

Here is Natasha inspecting my purchase decisions from Safeway:

http://www.losgatosphoto.com/gallery/Album9.htm

Take care,

-Mark-

I looked up trazodone and they don't list any problems with MG. If it causes a problem, nobody knows about it yet. Just keep a watch on how you are doing.

Nice cats.

Thanks Celeste. The first pill had a calming effect, not the drowsiness I expected. Just driving for 10 to 12 hours in of city traffic winds one up, add the Prednisone and is even more pronounced. I can see why the athletes like it.

Another MG Forum member sent me the publication Myasthenia Gravis: A Manual for the Health Care Provider. I learned a lot from it already. It is published by Myasthenia Gravis Founaton of America. One thing I learned is that high doses of Prednisne are for only a relatively short period of time. After that, providing it did its job, you move to a small maintenance dose. Of course, as you well know, everybody reacts differently to treatment.

I will post these MGFA recommendations in a its own thread. There was also remarkable information on Mestinon, something we all should know.

Thanks again,

-Mark-

Hi mpage,
My advice:
-Prednisone should be taken once a day, about 12 to 14 hrs before bedtime and always with a meal,
-timespan should be taken about one hour before going to bed. If you want to take it twice a day, space the two doses by 12 hours and never on an empty stomach.
Good luck!
Maurice.