Are there others of you out there who have parents and/or siblings who also have MG? Do you go to a doctor who specializes in these types of cases?

Is familial MG different than "regular" MG in how it is diagnosed, symptoms, and how it is treated?

This board is great! Thank you everyone!

Beth

Beth,

According to the MG Manual:

Autoimmune MG is not transmitted by mendelian inheritance, but family members of patients are approximately 1,000 times more likely to develop the disease than is the general population.

Myasthenia Gravis: A Manual for the Health Care Provider (PDF) - page 13

When I looked into the mirror, as my symptoms become more severe during my recent MC crisis, I saw my dad's face. He often had a droopy eye. He also had a lack of effect in his expression, like his face muscles were inhibited.

During WWII my dad was an infantry Sargent in the Philippines. He contracted malaria while serving. During his later adult live he would have periods of disability, what was described as a flare up of malaria.

Looking back at these these bouts of disability (usually lasting 3 to 6 days), they may very well have been MG crises events. If so, these events were mild in comparison to my two events.

-Mark-

P.S.: Mike introduced me to the MG manual in January when I first joined the forum.

Twin study

The nurse doing my home ivig also does ivig for 3 siblings that have MG - 2 brothers and a sister.

kathie

Do you have time for a little light reading?

http://neuromuscular.wustl.edu/synmg.html

There's CMS, which is genetic, not autoimmune. It tends to run in families, particularly the dominant gene ones.

There's LEMS which is autoimmune.

There's MG which is autoimmune.

They're all technically "channelopathies."

There are cases of autoimmune MG that run in families.

They haven't even begun to find all of the antibodies that involve acetylcholine. And channelopathies are probably more common than is known, too.

Annie

My sister has MG. she was Dx with it before me. She could not open her eyes and was tired all the time. They did blood work. Came back negative.
She had a thymoma, had it removed and was put on mestinon.
I was already Dx with MS. We saw the swam Neuro. Doc. I was having increasing symptoms of weakness, Diplopia, muscle fatigue which improved with rest. They decided I did not have ms but did have MG.
Years went by on mestinon and prednisone. 2014 had exacerbation of ms. Proven with MRI.

I was resistant at first but went to see some specialists in both diseases and received both Dx

That is the dumbest "fact" I have read in a while. It is not inherited, but your chances are 1,000 X more........

It's inherited if heredity increases your chances 1000 X.

I suppose one could argue that it was environmentally related to something experienced within the family. I've always suspected there was something wrong with my mother's cooking.

-Mark-

Mark, I think you have got it. My Mother's cooking was rubbish too! So was my Dad's! ;-)

Julie