Every time I research this topic or ask someone this question I am flooded with information on what it does to the body but no one seems to actually know. I am having a hard time coming to terms with this. I feel that I could deal much better with it if someone said, for example, "Oh, you ate meat from a mad cow", or even "You were exposed to lead paint as a child", but nothing? My gosh that's annoying!

UncleBob

Hi UncleBob sorry to relate but no I don't believe any one can truly answer that question. They maybe getting closer to an answer but so far nobody knows the cause. I wish they did.

Interesting article.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...s/con-20027124

Bob, MG is an autoimmune disease. At the moment the medical profession doesn't seem to have much idea what can cause the immune system to go haywire. And in fairness there seem to be a multitude of ways that it can go wrong. And therefore an even greater number of probable causes.

If anyone in your family has had any autoimmune disease, then it seems that you are more likely to have one. That is not hereditary, but suggests that a susceptibility to such things may be hereditary.

In practice no one knows.

Hi, Uncle Bob. Welcome to the forum.

What ancestry are you? Autoimmune diseases are prevalent in those of Northern European ancestry (England, Germany, Ireland, Norway, etc.).

Some things such as stress, surgery, infection, etc. can bring on an autoimmune disease, but you need the right genes usually to have a particular disease (look up HLA typing).

Even if you found a reason why you have MG, reverse engineering it would be impossible. At least not yet.

I know that it's hard accepting that you have a disease, especially one that is so unpredictable. If you can spend some time learning about MG, that would help.

www.myasthenia.org
www.mdausa.org

There are some drugs that can make MG worse. Also, being out in hot weather will make MG much worse (or being overheated due to infection or a hot shower).

I hope you can get used to having MG and get the best treatments for it.

Annie

When I was first diagnosed the doctor told me it piggyback on the chickenpox I had when I was 11. As I get older I find ways to off set the muscle weakness and take many breaks through out the day.