Long time myasthenic with new symptoms and questions
 

Hi all, this is my first post here. To give a bit of background, I was diagnosed with MG back in 1995 and I had a thymectomy right away. Over the next year or two my symptoms went down to a simple annoyance. My fingers still get weak especially with extra-hot or cold weather, and a few muscles here and there (especially my throat) I notice can be a little bit weak sometimes.
I don't remember ever having double vision, at least not for more than a few seconds. The only ocular weakness I ever had was in keeping my eyes closed, like when pulling off a t-shirt I had to be careful to not let the shirt pull my eyelids open! And I can no longer close just one eye, like to take a picture with a camera.

Anyway, that all being said..... Yesterday I had a fever of 101-102 (don't know why, just got some virus or other), and since I was at work I let it go and ended up being feverish for about 7 hours straight. This morning I woke up with double-vision that last about an hour. Even now, mid-day, my eyes are taking a second to refocus when I turn my head. So my question is, could the fever have caused a NEW symptom to pop up, even though my symptoms have been minimal for over 10 years?

Thanks all for your insight!
CJ

Hi, CJ. Welcome. This is a good group of people.

The short answer is yes. Anything that stresses out the immune system can bring on MG, either initially or after it's "behaved" itself for a while.

Have you called your neuro? And have you seen your primary doctor for that fever? Don't simply think it's a virus and disregard it. Are you on any MG meds right now? At the very least, if you are not on Mestinon, you could ask your neuro to prescribe some.

So many things could cause a fever. West Nile Virus, Lymes, tooth abscess and the list goes on and on. Don't mess with it! Call your doctor.

I hope your MG won't progress and you can get back to it being only an annoyance.

Annie

Thanks Annie, your reply is helpful and logical, I appreciate that!! I'm sure my double vision was indeed my MG "rearing it's ugly head" due to the fever.
As far as seeing a doctor, no I haven't.
I was thinking of going to my primary just to check on the fever, even though I seem fine today, especially since I'm going out of town on vacation on Saturday.
I haven't been to a neuro in a LONG time, since I've had no change in my MG and have not been on any meds. I was thinking about discussing Mestinon with a neuro tho (haven't taken it in about 10 yrs) .... I wasn't sure about it's affectiveness at this stage of the game. I take it that you think it would help?

Of course now with this new occurance I'm definitely thinking of persuing getting some mestinon. At the very least have it handy if anything pops up like this again.

Thanks again for your help!
CJ