so I said to my pharmacist...
 

...I said, "Um, I have Graves disease but I also have myasthenia gravis and I'm taking Imuran and pyridostigmine but now I'm taking this tapazole too and I've never taken it before and oh yeah I take HCTZ too and could there be any interactions or is this new drug a problem for my condition?

And she said, "Nope, it should be fine."

What an amazing store of knowledge pharmacists have these days! But, just in case she didn't really know all of that just off the top of her head, I called my neurologist and discussed all of it with him. Then I googled Tapazole and found out that it actually is known to cause myasthenia gravis, but only if you're a cat, which I'm not, so that should be fine, too.

The moral of this story is, I guess, don't assume anyone knows anything. The endocrinologist knows nothing about MG. The neurologist doesn't want to talk about female hormones even though they affect my MG, because he's not an ob/gyn. And the ob/gyn was happy to talk about hormones and prescribe them, and that's how I ended up in the hospital for a week. So, the moral of the story is, I suppose, that I'm my own best--or only--advocate.

Abby

Please try this drug checker....it goes into great detail if you hit the links it provides:

http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html

The only drug listed in the nutrient depletion handbook I use is HCTZ--

Over time it depletes
sodium
potassium
magnesium
phosphorus
zinc
CoQ-10

The other drugs don't have papers published as of 2001 to get into the reference.

Boy do I know what you are saying. We thought I had an infection so my GP gave me Cypro. He knows I have MG so I looked him straight in the eye and asked him if this was ok he said sure no problem. Lucky next day I say my Neuro and mentioned my infection and what the GP prescribed and he said "OH NO" you can't take that and gave me a new prescription.

When I was in the hospital back in November they gave me 3 60mg of Mestinon and said it was the same as 180mg time release. I thought my wife was going to go "postal".

My wife and I have decided you can't trust any of them. You have to double check everything they do.
Mike

so much truth to what you folks are saying!

I don't swallow ANY PILL (over- under- or around - the counter) until I look it up and cross check it. And then lots of times, I'll begin with 1/2 dose to 'check it out'! And even then, I never take anything new unless me and hubby are going to be home....just in case.

And if you think that's bad, I'll spare you my stories of when I have been in hospital and they come at me with a syringe filled with something to 'push' in my IV!! That's never pretty!!!

I thankfully have a great pharmacist, he knows what I go through as he is on steroids, and I'm sure other meds. He acutally told me I shouldn't be taking a certain medication, also told me I should be careful about another as it could react if I took it close to another one. He gives me print outs on all my new meds. He and all his staff, of which some are family are so great I sent them a post card while on holiday recently. I am very lucky to have such an amazing people who look after me and care, wish there were more of them.

To the best of my knowledge there are case reports in humans not only cats. Its not a reason not to take it, but you should do that cautiously. eg-anything unusual stop it, and let your neurologist know about it.
And you are unfortunately right that one of the problems of modern medicine is fragmentation of care, and over sub-specialization.

Mike,
Why is Cypro bad? Last dr I had used to give it to me often for prostrate flare ups...
Randy

Cipro (along with Avelox and Levaquin) were recently given a "black box" warning for mg by the FDA because then can affect your breathing negatively. I ended up in the ICU because I took levaquin for a bladder infection and it shut down my lungs - Got to watch out!

Abby, Yeah, you have to be the referee between the drug pusher and drug dealer. :cool: Doctors aren't taught a lot about drugs in medical school. They know your medical history, which helps. The pharmacist knows drugs but doesn't know your medical history, except for what you might be allergic to or what's contraindicated. It's exhausting always having to double check everything that goes in the body!

Randy, I started a new post for you on the Quinolones.

Annie

Cipro and Levaquin and other drugs in that class also cause
nerve damage. At this time it is thought to be permanent.

More information here, and links. They are damaging to everyone, not just MGers.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post661103-2.html