NeuroTalk Support Groups - To Tinas Dad re: Nightshades

I found your post in the "stickie" area and thought I'd put it here for you.

Quote:

My father was diagnoses with myasthenia gravis in december 2011. He has been on prednisone and cellcept . He was recently hospitalized after having a nonproductive cough and they found he had a cardiac arrythmia (atrial fibrillation). He then received a 3 day treatment of IVIG. He seems stronger cough a little better unfortunately still in atrial fibrillation and has to go home on Coumadin.

Being the RN in the family everyone is looking to me for answers and suggestions. My father has been a vegan for 10 years. My question is about diet. Do nightshades harm or help symptoms? He could stand to loose some weight (he has lost since starting treament due to slowing down eating) even on prednisone. Thanks for any input!

I'm sorry your Dad has MG and is struggling.

The nightshade foods (potato, tomato, eggplant, pepper and tobacco) can make an MGer worse. It really depends. Is your Dad on Mestinon? They basically do the same thing Mestinon does but to unpredictable and varying degrees. What they do is to block the enzyme called Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) so that our bodies can use more Acetylcholine (ACh) longer. ACh is our "muscle gas" and it keeps muscles strong. AChE comes in and mops up the leftover ACh when it's done with it's job of keeping our muscles strong. Without that "checks and balances" system, our muscles get weak.

So, too much acetylcholine is not good for MGers. We normally don't have enough but if you have too much Mestinon or too many nightshades, you could become weaker.

Does your Dad have a good neurologist?

Since your Dad has been a vegan, PLEASE have his doctors check his vitamin B12 level! It's not only being vegan but being on Pred that can reduce B12. Pred reduces the gel coating of the stomach and can make it impossible to absorb B12 through the GI tract. If he has a deficiency, he can do B12 shots or B12 sublingual tablets that get absorbed directly into the bloodstream.

A lack of B12 or other vitamins might also cause A-Fib. Has he been tested for celiac disease?

Let us know how we can help, okay? I hope he gets better.

Annie