Myasthenia gravis
 

Good morning from the UK.
I have been reading the informative posts on here now for well over a year.
This really is a wonderfully informative forum. Since being diagnosed with MG in Jan 2015, I have come to the conclusion that the most reliable source of information on MG is with the people who have it, and not those whose knowledge comes from a text book only.

I will not bore you all but can any of you with MG, please respond to this post if you have ever taken statins. Obviously I am probably looking at those of us in the 45+ age range.


Best Regards

Throstle 53

I've taken simvastatin (Zocor) for about a year. It has worked with no side effects. I'm 56. BTW, welcome. Jim

My neuro-muscular doctor told me that I should stop Statins which I did. He said thay caused a lot of muscle damage.

Hi throstle53,

Welcome to the forum! I took statins in the past, before I had my MG diagnosis, so perhaps my reply will not be helpful. I tried various different statin medications, but none of them worked for me. With all of them, I had liver imbalances, so I could no longer continue to take them. I also tried different tactics, including a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, and also taking high-dose niacin (Vitamin B3). Sometimes these things can work for patients, but they didn't work in my case. Losing weight did help me. I lost quite a lot of weight, both on purpose and through some health problems, and my cholesterol went down quite a lot. It is in a pretty good range now, without additional treatment, whereas before it was in a very unhealthy range.

Take care,
Erin

Myasthenia Gravis and Statins
 

Thankyou for your warm welcome. I am now of the firm belief that statins induce or unmask myasthenia like symptoms. Most primary care physicians are not aware that statins can exacerbate myasthenia.

It is fairly" out in the open" that statins can induce an ALS like Syndrome, the symptoms of which are very much similar to MG.

To the 2 MGers who were taken off statins, can I ask approx. how long between taking statins and the symptoms of Myastenia beginning.

Regards

throstle53

You can also search our site for some general threads on statins /cholesterol -
https://www.neurotalk.org/search.php

Here is one thread -
https://www.neurotalk.org/medication...hlight=statins

Hi, throstle53. This is a topic that Mrs D has thoroughly investigated, although new information keeps coming in on the topic.

One of the best articles is this first one. A drug that can change a neuron is bioengineering, whether there was intention for that or not.

I would never take a statin (no offense, guys), due to the fact that research on them is not that in-depth. As Dr. Hyman points out, these drugs can damage mitochondria and the effects might not be noticed right away. For those with high cholesterol, there are other alternatives. But they may be forced to live with the effects of statins (there are supposedly less offensive ones).

Learning about good fats, what diet works for you, etc. is the best way to go when someone's cholesterol is slightly elevated. We don't need a drug making our disease worse or causing one!

Gabapentin/Neurontin can also exacerbate or bring on MG (possibly drug-induced MG that stops when the drug is stopped). Ketek is an antibiotic that has similar actions and no MGer should take that one. Quinolones are also now on the "don't take" list, unless absolutely necessary.

I don't think any of us here would be bored to talk about MG! ;) Talk all you want. Rach is also from the UK, as have been others along the way. I hope you have a good neuro. In fact, if you do, would you mind sharing their name in a PM?

I hope you are doing well with MG. Doctors don't know everything, and many don't have time to do any research on new developments. We MGers are more motivated to know everything there is about the disease!

Annie

(Good to see you, Jim!)

Neuron-to-neuron wild-type Tau protein transfer through a trans-synaptic mechanism: relevance to sporadic tauopathies | Acta Neuropathologica Communications | Full Text

Should I Stop My Statins? - Dr. Mark Hyman

https://www.neurotalk.org/medication...ht=statins+mrs


https://www.neurotalk.org/myasthenia...ht=statins+mrs

https://www.neurotalk.org/peripheral...hlight=statins