Myasthenia Gravis News Community › Forums › Mental Health and Self-Care › Questions you have about coping with MG symptom progression › Reply To: Questions you have about coping with MG symptom progression
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MemberBarbara, Frank and Cintha,
Thank you for sharing. In regards to whether MG is progressive or not might depend on where you are with your journey. When a person begins to experience new symptoms, it is a progression and when someone experiences the same symptoms that come and go then it is fluctuating. I think it kind of depends on where you are on the journey. I was diagnosed 14 months ago with MG with ACH antibodies. My first symptom was difficulty chewing and becoming tired while chewing. I haven’t had that difficulty for over a year. My primary medication has been low dose prednisone and Mestinon. Over the last six months or so, I have really noticed an increase in fatigue and a loss of energy. Sometimes when doing a lot of walking, I feel like I am dragging my legs they feel so tired. Sometimes I feel like I am walking like a drunk person when the fatigue sets in. We have lots of wind on the prairie, and 3 Saturdays ago we had really high winds and part of my privacy fence blew down. I live in the city and I have dogs and chickens so repairing the fence was a big priority. The weekend after the fence blew down (last weekend), I pulled the broken fence post from the ground with a Hi-Lift farm jack and set the new post with cement and then hung the pickets. We were in a rush because we had a storm coming and we needed that cement to set before the storm. Anyhow, to make a long story short, the next day, Monday, I got up and prepped myself for work but I was so physically and mentally fatigued that I called in sick for the first time due to my MG symptoms. I went back to bed and slept for 3 hours. I didn’t even begin to start feeling normal until about 7 pm Monday night and at this point I still feel tired and weak even though I went to work Tuesday through Friday. They say timing is everything and luckily, I had my 6 month appointment with my Neurologist on Tuesday. Monday morning I will begin IVIG treatment for the first time and continue for 5 days. For me, my symptoms have progressed from what I experienced when I was first diagnosed. Whether the disease has progressed or not is debatable , but to mind, those bad antibodies are still working and doing their damage. More damage leads to more severe symptoms. That’s progression to me.