QUESTION: I need some help with myasthenia gravis. I have been treating someone successfully for over 1 year. They came off prednisone, off pyridostigmine and lowered synthroid to 50 mcg. I treated adrenals and thyroid, food allergies, gut dysfunction, completely overhauled the diet and added an extensive protocol which included huperzine A and a few other things specifically for the MG. By 6 months he reported his vision had improved almost completely to the point that he was able to resume driving but sometimes noticed symptoms at night if he was tired. For the remainder of the year he did consistently well, reporting increased energy saying he felt like he was 20 yrs younger (hes 72). He also has high Hg and Pb. I have been slowly detoxing him with mild non chemical chelation doing once a month cleanses which include natural chelating agents such as chlorella, mod citrus pectin, alginate etc… Along with liver detox support, sweating and colonics. Well, I just got back from 2 months in Italy and it seems he’s taken a nosedive. He ran out of his protocol and rather than order more from the resources I gave him, he decided to wait until I got back. He also took a trip to the mountains and was at 7-9000 ft elevation for vacation. He noticed during that time he had a hard time with the elevation and was extremely fatigued. 3 days into his trip, he woke up with ptosis of one eye. The blurriness was back (but only in that eye) and the eyelid presents about 50% shut. This has remained since his trip which was one month ago. He’s due for follow up testing at the end of this month. I am wondering if you have any tidbits to offer and if you think I should run any special tests. Specifically, I was wondering about thymus antibody testing. Have you ever done it for MG? I’d appreciate anything you have to offer for the MG or maintenance steps related to autoimmune disease in general. He’s back on his protocol roughly one week now so I’m hoping that will help but I saw him yesterday and his eye was almost shut completely.
ANSWER: If the protocol is helping fine BUT if not re-start the steroids and ‘stigmine till things settle. That may be the only way to recover this – settle it down then re-start your other work. As an example I have never taken a MG patient off all the ‘stigmine. These cases are totally O2 concentration sensitive so that trip was the death blow. Thymus can help but not till the flare is gone. I have some of these patients and they can’t tolerate ANY break in protocol even in their 20-30’s. This is a big thing and may not be recoverable.