If you have thyroid disease.....tell me what type and what tests I should be sure to have done. I know that the normal TSH blood level test is not enough. HELP ME PLEASE! I have had MG for 8yrs.....this time I don't want to go through this new issue alone!

THANKS TO EVERYONE!

Christy

Post edited by: norwegianphoenix, at: 10/22/2008 22:08

Welcome to our MG forum.

There is a wide correlation of MG patients with Graves' disease and the cause is not known. Some autoimmune disorders seem to come in "groups," if that makes any sense. Like, lupus and RA; fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc.

I have Graves' disease that was diagnosed in 1996. I was diagnosed three years later with MG and post-thymectomy, I am maintaining on Mestinon, Imuran and low-dose daily Medrol (I also have lupus).

I have my own theory regarding the relationship of Graves and MG, and I may be way off base. I think the connection is due to the proximity of the two glands as they are close together; and the T cells that each gland produces.

But I digress; I am not a doctor.

As you probably know by now, thyroid imbalance can exacerbate your MG symptoms. The exacerbation can vary in its severity. Knowing when the MG or the Graves is to blame takes some practice (and most always an M.D.), as is the case with complex, overlapping symptoms of other disease processes.

Currently for the Graves, I take Armour Thyroid. I have been within normal range for about 12-16 weeks now. I was suffering thyroid imbalace for five years while taking synthetic HRTs. Why, I don't know for sure. But the Armour seems to have brought me in for a safe landing, and my MG is behaving in a more stable fashion.

BTW, I am having trouble even locating Armour Thyroid as my local drugstores are either out of stock and (presently) on backorder with no expectation of delivery date. However, there is dessicated thyroid hormone from bovine. Armour is porcine, I believe.

Christy, I hope you get some valuable insight at your doctor's visit. Keep us updated, won't you?

Peace out.

Thank you very much for the information! My question to you now is this: The path to MG diagnosis is a long one for many people.....I know MG was not the first auto-immune disease you were dx with, however, tell me about the dx process of the Grave's & Lupus????

I have been told from day one that I have sx's of Lupus, RA, and either Thyroid or adrenal disease. I believe that I was subclinical until now....they were hesitant to treat me for those sx's at all back when they dx'ed the MG. They wanted to get the MG under control. I am set up to see an Endocrinologist on Dec 5th here at the University of Louisville. Can you give me some key tests that are critical in dx process that may be overlooked.....We all know how subjective the choice of tests to be conducted for MG and the order in which they are tested! I want to avoid all of the "potholes" this time around! HELP ME PLEASE LYNNE!!!

I deeply appreciate your responses and Captain's as well! It is good to have the two of you to lean on here

Peace Out!

Christy

I'm sorry I don't have any information to give you with regards to the thyroid disease as I don't have it. I can tell you that I do have other aoutimmune disease before I developed MG. I have Crohnes disease, putual Psoriasis, a stomach issue which name I can't rememeber the disease name and one other condition that I can't remember cause all these meds I'm on make me vary forget full.

I hope others are able to give you some insight to some of the test done all I can help you with is by giving you this info I found

Mild Clinical Expression of Myasthenia Gravis Associated with Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases

Myasthenia gravis (MG) may occur in association with autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the features of MG associated with AITD compared to those of MG without AITD. A total of 129 MG patients (34 men and 95 women; age range, 11–81 yr) were subdivided into: group A, 56 MG patients with AITD [25 with autoimmune thyroiditis and 31 with Graves’ disease (GD)]; group B, 21 MG patients with nonautoimmune thyroid diseases; and group C, 52 MG patients without thyroid disease. The severity of MG was ranked according to the Osserman score. Laboratory evaluation included assays for antithyroid and antiacetylcholine receptor (AchRAb) antibodies.

Ocular MG (Osserman’s class 1) was more frequent in group A (41.0%) than in group B (14.2%; P < 0.03) or C (21.4%; P < 0.03). Severe generalized MG (classes 2 was more frequent in groups B (57.1%; P < 0.03) and C (51.9%; P < 0.02) than in group A (28.5%). GD patients with clinical evidence of ophthalmopathy had a higher frequency (P = 0.05) of ocular MG (57.8%) than GD patients without clinical ophthalmopathy (16.6%). Thymic disease was less frequent in group A (26.7%) than in group B (71.4%; P = 0.001) or C (59.7%; P = 0.001). The prevalence of thymic hyperplasia was 17.8%, 38.0%, and 40.3% in groups A, B, and C, respectively; the prevalence of thymoma was 8.9%, 33.4%, and 19.4%. When only patients with generalized MG were considered, thymic disease was less frequent (P < 0.02) in group A (40.6%) than in the remaining groups (69.4%). AchRAb was more frequent in groups B (57.1%) and C (57.6%; P < 0.03) than in group A (35.7%).

In conclusion, MG associated with AITD has a mild clinical expression, with preferential ocular involvement and lower frequency of thymic disease and AchRAb. This supports the hypothesis that ocular and generalized MG are separate diseases with different spectra of associated diseases. Nonautoimmune thyroid diseases have no influence on the features of MG. The association of ocular MG and AITD might be due to a common autoimmune mechanism and/or a peculiar genetic background.

Hope it's some help.