Myasthenia Gravis Support Group
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle, muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and...
Over the years since I was diagnosed with MG i've been told coffee and other hot beverages were bad for MG and would make symptoms worse.
Well maybe that is true for some.... but I missed my coffee and thought i'd jump back in for the morning pick me up.
So here is my recipe. It works for me so I thought I would share.
Use your coffee of choice and portions you are comfortable with.
I make a 24 oz cup(large I know) and I add almond milk, 1/4 ts ceylon cinnamon, 1/4 ts maca root powder, 1/4 ts tumeric, 1/4 ts beet root powder, 1/4 ts mushroom blend powder and 1/4 ts boswellia serrata powder. These are all interchangeable if one isnt liked. Blend it well. I use a hand held electric frother.
I have made tremendous gains with this to fight inflamation and gain energy.
You can google each product and see the benifit they have.
PS they will also tell you a hot shower or bath can be bad for you, but it's a pick me up for me.
Just an FYI
1-- hot liquids, just like hot weather, hot showers, etc tend to relax our muscles. And relaxing our muscles in the throat when we try to swallow is not good. So maybe saving the coffee until after the meal would be best. That would be true of any hot drink. If you can stand cold coffee, that would be better.
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3676818/
This study says that caffeine inhibits acetylcholinesterase -- which for us means that it can act somewhat like Mestinon as the acetylcholinesterase is what breaks down the acetylcholine messenger chemicals that transmit from nerves to muscles. (Unbound acetylcholine is gradually destroyed by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase.
(Mestinon is an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor and works by preventing the destruction of acetylcholine by this enzyme says Wikipedia)
3. Caffeine acts as a central nervous system stimulant. When it reaches your brain, the most noticeable effect is alertness. You'll feel more awake and less tired, so it's a common ingredient in medications to treat or manage drowsiness, headaches, and migraines. (again from wikipedia). And certainly we do need a stimulant at times.
So what it comes down to is like everything else in diet, drinks, and lifestyle adjustments -- you have to try it and see how it affects you.
I found coffee useful when MG was at its worst for me. The morning ritual of coffee with breakfast was important to make me feel like I was still a somewhat normal human being, even though I was reading the newspaper with one eye closed, timing my mestinon 40 minutes earlier to try to swallow, and trying to eat less to keep of the extra weight with prednisone Coffee seemed the least of my worries.
Good Luck
Russ
as a heavy coffe drinker,, in all the years of my mg. i have encountered any problems whatsoever,
as i deink it i allways feel more envigorating, caffeine work in manny way as a buster to the system
as philomena mntion, as we get older we are in need to refill our gastronomical system with priobiotics.
this maybe a must for most people i do take them sparostistly
and also as Russ mentioned, coffe is the last of the worries for him, also for mg
best of luck
Andre
Too much caffeine can present anxiety symptoms, so proceed with caution. That all being said, love my caffeine and tea gives me just the right amount.
Hot chocolate and quality chocolate in general can also have similar effects since it has theobromine. It doesn't last as long and seems to be a harder crash as well.