Is that the only drug he wants to put you on? Did he discuss prednisone and/or Mestinon? What is Cellcept supposed to do for MG? I have been on prednisone and Mesitinon for 4 years and would love to get off the prednisone.

I don’t know anything about CelCept except it takes 6-12 weeks to reach full strength. I would take it twice a day. In the meantime I’m on IVIG.

Would be interested to learn when you were first diagnosed, what symptoms you have and treatment to date. In the meantime this might be of interest:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2646649/

Are you getting positive results with the IVIG. How often do you have to take that. I believe that is given intravenously. What symptoms did you have that they came to the conclusion you have MG? I had severe weakness and double vision in the beginning. DV doesn't seem to be my problem. I have gotten to the point of feeling just fine and tried to taper the Prednisone and had flares, so had to go back on it. I am now taking 10 mg a day or every other day w/o Mestinon, but still don't feel as good as I did before. I may start back up on the Mestinon to see if it helps a bit.

The thing with MG, you are constantly trying to juggle meds to see how you respond and everyone seems to have different symptoms and treatments. All you can do is give things a try and see how it goes. I hope someone posts here about Cellcept. Also there is a MG group on Facebook, you might try that as well.

There is a good discussion of Cellcept at http://www.myasthenia.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=K4QdT_-rPAU%3D&tabid=84

The statement there and what others here have said is that it takes about 6-14 months for it to be effective, and that it does not work for some folks.

Good Luck
Russ

I take Cellcept. I was started on prednisone first because it acts quickly. Then I was started on Cellcept and have been taking both for the past 10 months. I have been on a prednisone taper for the past few months and eventually Cellcept will be my maintenance drug. I also take mestinon. I haven't had any problems with the Cellcept. Best wishes.

Let me just say that not only is Cellcept the safest drug you can take for MG, it should be one of the most effective. You must be sero positive for MG, That is what the data supports. I believe you almost owe it to yourself to try Cellcept first if you test positive from blood. All depending on your current condition because it takes time to work. If you are struggling greatly with this disease you may need fast relief and that can come from IVIG or high dose steroids. I have never taken steroids and did IVIG to push this back. I took cellcept and mestinon until cellcept started working. That was a few months at least.

cgreens

You seem very sure in your views. Interested to hear what you think about this review?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2646649/

Yes, I am sure. That is an older article and study and is always the study used as anti cellcept. It isn't really bad for Cellcept except the title. Cellcept needs to be allowed at least a year to work, and studies show it would be most beneficial to those that test positive for MG. I never took steroids, but as a steroid sparing agent, or stand alone treatment, nothing we can take is safer. If given it's due as I have stated, studies show it is just as or even more effective than Prednisone. I have a long history of posts here. People can search.
TJ from CA

Also, the poster that said they didn't know anything about Cellcept and that it takes 6-12 weeks, in most cases be very wrong. While it is possible to get results in 12 weeks, Cellcept needs to have up to one year to work.

We all know MG is a terrible disease and the symptoms can fluctuate and be of a different severity for all of us. I understand that we all cannot wait up to a year for a treatment to work. I understand why people use prednisone. Hard to get completely off of prednisone. MG sucks! In my case, I did suffer while I waited and hoped for cellcept to work.. IVIG gave me relief for a month or so, but I had to use high dosages of mestinon to mask symptoms. Cellcept first goal is to eliminate a need for Mestinon. I haven't taken Mestinon for years because it really does me no good now.