Secondhalf, introduction ...
So ... this is the second time I've chosen to use this particular ID on a site. The first time was when I got divorced and it seemed and appropriate name as that is how I viewed life going forward. This time, its again appropriate as I'm having to look at life again with a distinct before and after.
I think the divorce was the easier thing to deal with. Shock, whine, pay, pay some more, keep paying ... then well live!
So, about what has brought me here ... firstly, I want to pose a question, but some like to read the story (journal entry) to get some context before they have to ask me the same questions that they've asked so many times before.
Beginning months of 2011, while I was working two jobs (yep, the paying thing ...), I started to notice double vision. Or when I entered a busy store (Costco comes to mind), the isles of wonderful shiny packages I loved so dearly were swimming all over the place. I assumed it was stress (from the second job, and me entering the dating world again at 48 ... yikes!) and quit the second job. My symptoms lessoned and thought it must be stress.
At the end of 2012, I started dating again (yep, the other one crashed and burned), and a couple months later, the symptoms came back (double vision, moving shiny packages at Costco). This time I went to see an acupuncturist and it was almost a full, immediate recovery ... for a while anyway. Then I just struggled not understanding what was going on. I might say that I saw various eye doctors, continually getting bumped higher in the specialist feeding chain until I landed at an Neuro-ophthalmologist. Nope, he didn't figure it out, but I started to see him yearly for a blind spot I never realized I had.
Nov. 2014, while working out at the gym, I started to risk dropping a dumbbell on my chest while pushing. Swell, now what? In the span of a month, I lost 25% of my strength and had to use machines instead of free weights. From that point on though, it just got harder! Burning legs, extreme muscle fatigue ... 50+ sucks I thought! How dare all those smiling older people in commercials mislead me so!!!
One day, when I could no longer cope with the double vision, I bullied my way into a last minute appointment with my Neuro-opto guy ... as luck would have it, I got one of his junior associates and she ordered the tests that exposed MG ... smoking gun!
Mestinon was the first failure. Didn't do a thing (salivated like a dog for months for nothing).
However, Feb 06, 2016, I was put on Prednisone ... eureka! 4 weeks into it (first week 5MG, second week 10MG, third 15, forth 20 where I stayed). My eyes no longer resemble those of Marty Feldman (thank god!), and my strength is coming back in leaps and bounds. I can't believe how fast it's working. I'm very pleased.
But then there are those pesky side effects which brings me here today as I'm realizing ... Prednisone for life is not a good thing!
One thing I will mention about my case, is it's quite mild. This I've realized to be especially true when reading through these forums the last few days ... whew, I didn't think I was see myself as lucky ... but I do.
On to the questions ... and my journey documented here so maybe someone else can get answers someday.
Thanks for reading my story.
SH.
I think the divorce was the easier thing to deal with. Shock, whine, pay, pay some more, keep paying ... then well live!
So, about what has brought me here ... firstly, I want to pose a question, but some like to read the story (journal entry) to get some context before they have to ask me the same questions that they've asked so many times before.
Beginning months of 2011, while I was working two jobs (yep, the paying thing ...), I started to notice double vision. Or when I entered a busy store (Costco comes to mind), the isles of wonderful shiny packages I loved so dearly were swimming all over the place. I assumed it was stress (from the second job, and me entering the dating world again at 48 ... yikes!) and quit the second job. My symptoms lessoned and thought it must be stress.
At the end of 2012, I started dating again (yep, the other one crashed and burned), and a couple months later, the symptoms came back (double vision, moving shiny packages at Costco). This time I went to see an acupuncturist and it was almost a full, immediate recovery ... for a while anyway. Then I just struggled not understanding what was going on. I might say that I saw various eye doctors, continually getting bumped higher in the specialist feeding chain until I landed at an Neuro-ophthalmologist. Nope, he didn't figure it out, but I started to see him yearly for a blind spot I never realized I had.
Nov. 2014, while working out at the gym, I started to risk dropping a dumbbell on my chest while pushing. Swell, now what? In the span of a month, I lost 25% of my strength and had to use machines instead of free weights. From that point on though, it just got harder! Burning legs, extreme muscle fatigue ... 50+ sucks I thought! How dare all those smiling older people in commercials mislead me so!!!
One day, when I could no longer cope with the double vision, I bullied my way into a last minute appointment with my Neuro-opto guy ... as luck would have it, I got one of his junior associates and she ordered the tests that exposed MG ... smoking gun!
Mestinon was the first failure. Didn't do a thing (salivated like a dog for months for nothing).
However, Feb 06, 2016, I was put on Prednisone ... eureka! 4 weeks into it (first week 5MG, second week 10MG, third 15, forth 20 where I stayed). My eyes no longer resemble those of Marty Feldman (thank god!), and my strength is coming back in leaps and bounds. I can't believe how fast it's working. I'm very pleased.
But then there are those pesky side effects which brings me here today as I'm realizing ... Prednisone for life is not a good thing!
One thing I will mention about my case, is it's quite mild. This I've realized to be especially true when reading through these forums the last few days ... whew, I didn't think I was see myself as lucky ... but I do.
On to the questions ... and my journey documented here so maybe someone else can get answers someday.
Thanks for reading my story.
SH.
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