I saw my neurologist recently for my 6 month checkup. I told him I was doing well, but the Mestinon (Pyridostigmine) didn’t seem to be holding me as well between doses. I was taking a dose every four hours. He instructed me to increase the dose to one every three hours, but to let him know if I developed any problems with my stomach. Apparently, there can be problems with digestion with increased dosage of Mestinon.
For some reason, that made me think of Newton’s Third Law of Motion which states for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Now bear with me here because I’m about to go into a bit of a stretch to explain my conclusion.
Newton’s law deals with physics. Myasthenia Gravis deals with medicine. That means they are two entirely different disciplines, but is there a relationship? There is and it’s called “Newton immunology” through which the law is repurposed to describe the immune system’s self-regulating balance.
This means for every event that triggers a response, your immune system reacts to restore balance and prevent tissue damage. In an autoimmune disease like Myasthenia Gravis, this “equal and opposite” balance is disrupted. The body for some reason assumes there is something attacking, when there actually isn’t, so your immune system sends antibodies to attack at the neuromuscular junction. In MG, the antibodies overwhelm, which leads to the symptoms so many of us with MG experience.
The same kind of principle holds true with your body’s response to some medicines. I’m supposed to take Mestinon for my MG, but higher levels can cause reactions in my digestive system. That reaction isn’t always equal, but it’s usually the opposite of what I want to happen.
I went on Grok to check my theory. Sure enough, there is a relationship and “Newton immunology” is a real thing. I also learned some things that surprised me, like they have experimented with using parasitic worms to stimulate balanced immune responses in people with MG. You talk about strange therapies!!!
In any event, we should always be aware that anything we do and every medicine we take may result in an equal (or sometimes unequal, or even extremely unequal) reaction. We can’t always prevent these reactions, but we can learn how to respond to them.
For example, I’m allergic to tree nuts. If I should happen to ingest one, my immune system goes to work immediately to respond to protect me. My throat and tongue swells and without epinephrine (adrenalin), I could actually choke to death. In other words, my body is responding to protect me, but in the process could end up killing me!
Whatever changes we experience in life, we should be prepared for a response, good or bad. I’ll try the higher dose of Mestinon, but if it starts causing problems with my digestive system, I’ll have to revert back to my original dose.
I believe it was Forrest Gump who said, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.”
Life. Gotta love it!