Drug Cautions in MG and Drug Interactions Checker
Read first:
Drug Interactions: What You Need to Know (WebMD - scroll down a bit)
Mixing Medications and Dietary Supplements Can Endanger Your Health (FDA.gov)
How What You’re Eating Could Be Affecting Your Medications (Cleveland Clinic)
DRUG INTERACTIONS: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW (FDA.gov)
Clinically Relevant Drug-Drug Interactions in Primary Care (AFP)
Drug Cautions in MG
(Updated link 12/2023) Comprehensive Myasthenia Gravis Cautionary Drugs List
Detailed listing of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, supplements and Minerals, including ratings of risk severity in MG. Print out this list for your wallet, purse, caregiver, refrigerator door, dentist, doctor and first responders.
MGFA Cautionary Drug List and Article (Provided by the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA))
Drugs That Induce or Cause Deterioration of Myasthenia Gravis: An Update (Journal of Clinical Medicine)
Avoidance of drugs that may exacerbate myasthenia (UpToDate.com)
What To Know About Antibiotics and Myasthenia Gravis (Myasthenia-gravis,com)
Drug Interaction Checkers
The following websites allow you to enter two or more drugs by generic or brand name. They will then list all pairs of your drugs that have potentially harmful interactions. Each time you add a new drug to your regimen you should list all drugs, both prescribed and over-the-counter, that you take including supplements (vitamins, minerals, etc.)
Drug Interactions Checker from MedScape.com
Drug Interactions Checker from WebMD.com
Drug Interactions Checker from Drugs.com (You can store and edit your list on the website for easy retrieval by registering; they only need you to create a username and password.)
Drugs and Myasthenia Gravis
Overview of the treatment of myasthenia gravis (UpToDate.com)
This web page discusses various therapies for MG, including drugs. Loads of information. One very useful page is this table which summarizes Time to onset of effect and Time to maximal effect for common MG drugs.
Drugs and Vaccines to Avoid With Myasthenia Gravis (myasthenia-gravis.com)
Drugs [including Magnesium] That Induce or Cause Deterioration of Myasthenia Gravis: An Update (NIH)
**MAGNESIUM**
One thing a person with MG should never do is take anything that reduces the level of Acetylcholine (Ach) in the neuromuscular junction. Less Ach = increased fatigue and decreased strength. One of the side effects of a common MG drug, pyridostigmine AKA Mestinon, is muscle cramps, which are commonly treated with magnesium. However, for myasthenics, magnesium supplements (or injections or IVs) can be dangerous. Do some MGers find that magnesium supplements reduce cramping without side effects? Yes. Do some MGers find that use of magnesium supplements (or injections or IVs) exacerbate their MG symptoms? Yes. So please, be careful when adding additional magnesium to your diet. Magnesium is a common and essential component of many food types and supplements and, in most people, is metabolized safely by the body. But we myasthenics must be extremely cautious because magnesium can reduce Ach. Please always confer with an MG neurologist before taking supplements; your health is your lifeline.
Also see:
Magnesium and Myasthenia Gravis (Myasthenia Gravis News)
Magnesium-containing products can potentiate NM weakness in MG by inhibiting acetylcholine (Ach) release (American Journal of Gastroenterology)
What is magnesium and what does it do? (NIH) Doctors' version
Can You Take Too Much Magnesium? (Verywell Health)
9 Food Sources of Magnesium (Everyday Health)