thanks Beth.
Is it possible though to show symptoms like my mom does and not see any antibody abnormalities in blood work?
YES, it is very possible to have MG and not have any antibodies show up in blood tests. In fact, the antibodies
will never show up in general blood work, such as your mom had done recently ... you have to do very specific tests for the antibodies.
The "Achr" test identifies the most common MG antibody, but now in the last two years, researchers have identified a second antibody that accounts for another percentage of MG cases. This is the "MuSK" test. So your mom would need to have those 2 specific blood tests done to test for MG.
And even if the tests are both negative, it might still be MG. About 7% of MG patients do not show either of those two antibodies ... but they are still clinically diagnosed as MG, and treated appropriately. It sounds (to me) like there are other antibodies that could be factors, and they just haven't identified them yet. So ... they can't test for them.
If either of the antibody tests is positive, you've got your diagnosed. If it's negative, then it becomes a question of clinical judgment, follow-up, and observation.
BTW, treatment for MG is no picnic ... it's long, tedious, and uses dangerous drugs because they have to suppress the patient's immune system ... and it takes a long time to work, but it can reverse the disease process and leave patients symptom-free. And that is wonderful!
If your mom has MG, she can live a good long life as long as her breathing isn't affected, but of course, without treatment, she'll have these very difficult symptoms to deal with ... speech, swallowing, possibly sight problems, limb weakness, etc. If there's
any possibility of MG, neuros should do everything they can to test for it so they can start treatment immediately.
I spent a year with false hopes that I had MG not ALS, and I don't want to give anybody else false hopes, too ... but since MG can be successfully treated, neuros should fully investigate all possibilities and be willing to do anything they can to rule it out.
Good luck. Tell your mom we're pulling for her!
BethU