Hi all,
I'm 19 and probably am the least active person who doesn't eat any kind of balanced diet to any extent. I usually only eat supper which usually consists of junk food. Since I can remember I have had and still do have a great body in terms of muscle mass. Friends are always puzzled and such, but no one knows my secret. I find this disease to be a great thing for the way I live my life, for now. I was wondering if anyone who is older can provide a little insight on the extent of how my body responds if I don't take care of it as well as I should. By this I mean will I lose my muscle tone and start to look more like how I have been living if I continue like this( if that makes sense)?

I don't think it will provide any helpful responses, but I am currently taking 700mg of mexil a day.

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen

Country: Canada Eh!!!

You may continue to have bulked muscles (even obese people are often very muscular because they have to move around all that weight) but your lifestyle will catch up with you. I'm a nutritional consultant and have seen people commit slow suicide with their diets and sedentary lifestyles, so don't wait too long to start eating healthier and exercising more.

The reason your muscles are hypertrophied is because you're basically doing isometrics every time you are stiff and push against that stiffness. It tears the muscles just like bodybuilding and then they compensate and try to avoid further damage by growing more fibers and developing more motor units. So you may not lose muscle tone in your legs or arms as long as you are stiff, but that doesn't do anything for cardiac health.

The Mexitil may help with some of the stiffness, but if you're not already noticing results then it may take a higher dose.

Jan

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen's

Country: US

Mexillitine is definitely a wonder drug for me. My body has got so used to it that im always slightly stiff but without it i cant even do as much as turn to look without my neck just contracting like crazy. I have been reading a lot and it seems like the majority is only affected in the legs and arms. Does anyone have it affecting basically every muscle? Thanks for the quick response Jan!

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen

Country: Canada Eh!

Hi Buddy:

I have Becker MC, and if I don't exercise regularly I feel the effects of the MC much more. I have had the MC effect just about every muscle.

MC aside, I had a friend who, in high school, was as thin as a rail and would pretty much eat as much as anything he wanted. I used to warn him that it was going to catch up with him someday. Surely enough, by the time he hit 30 he was probably somewhere around 30lbs overweight. There are also things like heart/cardiovascular disease to consider.

You might want to get some books on "eating clean" and give it a try for a month and see if you see any improvement in the way you feel, even if you don't feel bad, you might not feel as good as you could.

Type of Myotonia: Becker

Country: USA

Me and my dad both have Thomsen's and he says he always did what you and me do (I'm 17 by the way) and it worked out just the same for him. He says that when you turn 40 it hits the fan and catches up with you a little bit. But considering how he took care of himself in college, I don't think its as severe as it could be. But hey, better safe than sorry right? Might as well be healthy!

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen's

Country: USA