Polyautoimmunity brings some uninvited guests to my MG party
MG is notorious for appearing alongside certain conditions
Living with myasthenia gravis (MG) is already a full-time job, and not the cushy work-from-home kind with pajama pants and flexible hours. MG is the kind of job that keeps changing your schedule without warning, hands you tasks you didn’t train for, and occasionally leaves you flat on your tush wondering what on earth just happened.
And when you’re finally starting to get the hang of things, MG has a way of inviting a few extra conditions to the party — unannounced, uninvited, and completely uninterested in cleaning up after themselves.
In my case, one of those long-term houseguests is fibromyalgia. The combination of MG fatigue and fibro fatigue often feels like stacking exhaustion on top of exhaustion, just to see how many layers my body can hold before it tips over. Pain from fibro loves to mingle with MG weakness, and the two of them together can turn even a simple morning into a strange blend of questions like, “Is this the MG talking?” or “Is fibro just being dramatic today?” Some days it feels like living with two toddlers who won’t stop tattling on each other.
Why autoimmune and chronic illnesses tend to cluster
I’ve learned over the years that this clustering of conditions isn’t unusual. Many of us with MG end up with extra diagnoses, even if we’re doing everything “right.” The National Institutes of Health explains that autoimmune diseases share overlapping immune and genetic quirks, so once your body starts sending its immune system in the wrong direction, it becomes a little more likely to veer off course again down the road. Researchers call this polyautoimmunity, which sounds like a spell from a fantasy novel, but really just means the immune system gets its wires crossed in multiple directions at once.
MG is itself notorious for appearing alongside certain conditions. Thyroid diseases are a big one; hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism both show up more often with MG, thanks to those shared immune pathways.
Some folks with MG also develop rheumatic autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, which also ties back to the immune system’s tendency to go off-script in more than one way. Studies confirm these combinations happen more frequently than in the general population.
And then there’s the thymus, an organ many people barely think about. Thymus abnormalities, including thymomas, are more common with MG than with many other conditions, and they can influence how symptoms develop and progress.
Fibromyalgia isn’t an autoimmune disease, but it loves to hang around with autoimmune conditions. Researchers believe that long-term immune system stress, inflammation, and nervous system overload may all contribute to why fibro often becomes part of the picture. Knowing that has made it easier to accept that the pain and exhaustion aren’t “in my head,” even when they don’t match the classic MG patterns.
Sorting out the symptoms
The real daily challenge is figuring out which condition is speaking up when something feels off. Fatigue is a perfect example. MG fatigue is usually tied to muscle weakness, while fibro fatigue can feel like someone drained my batteries and replaced them with sand. But put those together, and separating them becomes an Olympic-level guessing game.
Muscle pain? Could be fibro. Could be MG. Could be the weather. Could be that I dared to carry a laundry basket yesterday. Shortness of breath? MG weakness? Anxiety? A mix of both? Even my doctors sometimes shrug with me as we try to piece together the puzzle. It’s not that they don’t care, it’s simply that these conditions overlap in ways that medical textbooks can’t always cleanly explain.
Because of this, managing multiple chronic illnesses becomes a skill set all on its own. I’ve had to learn how to track patterns, observe, and be more in tune with my body, ask better questions, and communicate more clearly, even when my brain fog feels thicker than yogurt.
Living with MG plus fibromyalgia isn’t easy, but understanding the “why” behind it gives me just a little more control. And honestly, I’ll take every scrap of control I can get. Some days, that looks like pacing myself. Some days it looks like resting without guilt. And some days it looks like just acknowledging that my body is juggling a lot, even when I’m sitting perfectly still.
If you’re navigating this same maze, I hope you know you’re not alone. Our bodies may collect diagnoses we never asked for, but we’re allowed to keep growing, keep learning, and keep finding those tiny pockets of peace in the middle of the chaos. One symptom, one breath, one whispered roar at a time.
Note: Myasthenia Gravis News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Myasthenia Gravis News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to myasthenia gravis.
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