Are we sure that ME/CFS isn't Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS)?

[trails]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert–Eaton_myasthenic_syndrome

Hoping someone smarter than me provides a convincing argument as to why they aren't the same

 

[Seven7]

Too many patients do not have / develop lung cancer???

 

[MeSci]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert–Eaton_myasthenic_syndrome

Hoping someone smarter than me provides a convincing argument as to why they aren't the same

Goodness - they do look very similar, don't they? It wouldn't surprise me if some people with this illness are misdiagnosed with ME/CFS - maybe some people here? I had never heard of it, but did a search for more-authoritative pages (you can't be sure that Wikipedia entries are written by knowledgeable people, although they are generally good) and got this one.

A few things about the illness suggest that I don't have it, e.g. the advisability of treating with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors. I do better with anticholinergic drugs, which have the opposite effect, and some tests in the early days of my illness found my AChE levels to be a little low. I had asked for the tests because of a suspicion that my symptoms were due to organophosphate flea treatments used on my cats.

The page also says that magnesium is contraindicated, whereas many people with ME seem to benefit from magnesium.

 

[ukxmrv]

It doesn't occur in outbreaks like ME did in the 20th century

It doesn't suddenly appear in previously well people who suddenly get a virus infection and never recover

With "ME/CFS" it always depends on what you are talking about, which criteria etc. Sure to be a misdiagnosis or two in there

 

[trails]

Probably a stupid thread :thumbdown: I'm not usually susceptible to hypochondriasis or medical-students disease, or whatever. Nevertheless, elements of this disease kind of freaked me out a bit. My mother had ME/CFS symptoms for most of her adult life. Eventually, she passed away from lung cancer more than 15 years after she quit smoking.

Given that I smoked for about 30 years before quitting, I'm undoubtedly guilty of a momentary panic attack.

 

[Valentijn]

In addition to the points raised above, I see no mention of anything resembling PEM. In fact:

On neurological examination, the weakness demonstrated with normal testing of power is often less severe than would be expected on the basis of the symptoms. Strength improves further with repeated testing, e.g. improvement of power on repeated hand grip (a phenomenon known as "Lambert's sign").

My muscles get weaker during use, not stronger.

 

[MeSci]

Probably a stupid thread :thumbdown: I'm not usually susceptible to hypochondriasis or medical-students disease, or whatever. Nevertheless, elements of this disease kind of freaked me out a bit. My mother had ME/CFS symptoms for most of her adult life. Eventually, she passed away from lung cancer more than 15 years after she quit smoking.

Given that I smoked for about 30 years before quitting, I'm undoubtedly guilty of a momentary panic attack.

My mother died of lung cancer, but I have no idea whether she had any symptoms like this, as I was very young when she died. I smoked for about 15 years. Stopped in the early 1980s. But I don't think I have this, as I said.

 

[Hutan]

Probably a stupid thread

Not a stupid thread.
Bringing this to the attention of people may help someone. Thanks for making the effort.

 

[kangaSue]

Mis-diagnoses do occur between the two. Lems can just be idiopathic and have no involvement with lung cancer, you only get lung cancer with paraneoplastic syndrome, i.e. you have symptoms of cancer but it has not yet materialised somewhere in the body.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15257511

Idiopathic LEMS is an example of channelopathies, several of which have been found along with ME/CFS but there's no detemination whether it is of primary cause or secondary factor. It's known that low grade inflammation in any chronic condition can cause channelopathies, the alteration of ion channel function found in autoimmune dysfunction.
http://phoenixrising.me/research-2/...annelopathy-in-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-mecfs