Curt, Well said being happy with what you can do instead of what you cannot.
I agree the classification from them is a little vague in that it lists the identicals. However, they are underneath the previous rating of mild, moderate, and severe. So, technically, you wouldn't have mild and moderate, or severe. Just one or the other. The question would be what is the difference between mild and moderate. There is also the older Osserman Classification :

Severity: (Osserman classification):

I: Ocular myasthenia
IIA: Mild generalized myasthenia with slow progression: no crises, responsive to drugs
IIB. : Moderately severe generalized myasthenia : severe skeletal and bulbar involvement but no crises; drug response less than satisfactory
III: Acute fulminating myasthenia, rapid progression of severe symptoms, with respiratory crises and poor drug response
IV: Late severe myasthenia, same as III but progression over 2 years from class I to II

MG is no picnic! That is for certain.

TJ

To this point in my progression, exercise has been frustrating. I would start a moderate regimen and do ok. But any kind of illness would set me back to the beginning point of my regimen. Then the beginning point started moving backwards.
To those who can exercise and achieve results - God bless you. But I will stand up and say you are not a failure if you can't. But... I keep trying. But in particular I try to stay active. My activity on some days may be restricted to walking to the mailbox but I do what I can when I can

Poppa - that was beautifully said.

Curt

So I'm Class IIIb or IVb. I previously had both an NG tube and trach, but I have neither now. I'm much better.

The bottom line is that it's only been since August from diagnosis and treatment. The reality is that symptoms may have been around for about 6 months prior to that. Therefore, it's been a total of one year maximum. That leaves me time for remission. I will be patient and believe in it. Thanks for your help and enouragement. If I'm not on the basketball court, at least I'll be on the golf course or walking in the mountains. Reading about your growth is encouraging to me.

Marvin

I work out, and no I am no where near remission. I was just hospitalized for a crisis 2 wks ago! I have done 1 cardio workout since then, with my dr's blessing, and probably 7 days of yoga. For me, I was working out regularly 5 days a week minimum before MG. Even as my body began showing signs of weakness I continued (didn't know what was going on). Now that I have been dxd, my neuro says this: for yoga, keep going and keep pushing so long as I am not literally falling down. If I begin to fall, then I have to back off. For cardio, he says to listen to my body, esp my breathing. Do NOT push to the point that induces shortness of breath, and if I do stop immediately! He also suggested adding like a half of a pills worth of neostigmine about an hour beforehand. I used to cycle regularly, too, and he suggested that I not do that anymore. His words were "MG & cycling don't go together."

I wish I'd have read all the replies before my last post! I just wanted to add my agreement to the fact that you are not a failure if you cannot exercise at all! Any little thing you try is important, even if you can't do it today or do it as well as you'd like. One of my frustrations leading up to my dx was the fact that I couldn't get better at yoga. I kept complaining that I felt like I was in the movie "Groundhogs Day," where the guy kept waking up and repeating the same day! I kept repeating the same level. And now I've gotten worse. But I still do it as much as I am able. And that's all any of us can do, as much as we are able. And like Curt said, I am grateful that I can do it at all.

I used to be a very fast walker. I am early in my diagnosis and need to remind myself to slow down especially when I'm at work. A simple walk to the other end of the building can set the pace for an exhaustive day if I forget to slow down. I try to forget about MG but it won't let me. I found myself being angry about that today. That aside, I'm looking into Tai Chi.

Forgot to add...thank you TJ for the clinical clasifications. It's wonderful to see clinical info spelled out in plain English. Hey...we may be able to turn it into a board game!
Larissa ;)

I found Tai Chi to be the exercise I have been able to stick to all these years of declining function. Yoga was problematical because of getting up after being on the floor. Since Tai Chi was developed as a martial art, you don't put yourself in that vulnerable position. There was also a Tai Chi instructor that lived next door to my parents and he (and many other well trained instructors) could modify the excercies for disability. The breathing and upper body exercises helped Dad with his MG and post surgical recovery and after my mother had a mild stroke it helped her regain her balance and normal gait. I was never a student of his, but did benefit from their participation.

One thing I noted in the first weeks after treatment, was an increase in muscle mass although I had not increased the number of times or intensity of the exercise (at least not consciously). So I think you do get more out of your exercise if you do it when you are feeling better. Another advantage to Tai Chi is that the movements are slow and not repetitive like cycling or typing or digging. b.

Hi Christo,
re: exercise & physical work.
It took me quite a while, to learn my new physical limitations.
(I am descended from a long line of blockheads.)

Many times, I tried to push past my limitations, only to have the symptoms quickly grow & cascade, often piling together in less than an hour. (Cue - the ambulance ride.)

I was fully & correctly diagnosed, a little over 3 years ago. I have had an effective daily regime - of low-dose prescription meds, in place.

I can now do 20-minutes worth, of very mild physical labor. Or I can walk 20 minutes, at the pace of a tortoise. (I never stray far from home!) Or, instead: I can spend 5 to 10 minutes, exercising. Stretches, some Tai Chi, push-ups, sit-ups, with stretching again, to cool down (whew - need some pills, just thinking about it.)

If I try - to go beyond my personal limitations?
Well, I always pay a price, of sorts. I either have to take extra doses of meds. Or, lie down. Or: usually both.
But there haven't been any new ambulance rides.

I am really pleased - to see some of our support group, who can spend significant time, exercising.
Maybe someday I'll get back to that point.
But like Curt and many others here, have said?
Until then, I'll take what I can get. And be darn glad!

Very interesting to read everyones experiences and how they cope with trying to exercise. My partner was 74 when symptoms started presenting. No doctors were clued on to it and he spent two weeks in hospital with a diagnosis of minor stroke.

Two months later he was in ICU needing intubation which he had for about 7 weeks. After two weeks in ICU he returned to a neuro ward and attempted to start exercising to get back on his feet. It was near impossible for him to physically recover from the weight loss, the ICU, aggressive treatment,etc . He managed a shuffle assisted to the toilet and the best he got was stepping up two stairs. But these tasks just exhausted him and he wanted to go back to bed. It seems a catch 22 disease and so difficult to watch a loved on go through it. You have to exercise to get muscle strength but it aggravates your symptoms.

I am not sure why I am posting this but just to say he was definitely in the most extreme category of MG. He had a severe generalised MG. It seems possible that if you have age on your side your body may recover better from disease than someone in their mid 70s. At that age it seems very hard to rebuild any muscle mass when the body becomes so deconditioned.

I read regularly the posts of MG sufferers as it helps me understand the disease which took my partner. Hope you all dont mind. We got the diagnosis in April and he passed away in July. Seems so different to what I read on the net but maybe it was just the cards he was dealt.

Exercise? Well yes I could swim 40 lengths of the pool 3 times a week before these symptoms appeared but now can only walk 50 metres very very slowly.
I taught and specialised in phys ed so I have been as active all my life as far as my osteo arthritis would let me. I have tramped etc.etc.
Maybe when I see this new proff in 2 weeks he will give me something so I can at least walk further.
We are at the moment away in our motor home and it is
frustrating when you see these lovely walking tracks and all you can do is look.