Myasthenia Gravis Support Group
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle, muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and...
Good Morning! I'm new here and looking for some help. I recently have been worked up and cleared for a blockage in my heart. Both my large and small arteries are clear; I had the cardiac catherization done. Good thing! I'm now in the process of getting a CT scan of my chest to rule out something wrong with my thymus gland and an ultrasound of my throid.
I'm still expericencing chest pressure upon exertion, doing normal day to day housework, loading the dishwasher, doing dishes, going up and down stairs. I tire very easily, I get dizzy standing and walking. If I rest the symptoms do subside. I'm just wondering if anyone else experinced anything like this prior to or after diagnosis.
I'm a 52 yr old female, I work full time, yes I'm overwieght but still live a very active lifestyle - walk several miles a day, and this has really slowed me down.
Thanks for reading my postand for any help you can offer.
Diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis can be relatively easy for some folks -- a simple blood test, and extremely difficult for others. Although most MG folks do have a positive ACHR blood test, there are also many whose blood test is normal, and rather extensive testing by other means is necessary.
MG symptoms overlap with many other illnesses, and so it is difficult to know by symptoms what is wrong.
Generally, those of us who have MG have muscles that tire rapidly. In my case, I had pretty normal strength to grip the doctor's hands and pull against them for a short time, but then my muscles quit early. The doctors actually did this as a test (at least the men doctors--as I am a strong person). And what they could show was my strength was very good for 10-15 seconds, then gave out.
This rapid fatigue-ability is the moist common characteristic of MG. However, if MG is advanced, then we feel weak and have strength problems most of the time.
For most folks, MG starts with the eyes; double vision and droopy eyelids; then moves to the head with talking, chewing, neck strength problems and then to the overall voluntary muscles including breathing.
But, although that is the most common, just about any other starting place is possible. For those of us with the common symptoms, blood tests and muscle tests are generally enough to find out if we have MG. But definitely not always, and so diagnosis can be very difficult, and doctors can be unsure for years.
Good Luck
Russ