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...
Does anyone just feel tired, not muscle weakness, just cannot quit yawning and need a good nap? They say that this is not a typical symptom of MG, but i get tired. Curious if anyone else just gets tired without other MG symptoms.
Welcome to the group! I'm a newbie myself but am so glad to have found such a wonderful resource.
In terms of "general" tiredness (rather than muscle-specific fatigue) it seems to me that there is too much evidence from MG sufferers to suggest that it doesn't at least commonly co-exist with MG.
I've discussed it with my own consultant and read as much as I can and think there are three areas worth considering.
1. Could any medications you are taking be causing the symptoms you note?
2. Could it be a secondary symptom caused by (for example) sleep apnoea if you have that? Living with MG can be tiring! I sometimes screw-up one eye to read something and, after a while, can get headaches and feel tired. Thats not the MG causing it, but how I am dealing with double vision is the issue there. It only happens when I have MG-caused double vision though so coexists with my MG.
3. Medically speaking, is it possible that the antibodies that interfere with the neurotransmission also cause general fatigue? Thats one for the medics to answer I guess but not everything is known about the antibody (or antibodies?) that can cause MG symptoms. In other illnesses people are looking at whether antibodies cause general tiredness (eg CFS) so who is to say that the antibody you have doesn't also cause tiredness? It could be an additional problem caused by the antibodies, besides interfering with neuro-muscular transmission.
In my case, general tiredness is CERTAINLY an issue for me as is cognitive fatigue (fuzzy-head I call it). It doesn't really matter if its a secondary symptom or caused by the same antibody causing my MG - its what I feel.
When I feel like that, the best thing I can do is rest. I know from experience that "pushing on" just makes things worse. Often that wouldn't be possible anyway. Obviously, if there are things causing the tiredness (sleep apnoea for example) its worth looking at ways to deal with those too.
Tiredness and fatigue are different things and muscle fatigue is the distinguishing feature of MG. However, you are not alone among MG sufferers in feeling generally "tired"... I know at least one other!
Hope helpful.