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...
Hello all. I am not fully sure if I belong here, but I figured you might be at least a good place to ask questions.
I have been obese and "out of shape" for many years, but any time I started exercising again, I quickly gained strength even as I was overweight. Starting in probably 2016, that ceased to be the case. I had no drop in daily physical activity, but I was getting weaker and weaker. My arms get tired doing simple things like brushing my teeth or washing my hair. My legs get exhausted even in brief walks from my truck to a customer's door making a delivery.
Normally when I would exercise before, I would feel the burn for a few minutes, push through, finish the workout, be sore the next day, and feel stronger. Now there is no burn, no next day soreness. Just fatigue. It feels like my muscles never worked at all, but they're still tired.
Lately, my eyes have been pretty bad. I'll be awake, but my eyelids feel so heavy, and holding them open is a chore. This is especially inconvenient since I drive for a living.
I just wondered if these things sounded familiar to any of you, and if it's worth asking my doctor about the possibility of MG. My grandpa had MG, and while I know it isn't hereditary, my family does have a lot of autoimmune disease.
Sorry for the long post, and thank you for any help and advice you can offer!
sorry about your troubles, but as a trck delivery person, the most indicated stepp for you would be to consult a neurologo to take stepps for testing your complaints,
they maybe serious and as a responsible person you dont want to put your life and people in danger
best of luck
All the best - Peter
Welcome to the group. I hope you don't have MG, but you can check out more of the symptoms at some of the medical online links -- I like this one.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/myasthenia-gravis/symptoms-causes/syc-20352036
Most of us with MG have had a slow process in getting the diagnosis as it is a rare disease. There are a few tests that can be done easily. Generally speaking we have one eyelid that droops and the other stays open better. My diagnosis was first done by icepack. One of my eyelids was drooping a lot and the other mostly open. My eye doctor put an icepack on my eyes for a couple of minutes and then took it off and the droop was gone for a while.
The other test that is pretty easy is having your doctor give you a pyridostigmine (Mestinon) pill. If you take it and in 30 -45 minutes feel much stronger, then it wears off in a few hours, it is likely to be MG. You could ask your doctor to do that (but I doubt they know how to give a one-pill prescription!).
My own MG symptoms were rapidly tiring out. Whatever voluntary muscle I wanted to use seemed fine to start with but very quickly (in a few minutes or less) tired out. For instance, the doctor asked me to pull against his pull and sustain it. I could hold my own for maybe 30 seconds, then my muscles gave in and he could easily outpull me.
I would tell your doctor about the MG in your family, say you have some symptoms that remind you of your grandpa, and ask about getting a blood test. Most of us with MG do have a family history of autoimmune diseases and may have several ourselves.
Good Luck,
Russ