Difficulty speaking, difficulty swallowing, drooping eyelids, and double vision, nasal-sounding speech and weak neck muscles, generalized weakness in the trunk, arms, and legs. Muscle weakness tends to worsen as the day progresses, especially after prolonged activity. Small number of patients may have a fulminant, and rapid deterioration. They die within a few days to a few weeks. Myasthenic crisis is a medical emergency that develops when muscles that control breathing become severely weakened. This condition may lead to acute respiratory failure and patients often require a respirator to assist breathing during the crisis. Other complications that may develop include choking, food aspiration, and pneumonia. Factors that can trigger complications in patients with myasthenia gravis include illness, surgery, corticosteroid use that is tapered too quickly, overexertion, pregnancy, and emotional stress.

Diagnosis for Myasthenia Gravis (MG) in western medicine
Weakness and fatigue are common complaints in the general population, but the degree and pattern of these symptoms - particularly diplopia, ptosis and other signs of weakness in the eye muscles - should alert a neurologist to the possibility of myasthenia gravis (MG). A neurologist will ask many questions and conduct a physical exam to determine the extent of weakness. To look for evidence of increased weakness following exertion, a neurologist might ask the patient to look up without blinking for one or two minutes, hold the arms out for as long as possible or climb up steps.

If the physical exam is consistent with MG, the neurologist usually orders a blood test designed to detect antibodies to the ACh receptor. A blood test for MuSK antibodies is also available. Positive test results confirm a diagnosis of MG. If the blood tests are negative, the next step is usually electrodiagnostic testing, in which electrodes are used to measure the electrical signals in muscle. Surface electrodes (similar to those used in electrocardiograms) deliver small shocks to a nerve in the arm, leg or face, while other surface electrodes record the responses in muscle. In MG, a muscle’s response to repeated nerve stimulation declines rapidly.