Hello Dave,

I'm so sorry to hear about your MG diagnosis. How soon is your follow-up appointment with a neurologist regarding your myasthenia gravis? I hope you will not have to wait long.

Mestinon can be very helpful for many patients. Sometimes it takes awhile to find the right dose. It may be possible that you are not on the best dose for you yet. It also has a limited dose effectiveness. When you take it, it takes perhaps 30 minutes to start working, and then it works for maybe two hours after that. After that time, it wears off, and by three hours, it is essentially done. If your doses are more than three hours apart, even if it is helping somewhat, you may notice that you are having trouble between doses.

Are you having any other symptoms, like trouble with breathing, swallowing, or walking? If so, be sure to get back to A&E right away if these symptoms get worse, especially if you do not have an appointment to see a neurologist soon.

There are some patients who are able to keep working at their jobs once their symptoms are under control, so I think it is possible. Another strategy with your vision is to try closing your eyes and resting when you have the opportunity. If you have a break between classes or at lunch, give your eyes a break. Close them, even if you do not sleep. This will give your eye muscles a rest, and will help your vision. I do this, and it helps me. If you have a small ice pack and can bring it with you to school, putting it around your eye area for a few minutes can also help rejuvenate your eye muscles for a little while. But mostly I hope you can see the neurologist soon, and they can give you better advice.

Best wishes,
Erin