Hi, Kris. Welcome.

Before I try to explain some of this, please know that I am not a doctor or any kind of medical professional. You need an expert to determine all of this.

MG is all about muscle weakness that gets worse upon exertion or sustained activity and relatively better with rest or drugs. It's an autoimmune disease. Both LEMS (Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome) and CMS (Congenital Myasthenic Syndromes) can look like MG and have similarities.

In MG, double vision (DV) goes away when you close one eye. Why? Because when muscles around the eye get weaker to varying degrees then those muscles can throw off the focus of the eyes. Closing one eye gives you a "singular" focus and no more DV.

Did they do an "upward gaze" test on you where keep your head still and look up with your eyes only? They do that to see if those eye muscles will fatigue/get weaker. It's the same thing when you look "to the side." You strain certain muscles when you either look up or to the side or down even. So, to me at least, that sounds like your eye muscles are weakening, causing double vision.

An optometrist looks only at the "eyes" and not the muscles. What you need is a neuro-ophthalmologist. They can do tests to determine if you have fatigable weakness of those muscles. In fact, you may not even realize the degree of your double vision until it is so technically pointed out.

Ptosis (toe-sis) is another word for drooping eyelids. That is common in MG.

Do you have a B12 deficiency specifically? You just said "B" def. B12 is a unique little vitamin. It's essential to every cell in the body. You may even have it from taking an antacid!!! We need acid to digest food and absorb nutrients. If food doesn't get broken down sufficiently, it can't be absorbed in the small intestine.

Smoking can cause shortness of breath, however, shortness of breath that "comes and goes," especially if it is after exertion but variable, is more indicative of muscle weakness.

A B12 deficiency, if you had that (which I had in 1997 - 99), can cause a LOT of neurological symptoms; cognitive ones too. A good neuro can figure out the difference between those symptoms and that of MG.

Did anyone run the Acetylcholine Antibody Panel (binding, modulating and blocking antibodies) or the MuSK Antibody test? Those are blood tests that can determine if you have MG. Although some people with MG don't have positive antibodies (called seronegative MG).

If you do have MG, being unable to swallow at all or being unable to breathe well are emergencies. I mean either get to the ER or call 911 emergencies. It doesn't matter if you haven't been diagnosed yet. If you have a worsening of your symptoms, you have to seek out help immediately. Do not wait for some appt.!!! MG can be life-threatening if your muscles get so weak that you can't breathe or move.

I could go on and on but I think you should see what the neuro has to say. You can go to the websites below to get more info. I really hope you can figure out what is going on.

Annie

www.myasthenia.org
www.mdausa.org