iwasanurse,

It doesn't always happen like that! Body chemistry is complex to say the least. You don't have to have a degree in pulmonology to know when you can't breathe well! So leave all the complicated stuff up to the doctors.

Sometimes the arterial blood gas will have certain readings that show someone's body is hyperventilating. Doctors can often attribute that to anxiety, which is most often not true. Then they can miss the fact that someone with MG is getting worse.

If you do want to read up on all this . . .

http://www.ivprehospital.com/bloodgases.cfm

http://www.madsci.com/manu/gas_acid.htm

There are a lot of articles/books on this stuff. The most basic one I've found is Mosby's "Fluid, Electrolyte and Acid-Base Balance."

Hope that helps.

Annie