Annie,

That makes sense. The strength of any of my muscles seems normal if they ask me to push once. The weakness shows up with sustained pushing. Of my three neuros, only one tested me like this (the one who diagnosed me). After about half a minute of sustained pushing with my hand, I felt my arm muscles simply let go. The OT at the hospital had me lean to the side slightly while sitting, and the same thing happened--I could sustain it for a while, and then the muscle just gave up and quit responding.

That's very encouraging to me, because I know that's what is meant by "fatiguable weakness" and that it's the hallmark of MG. It helps me to be more confident in my diagnosis.

I'm not an anxious person, but when that intense weakness comes over me, I tend to feel panicky.

No arterial blood gas, I don't think--just the little finger clip they use for vital signs.

Thanks. I think my neuro is finally going to prescribe Imuran for me next week. If the IVIG helps, I might need one more session or so of it before the Imuran (I hope) starts kicking in.

This has been a long road since my first symptoms (but not anything like as long as some people's! I really am astounded at the stories I read here). I am pretty tired of plugging away. But I am making progress.

Abby