I've been in the hospital for over with a week with a Myasthenic Crisis. It was breathing issues that finally brought me to the ER. I came in on the edge of intubation. My NIF was 28 (they intubate at 20-25) and my FVC was <1 (they intubate you at that.) My pulse ox was 91-94, hovering on the higher end of that.

Your pulse ox is the last thing to go, as one of the Respiratory Therapists here told me. By the time that goes, it's too late. Your muscles will work and work and work to get that air in as long as they can. Like others said, your blood pressure and pulse will shoot up. My BP was high in the ER, my pulse was high. That remained consistent for days and days until things improved. (I was not intubated by the way, I felt I could do without it and the ER doctor didn't want to do it unless absolutely necessary of course.)

I had been weak, sick, in trouble for about two weeks. I made a list of all the warning signs so I will take better notice next time, and some I had no idea about. I can tell you when I came to the ER, I knew I was in trouble. I felt as though I just couldn't breathe, and my single breath count was only 5.

A single breath count is when you take in as deep a breath as you can, then slowly count while you exhale as high as you can until you run out of air. Well not super slow. That number is your single breath count. They say under 15 is bad but for me as long as I can make it to 12 I'm fine. 5 was really bad.

If you find you are breathing with your ribs more than your abdomen, your chest wall is staying kind of elevated, you are using your neck muscles, clavicle area muscles, rib cage muscles, etc to breathe, if your ribs and below them or neck etc are getting sucked in while you breathe, those are all warning signs.

Shallow breathing, panting type, fast breathing, feeling air hunger, feeling as if you can't catch your breath, all signs you are struggling. One tip I learned from a fellow MG'er is to exhale all the way, force the air out, a few times before breathing in. It wasn't easy but was a critical help because it got the toxic CO2 out of my body.

I have a lot of info fresh in my mind right now, I need to write it all down while it is still there!