Exhaling at rest (unless done against resistance) is mostly passive and requires very little muscle strength.

http://oac.med.jhmi.edu/res_phys/Enc...lesOfResp.HTML

If you are having trouble exhaling to that extent, I would think that you also have some other problem (such as asthma) which narrows your trachea or bronchi. This could also make your MG worse (as your muscles have to work harder to breath). Did any one look at that?

Also, the way to decrease CO2 is by breathing as fast and deep as possible. Not a maneuver I would suggest for an MG patient with an impending crisis.

Alice when I was just in the hospital they said some of my tests were suggestive of Pulmonary Fibrosis. The pulmonary doc wanted to do a CT scan but the hospitalist didn't think it was needed. When I looked it up online, some of the symptoms it listed were certainly familiar to me. I have a follow up coming up with my pulmonologist; so I may bring it up to him. I didn't know that about exhaling. Thanks.

Tracy,

I am just trying to put everything together (and of course I may be wrong as I only have limited data).
Could you possibly have some hypersensitivity reaction to some environmental toxin? Which could be causing the combination of muscle weakness, pulmonary fibrosis (or some other respiratory problem)?



I know my idea sounds like a chapter from "House", but possibly worth persuing?

If it sounds unlikely or ridiculous just ignore it.

I don't know...all I know is I just don't want to have one more thing wrong with me so I want it to be from the MG! It certainly gets worse and feels better when I'm better MG wise. I smoked from 15-25 and used to get a lot of bronchitis up until I was in my 30's. I have Chronic Lyme disease, bartonella and babesia, rocky mountain spotted fever I am always fighting.

Tracy, I don't know if you use Mestinon? Because it can trigger asthmatic problems.
I always was an allergic person, but never asthmatic (although I couldn't breath when I had anafylaxic reactions of course). Since I started mestinon I got asthma as an extra Dx.
They figured it out because they already suspected it (mestinon + allergies), and ventolin and other inhalers helped me a lot.

Maybe you can ask for a test of your lungfunction, combined with the use of ventolin?

For me asthma problems cause problems with in- and exhaling, it feels totally different from MG causes weak diaphragm. The first one feels more like it's something in the lungs that just won't go, sometimes slimy or irritating, like when you've got the flu. Sometimes combined with pain or caughing.
MG diaphram weakness is (for me) being out of breath all the time, troubles breathing in, lying flat makes me sleepy in a creepy way and gives me headache (both caused by CO2 getting too high), and fysically it feels much lower, I really feel it is not in the lungs, it's a bit lower. It feels like it's too tight to inhale. I don't know if this is helpfull, but sure hope it is.