Your nerves communicate with your muscles by releasing chemicals, called neurotransmitters, that fit into places on the muscle cells, called receptor sites, at the nerve-muscle junction. In myasthenia gravis, certain receptor sites are blocked or destroyed, causing muscle weakness. Talk to your health care provider if you have problems:Ĭhemicals messengers, called neurotransmitters, fit precisely into receptor sites on your muscle cells. Weak neck muscles make it hard to hold up the head. Weakness in the legs can affect how you walk. Myasthenia gravis also can cause weakness in the neck, arms and legs. For example, your smile might look like a snarl. This is especially true if you've been eating something hard to chew, such as steak. The muscles used for chewing might tire halfway through a meal. Sometimes, liquids you're trying to swallow come out your nose. You might choke easily, making it difficult to eat, drink or take pills. Your speech might sound soft or nasal, depending on which muscles are affected. In about 15% of people with myasthenia gravis, the first symptoms involve face and throat muscles. Double vision, called diplopia, which may be horizontal or vertical, and improves or resolves when one eye is closed.Drooping of one or both eyelids, called ptosis.In more than half the people who develop myasthenia gravis, their first symptoms affect the eyes. Certain muscle groups are more commonly affected than others. Myasthenia gravis may affect any of the muscles that you can control. They usually reach their worst within a few years after the disease begins. However, the symptoms tend to progress over time. Because symptoms usually get better with rest, muscle weakness can come and go. Muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis gets worse when the affected muscle is used.
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