If you’ve noticed changes in your symptoms, function, or daily routine, it may be time to talk with your neurologist, especially if those changes are affecting your ability to stay engaged in daily life, says Roda.
Doctors often use tools like the Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) scale to track how MG is affecting you over time. The scale looks at eight key areas — including vision, speech, swallowing, breathing, and limb strength — to help quantify symptom burden.
“It helps to track response to treatment and understand what’s happening to a particular patient,” says Srikanth Muppidi, MD, a neuromuscular neurologist and researcher at Stanford Medicine in California.
Changes in this score can help guide treatment decisions, but they are only part of the picture. What matters most is how symptoms are affecting your daily life, says Dr. Muppidi.
Paying attention to patterns can also be helpful, says Du. “These details can help identify triggers, guide medication timing, or determine whether treatment needs to be adjusted,” she says.
Tracking patterns can also help identify when symptoms may be related to something other than MG. For example, fatigue that’s constant rather than activity-related, may be a sign of thyroid disease, anemia, vitamin deficiencies, or sleep apnea, says Du.
During a neurology visit, you will likely be asked about:
- Changes in symptoms and when they began
- Specific activities that have become more difficult
- Adjustments you’ve made in response to symptoms
- Potential triggers, such as heat or illness
- How symptoms relate to medication timing
- Any new medications or health conditions
Together, you and your doctor can decide whether your current regimen is providing adequate control or whether changes to your treatment plan may improve symptoms and function.