Myasthenia Gravis

Myasthenia gravis (“MG”) is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease.  It causes widespread muscle weakness and can affect any muscle in the body.  The facial and throat muscles are particularly susceptible to its effects, but its effects can also completely debilitate its sufferers to the point where working is an impossibility.

Because this disease can affect any muscle in the body, the limitations it causes can vary greatly from person to person.  It is critical to your disability application that you have been properly diagnosed by a specialist, such as neurologist.  It is also imperative that your neurologist has documented the specific limitations you have and how they have progressed over time.  Although treatment for this condition is sometimes effective in providing some relative relief in symptoms, unfortunately this condition tends to progress over time.  Be sure that your neurologist is documenting your decline in function.

Even if your MG is not yet severe enough to cause you disabling limitations of function, the symptoms of your MG could still be disabling when considered in combination with your other medical problems.  If you are seeking disability benefits on the basis of MG alone, the regulations that define the severity required as listed below.

11.12 Myasthenia gravis. With:

  1. Significant difficulty with speaking, swallowing, or breathing while on prescribed therapy; or
  2. Significant motor weakness of muscles of extremities on repetitive activity against resistance while on prescribed therapy.

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