Single Snowflake

Learn About MG

What myasthenia gravis is, in plain language

Written for the person who has just been handed two words they have never heard before, for the people who love them — and for anyone who simply wants to understand what MG is and what MG Warriors live with.

You do not need a diagnosis, a medical background, or a reason to be here. Spreading understanding is a large part of what this organisation is for.

Just diagnosed? Start here

Four things worth knowing on day one. Everything else can wait.

  1. You are not going to feel like this forever

    The early weeks after diagnosis are usually the worst of it — not because of the illness, but because of the not-knowing. Treatment takes time to find and adjust, and most people do settle.

  2. Write down your questions

    MG fog is real, and appointments are short. A written list is the difference between getting your questions answered and remembering them in the car park afterwards. Take it with you every time.

  3. Know the signs of a crisis

    Read the myasthenic crisis section below once, so that you would recognise it. Then put it away. Knowing the signs is useful; rehearsing them is not.

  4. Find your MG community

    Our founder didn't have the opportunity to meet another person living with MG until 20 years after her own diagnosis. You don't have to wait at all. Meeting somebody who already understands changes what this feels like, and you don't have to say a word to start.

What is myasthenia gravis?

Myasthenia gravis, often shortened to MG, is a long-term autoimmune condition that affects the way nerves and muscles talk to each other. When that signal is interrupted, muscles become weak and tire quickly — most often the muscles of the eyes, the face, the throat, the arms and the legs.

Onset can be sudden. People describe being well one month and unable to climb the stairs the next, with no warning and no obvious cause.

Symptoms fluctuate. They can change through a single day, typically worsening with activity and improving with rest, which is why somebody with MG can look perfectly well in the morning and be unable to hold their head up by the evening. It is also why MG is so often missed, and why so many people spend years being told that nothing is wrong.

Understanding brings awareness, and awareness helps create a more compassionate and supportive community.

Common symptoms

MG looks different from one person to the next. Nobody has all of these, and they come and go.

  • Drooping eyelids, or double vision
  • Weakness in the arms and legs
  • Changes in speech
  • Difficulty chewing or swallowing
  • Weakness in the face
  • Shortness of breath
  • Weakness that worsens with activity and improves with rest

Myasthenic crisis — know the signs

Read this once so you'd recognise it. Then get on with your life.

A myasthenic crisis is when the muscles used for breathing or swallowing become too weak to do their job, and it needs emergency medical care — usually breathing support in hospital until strength returns.

Around 15–20% of people with myasthenia gravis will experience at least one crisis. Up to 50% of those people cannot identify what triggered it.

A crisis can sometimes be caused by an infection, surgery, physical or emotional stress, or certain medication. However, sometimes no clear trigger can be identified, and that does not mean anyone did anything wrong.

It is survivable. Our founder came through one in June 2026 after a month in hospital, and she wrote most of this website afterwards.

If breathing or swallowing is becoming difficult, treat it as an emergency and call 911.

Single Snowflake is not an emergency medical service and cannot respond to urgent medical situations.

Education & Awareness

Single Snowflake exists so that fewer people spend years being told nothing is wrong, and so that nobody living with myasthenia gravis has to keep explaining it alone. Awareness is the work. Here is what that looks like, and where you could help.

  • Pamphlets in waiting rooms

    MG information left in clinics and specialists' offices, so the next person with symptoms nobody can explain has something to pick up.

  • Presentations

    Workplaces, schools, community groups and healthcare teams, in person, shaped around whatever your group needs to know.

  • The Annual MG Awareness Walk

    Every June in Halifax. The most visible day of the year for MG on the East Coast, and anyone can join it.

Invite us to presentCome to the walk

Where to read more

Places we'd actually send a friend. These open in a new tab.

Questions we're asked a lot

Honest answers, from people who have been asked these by their own families.

  • I've been diagnosed. Where do I begin?

    Breathe, and don't try to learn everything this week. Write your questions down as they occur to you and take the list to your next neurology appointment — MG fog is real and you will not remember them otherwise.

    Then come and talk to someone who has it. Reading about MG and meeting somebody who lives with it are completely different experiences, and the second one helps more.

  • Is MG fatal?

    For most people, no. Myasthenia gravis is a long-term condition that is managed, and with treatment the majority of people living with it go on to live full lives.

    Myasthenic crisis is the serious exception, and it is why knowing the signs matters — but it is treatable and it is survivable. Our founder has come through one.

    If you have just been diagnosed and this is the question keeping you awake, please ask us. You do not have to sit with it on your own.

  • Why can MG be difficult to diagnose?

    Because MG is rare, because its symptoms come and go, and because you probably looked fine in the appointments where you were describing not being fine. Weakness that improves after a rest is easy for everyone to explain away.

    Long, frustrating roads to diagnosis are close to universal in this community. If you spent years being told it was stress or anxiety, you are not unusual here.

  • Is MG hereditary?

    MG is an autoimmune condition, not a directly inherited one, and it is not passed down the way some genetic conditions are. Most people with MG have no family history of it.

    It is a good question for your neurologist, who knows your particular case — but it is not the answer most people fear it will be.

  • Can I work?

    Many people with MG do, often with some adjustments — flexible hours, rest breaks, working from home on the harder days.

    Others cannot, and that is not a personal failure. If it would help to have MG explained to your employer, ask us — explaining it to workplaces is one of the things we do.