A patient with myasthenia gravis is in the hospital for treatment of pneumonia. The patient informs the nurse that it is very important to take pyridostigmine bromide (Mestinon) on time. The nurse gets busy and does not administer the medication until after breakfast. What outcome will the patient have related to this late dose?
a) There should not be a problem, since the medication was only delayed by about 2 hours.
b) The patient will require a double dose prior to lunch.
c) The muscles will become fatigued and the patient will not be able to chew food or swallow pills.
d) The patient will go into cardiac arrest.
Answer: The muscles will become fatigued and the patient will not be able to chew food or swallow pills.