Hi,
I am a 40 year male. I am having pain around the left shoulder blade and burning and tingling on thumb and index finger area of the same hand (on the inner side) for over 2 years (no pain at all on the right side). After MRI, I was told that I had a pinched nerve at C5-C6 due to bone spur. The pain later (~6 months) started on my left foot too. Sometimes I feel mild pain going up to the back skull bone too. Anther MRI of the lumbar region showed few degenerate discs. I feel back pain occasionally, again on the left side. But MRI and CT of the abdominal region have not shown any bone lesion.
A month ago, blood test ordered by gastroenterologist for a different reason showed elevated IgA (420 mg/dL) and was sent to my primary care physician. All other blood tests are normal, including hemoglobin, RBC, WBC and calcium levels.
My primary care physician repeated the IgA test after about 3 weeks from the first test and found it to be 538 mg/dL. He also ordered further tests – MONOCLONAL PROTEIN STUDY [IMMIEP CUSTOM]. He told me that the preliminary result has shown elevation of one band – kappa light chain – and has referred me to a hematologist.
I am seeing the hematologist in 10 days. Can my pain be due to the abnormal protein and not the pinched nerves? Does the pain define stage of myeloma, if it is myeloma, as blood test has shown elevated kappa light chains?
Thank you.
Forums
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Re: Elevated kappa light chain with shoulder & finger pain
I got my results today.
IgA - 519.00 (H) (70.00-312.00 mg/dL)
Kappa Free Light Chain - 2.140 (H) (0.330-1.940 mg/dL)
Lambda Free Light Chain - 1.618 (0.571-2.630 mg/dL)
Kappa/lambda FLC Ratio - 1.32 (0.26-1.65)
The report says:
Protein Electro Interpretation: No apparent monoclonal protein on serum electrophoresis.
Immunofixation: No monoclonal protein detected by immunofixation.
I am seeing a hematologist (I believe he is not a myeloma specialist) next week, but at the moment would like to understand what can cause the rise in kappa light chain and IgA, with the kappa / lambda ratio remaining within normal range. Can this be the cause for my neuropathy, as I have read that elevated light chains can cause neuropathy?
Thank you.
Tom
IgA - 519.00 (H) (70.00-312.00 mg/dL)
Kappa Free Light Chain - 2.140 (H) (0.330-1.940 mg/dL)
Lambda Free Light Chain - 1.618 (0.571-2.630 mg/dL)
Kappa/lambda FLC Ratio - 1.32 (0.26-1.65)
The report says:
Protein Electro Interpretation: No apparent monoclonal protein on serum electrophoresis.
Immunofixation: No monoclonal protein detected by immunofixation.
I am seeing a hematologist (I believe he is not a myeloma specialist) next week, but at the moment would like to understand what can cause the rise in kappa light chain and IgA, with the kappa / lambda ratio remaining within normal range. Can this be the cause for my neuropathy, as I have read that elevated light chains can cause neuropathy?
Thank you.
Tom
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tknight - Name: Tom
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Self
Re: Elevated kappa light chain with shoulder & finger pain
The key thing here is your immunofixation result:
Protein Electro Interpretation: No apparent monoclonal protein on serum electrophoresis.
Immunofixation: No monoclonal protein detected by immunofixation.
This very likely means that you don't have a monoclonal plasma cell disorder such as myeloma and that your elevated IgA and elevated kappa free light chain is "polyclonal" in nature. An elevated kappa accompanied by a normal lambda and ratio value can also signal a polyclonal disorder. Given the choice between myeloma and the polyclonal disorder alternatives, this is good news.
Some causes of elevated polyclonal IgA include chronic infections, chronic liver disease (cirrhosis or hepatitis), autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and also lupus and sarcoidosis.
Protein Electro Interpretation: No apparent monoclonal protein on serum electrophoresis.
Immunofixation: No monoclonal protein detected by immunofixation.
This very likely means that you don't have a monoclonal plasma cell disorder such as myeloma and that your elevated IgA and elevated kappa free light chain is "polyclonal" in nature. An elevated kappa accompanied by a normal lambda and ratio value can also signal a polyclonal disorder. Given the choice between myeloma and the polyclonal disorder alternatives, this is good news.
Some causes of elevated polyclonal IgA include chronic infections, chronic liver disease (cirrhosis or hepatitis), autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and also lupus and sarcoidosis.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: Elevated kappa light chain with shoulder & finger pain
Hello Multibilly,
Thank you so much for taking time in proving your helpful inputs.
It was good to see the report that it did not indicate monoclonal protein. What I am experiencing for the past two and half year is pain on my left side from head to foot (no pain at all on the right side). Sometimes it feels like that there is inflammation. NSAID sometimes work great, but not always. The pain is very confusing too. Sometimes it seems like a pinched nerve at the neck. Physical therapy gives instant relief. But it also goes down the vertebral column, which is not expected for a single pinched nerve.
I have been seeing neurologist and pain management experts for a while now. Neither my PCP nor neurologist ever even suspected the issue of the protein. It was the gastroenterologist who was testing for possibility of celiac disease found elevated IgA. I am wondering if this is a lack of knowledge to the PCPs and neurologists about the relation between neuropathy and the immunoglobulin issues that they even did not bother to test it when I was having the symptom for such a long time. It might have happened to lot of other people and the problem remained undetermined before getting serious.
I cannot exaggerate more how helpful this forum has been to me over the past couple of weeks.
Thank you so much.
Tom
Thank you so much for taking time in proving your helpful inputs.
It was good to see the report that it did not indicate monoclonal protein. What I am experiencing for the past two and half year is pain on my left side from head to foot (no pain at all on the right side). Sometimes it feels like that there is inflammation. NSAID sometimes work great, but not always. The pain is very confusing too. Sometimes it seems like a pinched nerve at the neck. Physical therapy gives instant relief. But it also goes down the vertebral column, which is not expected for a single pinched nerve.
I have been seeing neurologist and pain management experts for a while now. Neither my PCP nor neurologist ever even suspected the issue of the protein. It was the gastroenterologist who was testing for possibility of celiac disease found elevated IgA. I am wondering if this is a lack of knowledge to the PCPs and neurologists about the relation between neuropathy and the immunoglobulin issues that they even did not bother to test it when I was having the symptom for such a long time. It might have happened to lot of other people and the problem remained undetermined before getting serious.
I cannot exaggerate more how helpful this forum has been to me over the past couple of weeks.
Thank you so much.
Tom
-
tknight - Name: Tom
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Self
4 posts
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