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Intermittent pain (flares)
Has anyone experienced pain, of any type, that comes and goes? As in periods of exacerbation / flares?
Re: Intermittent pain (flares)
My husband has intermittent pain in his upper arm / shoulder that we believe is myeloma-related (the scans were inconclusive), as it leaves when he is on chemo and tends to return at about the same time that new plasmacytomas start showing up in other areas.
Re: Intermittent pain (flares)
I have 2 types of intermittent pain that aren't my normal arthritis pain.
One is at fracture sites when I over do my activity level, such as lifting things that are too heavy. I am notorious for carrying too many bags of groceries in from the car because I am too lazy to go get my shopping cart.
The other can occur in the week before my Zometa infusion. At that time, I tend to have more discomfort in fracture sites and sometimes in lesion sites. Within a day of receiving the Zometa, I have no discomfort in those sites again.
None of the pain is more than a 1 or 2 on the 10 point scale and doesn't distress me because I usually know what I've done or realize that I am due for a Zometa infusion within the week.
Are you having significant pain levels on an intermittent basis? Have you reported this pain to your oncologist? What scans have been done recently?
One thing that I hope we all learned from the Tom Brokaw interview last night was that we shouldn't underplay our pain symptoms when they are bordering on severe. I have now begun to report any pain that is new that is a 4 or 5, or greater, and that doesn't resolve within a day or two. Most of the time it is nothing, but there have been occasions when it has been significant and required further investigation.
I don't have experience with plasmacytomas, so I can't respond in relation to that scenario. But I have had a pathologic fracture in my left humerus that was painful for a couple of months prior to fracture. That pain started as being intermittent and gradually became constant and severe. Since I had never had bone pain except in relation to severe arthritis, I didn't know that it was other than severe arthritis in my shoulder. I also was on watch-and-wait at the time with smoldering myeloma. I hadn't had any documented bone lesions up to that point either.
All the best to your husband in determining what is causing his pain,
Nancy in Phila
One is at fracture sites when I over do my activity level, such as lifting things that are too heavy. I am notorious for carrying too many bags of groceries in from the car because I am too lazy to go get my shopping cart.
The other can occur in the week before my Zometa infusion. At that time, I tend to have more discomfort in fracture sites and sometimes in lesion sites. Within a day of receiving the Zometa, I have no discomfort in those sites again.
None of the pain is more than a 1 or 2 on the 10 point scale and doesn't distress me because I usually know what I've done or realize that I am due for a Zometa infusion within the week.
Are you having significant pain levels on an intermittent basis? Have you reported this pain to your oncologist? What scans have been done recently?
One thing that I hope we all learned from the Tom Brokaw interview last night was that we shouldn't underplay our pain symptoms when they are bordering on severe. I have now begun to report any pain that is new that is a 4 or 5, or greater, and that doesn't resolve within a day or two. Most of the time it is nothing, but there have been occasions when it has been significant and required further investigation.
I don't have experience with plasmacytomas, so I can't respond in relation to that scenario. But I have had a pathologic fracture in my left humerus that was painful for a couple of months prior to fracture. That pain started as being intermittent and gradually became constant and severe. Since I had never had bone pain except in relation to severe arthritis, I didn't know that it was other than severe arthritis in my shoulder. I also was on watch-and-wait at the time with smoldering myeloma. I hadn't had any documented bone lesions up to that point either.
All the best to your husband in determining what is causing his pain,
Nancy in Phila
-
NStewart - Name: Nancy Stewart
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 3/08
- Age at diagnosis: 60
Re: Intermittent pain (flares)
Thank you both for your responses.
I'm not diagnosed, but in checking the codes on my bloodwork order, the neurologist is checking for multiple myeloma (IFE and 2 others which detect muscle or organ damage).
I just had a brain MRI also. I've discovered that peripheral neuropathy is not a symptom associated with MS, and that is one part of what I've been experiencing.
The neurologist only mentioned to me that he was testing the blood for diabetes, syphilis (lol no), vitamin B12, etc, and did NOT mention multiple myeloma, probably as to not scare me. However, he doesn't know that I already narrowed a few possibilities down, including multiple myeloma, over the past few months, since this situation has blown up and even have posted here some weeks ago ("Wondering if experiencing symptoms of myeloma", started March 2, 2015) ...
I asked because I have had periods of exacerbations of pain with periods of relief, so I'm not sure this is consistent with multiple myeloma or not. Apparently it can be.
It feels like I'm slowly headed downhill again after things relatively calm for over a month. I don't feel very well today. I even had a sharp pain in a new place in my back / rib.
Thanks so much, I welcome any further comments.
I'm not diagnosed, but in checking the codes on my bloodwork order, the neurologist is checking for multiple myeloma (IFE and 2 others which detect muscle or organ damage).
I just had a brain MRI also. I've discovered that peripheral neuropathy is not a symptom associated with MS, and that is one part of what I've been experiencing.
The neurologist only mentioned to me that he was testing the blood for diabetes, syphilis (lol no), vitamin B12, etc, and did NOT mention multiple myeloma, probably as to not scare me. However, he doesn't know that I already narrowed a few possibilities down, including multiple myeloma, over the past few months, since this situation has blown up and even have posted here some weeks ago ("Wondering if experiencing symptoms of myeloma", started March 2, 2015) ...
I asked because I have had periods of exacerbations of pain with periods of relief, so I'm not sure this is consistent with multiple myeloma or not. Apparently it can be.
It feels like I'm slowly headed downhill again after things relatively calm for over a month. I don't feel very well today. I even had a sharp pain in a new place in my back / rib.
Thanks so much, I welcome any further comments.
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