[sgridley]

Spondylolithesis & carpal tunnel with MGUS & myeloma

by sgridley on Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:15 pm

Hello folks,

I am a MGUS patient currently, and have battled back pain chronically for over a year. I finally had X-rays taken and found I have spondylolisthesis, with the L5 vertebrae slipped and mild lumbar scoliosis. I will be having an MRI of the lumbar spine soon.

I was diagnosed with bilateral carpal tunnel 12 years ago and had one hand surgically repaired. I have been struggling with numbness / tingling in both hands, so just recently had an updated EMG on both arms. The neurologist compared the old and new test results and said there was significant decline in my unprepared hand, and that the repaired hand is much worse now than even before surgery. He mentioned that there can be nerve involvements with multiple myeloma.

I'm wondering how common spondylolisthesis and/or carpal tunnel are with MGUS, smoldering myeloma, and multiple myeloma, and if there are tips forum members have for things I should know about them, or that I should discuss with my doctors?

Thanks for your help.
Susie

[Multibilly]

Re: Spondylolithesis & carpal tunnel with MGUS & myeloma

by Multibilly on Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:45 am

I had a diagnosis of spondy­lo­lith­esis several years before my smoldering myeloma diagnosis. I don't think the two diagnoses are related. Rather, I think the spondy­lo­lith­esis diagnosis was due to a lot of my extreme activities in my youth and not being that careful with my back.

I did find that working out on an elliptical machine at the gym and taking long hikes on a daily basis pretty much made the pains of spondy­lo­lith­esis go away (except for the pain of standing up in one place for hours at a time). Mild stretching helps a bit too, but I'm not too good about doing that. In any case, a good doctor or physical therapist should be able to print you out a series of exercises that should help with any back pain due to the spondy­lo­lith­esis (assuming you have pain).

I'm sure your doctor told you this, but you really want to avoid any exercises that directly involve stressing your lower back (e.g. conventional situps, situp/crunch machines at the gym, some yoga positions, etc.) and to avoid moving really heavy things, if at all possible.

[sgridley]

Re: Spondylolithesis & carpal tunnel with MGUS & myeloma

by sgridley on Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:51 pm

Thank you Multibilly. I had a lumbar MRI today and will follow up with the spine doctor at the end of the month. Depending on the amount of nerve compression there may or may not be, I will probably begin physical therapy (aquatics was the preferred choice by my doctor) and possibly pain manage­ment for injections. All eyes will be on the MRI results I suppose.