[Naenae50]

Swelling & achiness during Velcade & dex treatment

by Naenae50 on Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:05 pm

Hi,

My name is Renee and my husband was just recently diagnosed with myeloma. It has been a bumpy and rough road since August 31. As his caregiver, I have tried to learn so much in so little time to be able to understand and give him the best care possible! He has gone from a active lifestyle to barely putting one foot in front of the other!

His doctor has put him on a 21-day cycle of Velcade along with a 1x weekly of dexa­meth­a­sone along with 10 radiation treatments because he has one tumor on his humerus bone and after radiation will be on Revlimid along with the Velcade. As of yesterday, he has had 4 shots of Velcade. The first two were fine, but the third one brought us to the hospital because he had a high fever and was admitted so they could find if he had a infection. Thankfully he did not. The doctor said it was inflammatory myeloma.

This 4th shot of Velcade has left his legs and ankles swollen and his body achy and hard to walk. As of now there is not as much swelling but still swollen and his achy body is better, but I'm concerned about the swelling.

I'm wondering how common a reaction this is to the Velcade-dex treatment, and what can be done about it.

[Victor L]

Re: Swelling & achiness during Velcade & dex treatment

by Victor L on Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:37 am

Hi Renee,

I have had this treatment and I can confirm having had the same side effects of aching joints and muscles and swollen ankles. In fact, some of these symptoms can be confused with the symptoms of the multiple myeloma itself. The drugs we take are strong and they affect organs such as the liver and kidneys, which in turn can cause similar symptoms. Also, the viscosity of the blood may in­crease, which can cause a thrombosis in the legs or arms.

Keep your husband's doctors informed!

Best Wishes,

Victor L

[NStewart]

Re: Swelling & achiness during Velcade & dex treatment

by NStewart on Tue Oct 24, 2017 4:27 pm

I was on Velcade injections for a short time, 4 weeks, earlier this year. The day after each injection, I was achy and had a fever. I also was nauseous. I couldn't get out of bed for the entire day, and then was fatigued for a couple more days. We stopped the Velcade after 4 injections because of my side effects and because it wasn't really having an effect on my myeloma.

Nancy in Phila