[Kaayla]

Have anemia and now a low M-spike - what's it mean?

by Kaayla on Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:04 pm

Thank you for taking the time to read my message.

Routine blood work discovered m spike 0.13 gl Which I acknowledge is very low.

White blood count 3.4
Hbg 9.7
Hct 30.6
Rdw 16.8

I've been anemic for several years. Worried about declining wbc. No other tests done, yet.

A spot of bruised dots on my thigh started all this. Found blood in stool. Endoscopy & colonoscopy were normal.

Suggestions advice appreciated. Seeing hematologist tomorrow.

Looking back my labs dropped significantly 2 years ago. Note to self, get all labs and chart them yourself!

Does any spike mean MGUS?

"Life is too mysterious to be taken so serious"

[JimNY]

Re: Have anemia and now a low M-spike - what's it mean?

by JimNY on Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:25 pm

Hi Kaayla,

Welcome to the forum. Hope we can be of help.

Can you confirm the units on your M-spike? Is the reading 0.13 g/dL? Or 0.13 g/L? It makes a difference.

Did you have any of your immunoglobulin levels measured -- with results labeled "Immunoglobulin A, Immunoglobulin G, Immunoglobulin M", or just "IgA, IgG, and IgM"? If so, can you share those results?

Also, did you have any additional blood tests that might give your blood calcium and creatinine levels?

Finally -- and I doubt this is the case, but it's worth checking -- did you have a test done called a "serum free light chain" test (sometimes just "Freelite")?

If you had any of those tests, and could share the results with us, that might help us give you a better picture of where you stand.

And, yes, your hemoglobin is low.

[Multibilly]

Re: Have anemia and now a low M-spike - what's it mean?

by Multibilly on Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:31 pm

Hi Kaayla,

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about your situation.

Jim asked some good questions.

That is indeed a low hemoglobin level and that can sometimes be a symptom of multiple myeloma. In any case, I'm glad you are seeing a hematologist tomorrow. Has your anemia been explained earlier by any other medical conditions?

An M-spike by itself is not a good marker for determining whether you have multiple myeloma and what stage of myeloma you might have (which is why Jim asked about all these other markers). In fact, there are several different "flavors" of multiple myeloma and you can have myeloma and not even have an M-spike. Your hematologist will know which tests to run to narrow down the possibilities.

Before you see the hematologist, I might suggest reading through this handbook so that you have a better idea of what the doc might be discussing with you with respect to the possibility of multiple myeloma.

If the hematologist suspects multiple myeloma, he/she will likely order most of the tests outlined in the Laboratory Tests section of this pdf.

When you see the hematologist, I might suggest recording the appointment on a phone, or taking lots of notes or inviting a friend to listen to what he/she has to say. The first appointment or two with a hematologist can often overload a person with information that is hard to re­mem­ber later.

Let us know how things turn out and good luck.