I was diagnosed with unclassified anemia in August. Iron level down to 1, had 4 units of blood plus iron transfusion. Sept. 2 lab results showed MCV [mean corpuscular volume] and MCH [mean corpuscular hemoglobin] low, IgM, kappa and lambda typing high.
I'm currently on 650 mg of iron daily. I know this is just a Band Aid on my iron problem.
I have researched my lab results and multiple myeloma keeps coming up. I'm not sure this is right, and my doctor at this point is being evasive. I do have an appointment with him this month.
Does anyone have any idea if the results point to multiple myeloma, MGUS or something else?
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Re: Unclassified anemia - could it be MGUS or myeloma?
Sorry to hear about your anemia.
Anemia can be due to a wide range of things. So I wouldn't necessarily assume it's myeloma.
Also, the criteria for whether or not you have MGUS, smoldering myeloma (asymptomatic myeloma), or multiple myeloma (symptomatic myeloma) are much more clearly defined than you may think. You can find them described here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_myeloma#Diagnostic_criteria
Do you have any of the following lab results?
- Immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgA, IgM, etc.)
- Serum calcium, hemoglobin, and creatinine levels
- Serum protein electrophroresis (SPEP) or urine protein electrophoresis (UPEP) results
- Immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) results
- Serum free light chain levels (kappa, lambda, and kappa/lambda ratio) results
If you do have any of those results, please let us know what they are, and please include units with the results, because the units can vary from laboratory to laboratory and from country to country.
If you don't have any, or most, of these results, then it will be hard for any of us here to say anything definitive about what could be causing your anemia.
If the results I've listed above do suggest your anemia could be related to myeloma, you'll eventually need to have x-rays done to look for bone lesions, and also a bone marrow performed to determine to what extent myeloma cells are present in your bone marrow and what sort of mutations they have (if any).
But let's take one step at a time.
Good luck!
Anemia can be due to a wide range of things. So I wouldn't necessarily assume it's myeloma.
Also, the criteria for whether or not you have MGUS, smoldering myeloma (asymptomatic myeloma), or multiple myeloma (symptomatic myeloma) are much more clearly defined than you may think. You can find them described here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_myeloma#Diagnostic_criteria
Do you have any of the following lab results?
- Immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgA, IgM, etc.)
- Serum calcium, hemoglobin, and creatinine levels
- Serum protein electrophroresis (SPEP) or urine protein electrophoresis (UPEP) results
- Immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) results
- Serum free light chain levels (kappa, lambda, and kappa/lambda ratio) results
If you do have any of those results, please let us know what they are, and please include units with the results, because the units can vary from laboratory to laboratory and from country to country.
If you don't have any, or most, of these results, then it will be hard for any of us here to say anything definitive about what could be causing your anemia.
If the results I've listed above do suggest your anemia could be related to myeloma, you'll eventually need to have x-rays done to look for bone lesions, and also a bone marrow performed to determine to what extent myeloma cells are present in your bone marrow and what sort of mutations they have (if any).
But let's take one step at a time.
Good luck!
2 posts
• Page 1 of 1