Hello Sandra, welcome to this club no-one wishes to join.
Many working age patients manage to continue to work during induction therapy, at least part time. Induction isn’t as debilitating as true chemotherapy as it targets very specific things rather than causing a lot of collateral damage.
Actually it’s the steroid, Dexamethasone, that causes the most problems for many patients as it can cause sleeplessness and mood swings. However it can give real highs & energy bursts, which help some of us.
I felt “odd”, a bit spaced out and dizzy, rather than unwell during induction (although when I was diagnosed 5 years ago we only had 3 drugs for induction).
You shouldn’t lose your hair at this stage, that’s caused by melphalan and cyclophosphamide which are chemotherapy drugs given around the time of stem cell transplant.
Report any odd symptoms to your myeloma nurse or at clinic appointments. Many of us are left with a degree of peripheral neuropathy in the feet, or feet and hands. To minimise the chance of this, report any tingling or odd lack of feeling in your feet as soon as possible. I did this, my Velcade was reduced (twice, eventually to half dose) and I haven’t been left with neuropathy.
Often myeloma levels start falling very quickly after treatment starts, and I hope this is true for you.
Many of us have some sort of hiccup along the way, but we get there in the end.
Once the myeloma is in remission or stable all the effort to get there is worthwhile.
