[FrancesParticipant]

My myeloma has stopped smouldering and I’ve just progressed to treatment. My main problem at present is a bad back – which has been lurking all year and seems to be getting worse, not better. My doctor says this isn’t mm damage, though my bones are starting to show signs of it, just general ‘wear and tear’. Well, I don’t think the mm is helping the condition – I can’t seem to shake things off as I used to – I always used to heal rapidly. The worse thing about the back is muscle spasms, when I stand up, and most painfully when I get out of bed in the morning, and I have to inch my way to a vertical position very slowly to try to avoid them. I’ve got the usual painkillers (alas, except I can no longer have Ibuprofen, the really useful one) but don’t want to be taking them all the time. I seem to remember someone writing about muscle spasms in this forum – has anyone else had them, and has anyone got any useful ideas on how to manage them? I’d be grateful for help.

[scott9Participant]

Hi Frances

Are you sure you don’t have a broken bone? Myeloma has given me osteoporosis in my spine and I broke a bone in 2010. I thought it was just muscle problems but it didn’t get better and in the end I got it checked out to discover not only a broken bone but this disease as well.

All the best

Scott

[eveParticipant]

Hi Frances
I take it the doctor Came to that conclusion after MRI,plus full body x ray!!

My husband has had a resent pain in shoulder unable to lift his arm in and out of clothes,did have fully body x ray,no change,told not every pain is MM,since then he has had a MRI Scan that can track new Myeloma,As you can guess the pain was new Myeloma tracking.
Worth being persistent even if it’s just for your own peace of mind.

[SalParticipant]

Hello Frances,

That sounds horrible. I would definitely get it checked out thoroughly if you haven’t already. My husband had dreadful muscle spasms over Christmas and further investigation revealed multiple spinal lesions and a fracture. Getting out of bed was really difficult as every movement brought on more spasms. If you have had scans etc and it doesn’t seem to be down to bone damage, maybe a physio referral would be possible? My husband has been offered hydrotherapy but probably won’t start till after chemo.

i do hope you get this under control very soon.

Sarah

[andygParticipant]

Hi Frances.
I suffered back muscle spasms early on – I think it was even before I was diagnosed – I was told what is happening is my muscles were protecting me from seriously damaging my spine. So even though it was really painful it was helping me from doing more damage. If that makes sense!
In my case X-rays revealed vertebral wedging all along my spine and lead to the diagnosis of MM.
I was immediately put onto Zometa and adcal to strengthen my bones and given strong pain killers. Ibuprofen was stopped – bad for the kidneys – as was diclofenic for the same reason.
It took a while for things to settle down and I had to change how I went about things to avoid upsetting my back, sleeping was a nightmare.
Now 2 1/2 years on after surgery and drugs my back pain is beginning to resurface again. I’ve just been referred to see a radiologist to see if they can help.
Good luck with your treatment I did have succes I’ve been off painkillers 99% of the time and I usually only use paracetamol.

Every day is a gift.
Enjoy them

Andy xx

• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by  andyg.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by  andyg.

[jeff605Participant]

Hi Frances, I started off with a ” bad back ” after putting something in the boot of the car. had it before, so wasn’t too alarmed but it didn’t get better, a nuisance but bearable. THEN one morning got out of the shower, found myself hanging on the radiator in intense pain. Into an ambulance off to hospital for a few days. After an MRI scan ( got another due absolutely dreading it !!) Turned out T11 and T12 were damaged, had some radiotherapy, and have been on morphine, gabapentin and paracetamol ever since. this controls the pain quite well, but I am unable to do very much walking, light gardening or the like for more than 15 mins or so.( I kept the morphine tablets at a level that provided early warnings of overdoing things) I am waiting for a vertobroplasty operation which fixes the damaged vertebra together, and I gather virtually eradicates the pain and weakness.
All I can suggest is enquiring if morphine being prescribed is possible, it certainly helped me.I also found the MacMillan nurse very helpful,it may be worth contacting your local one.Hope my experiance helps, Jeff

[sue48Participant]

Hi Frances

I started off with a bad back, suffered for months, my GP kept telling me it was wear and tear then muscle trouble, I suffered so much I asked for a second opinion, it was then he said I would have a blood test which came back abnormal, so he sent me for a MRI scan  then a bone  biopsy that is when I was diagnosed with MM, so I would insist you have a MRI scan.

Hope all goes well for you

 

sue

 

[FrancesParticipant]

Thank you for all your helpful comments – I went to my GP who put me on strong painkillers so at present I’m managing the condition, though I guess I can’t stay on them for very long. I had an x ray a couple of weeks ago, so I reckon I’m fairly up to date, and I’m about to have zometa. I’ll see how al this goes, and then start making a fuss if nothing works. My hope is that something that flared up pretty suddenly can also flare down! It’s just so strange getting used to this new invalid’s body which doesn’t react in any of the ways I expect it to; this is early days for me so I hope to work it out all soon. Meanwhile, I’m sorry to hear your stories of pain, but it’s helpful to know I’m not alone.

[janwParticipant]

Hi Frances,

Like others have posted, I also started on my myeloma journey with odd pains in various parts of my body, which accumulated into spasms in my back which I suffered for some weeks even with strong painkillers. During this period, I was being investigated for possible causes of the pain and underwent x rays, ct scans, and ultra sound scan but nothing was discovered and my pain killers were just increased. The back spasms began to get worse and like you are finding, I couldn’t lie down easily or get up from chairs/bed without suffering severe pain. The spasms did disappear after a few months, when I woke up one morning in bed unable to move and found out later that I had suffered with three collapsed vertebra. My consultant then sent me for an MRI which showed the damage in my spine and identified several other sites of concern, with myeloma as a possible cause.

I think you should push your GP/consultant for an MRI to see whether you have any bone lesions or possible damage to your bones. Just try not to lift or move any heavy objects which will aggravate the pain.

All the best.
Jan x

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