Hello sachbarnes
Glad to hear that your Dad has got through his transplant and is back home.
As others have said, his consultant will advise on when it is appropriate for him as an individual to be revaccinated.
Talking generally one should be able to have the covid jab at least 2 months after an ‘auto’ (own cells) transplant and 3-6 months after an ‘allo’ (donor cells) transplant, according to both Blood Cancer UK and Anthony Nolan, bearing in mind that these are not myeloma specific charities. In its COVID-19 Vaccine FAQs Myeloma UK states that ‘Re-vaccination should be considered 2-6 months following HDT-SCT’. Link to faqs
tw744.
Hi All, yet another Peer Volunteer here!
Just thought I’d add my experience, having gone down with Covid last Tuesday: I did a routine lateral flow test that morning prior to heading up to London for my myeloma treatment. When it came up positive I called the hospital, who obviously said ‘don’t come’ and registered the LFT result online, before posting off the PCR test that they sent us.
That evening I got an email from the NHS telling me to expect a call within 24hrs to be triaged for Covid treatment – this must have been triggered by my registering the lateral flow result as my PCR was still on its way to the lab. Got the call the following morning and after a few questions the nurse(?) confirmed that I would be referred for assessment by a doctor. That same evening (Wednesday) a consultant from my local hospital called and went through my history and current meds after which he arranged for me to have the antibody treatment sotrovimab over at the other hospital in our Trust. I didn’t hear anything until yesterday morning when the unit called and I had the infusion in the afternoon. Waiting on the doormat when I got home was a replacement PCR kit. So the system works!
tw744.
Hi ptlelec
Revlimid has been NICE approved on the NHS since 2009, but initially it had more restrictions on who could have it in terms of previous treatments etc. Over the years these restrictions have been relaxed and in 2019 it became available as a first line therapy. MUK news
After 9 cycles of CRD (Cyclophosphamide/Revlimid/Dex), I took Revlimid (Lenalidomide) on its own as maintenance for over 90 cycles before starting to relapse. I’ve been on other lines of treatment since.
During this time I had the tiredness and tummy trouble you describe. Revlimid is the next generation of Thalidomide and has some of it’s sedative qualities and most people get tired to some degree when taking it. However after a couple of years of almost constant jippy tummy my consultant put me onto some stuff called Cholestyramine (Questran), which calmed things down dramatically. Revlimid can cause malabsorption of bile acids and this irritates the bowels – Cholestyramine neutralises the acids, relieving the symptoms.
Maybe worth asking your doctor about this at your next meeting?
Unfortunately side effects come with the good effects of most treatments – whether or not to put up with them is a personal decision.
tw744.
