I was diagnosed with IgA MGUS WHEN I WAS 52. I’m now 61. The typical age for this diagnosis is 70+. So yes, another over-achiever! I had back pain which was diagnosed as pars fractures, also known as spondylolysis. It is a stress fracture on the lumbar spine. That led to bloodwork which resulted in the MGUS diagnosis.

Yes, we “MGUSers” are on the radar, but other symptoms and conditions can happen before we (hopefully never) get to the SMM or MM diagnosis. I see an oncologist/hematologist. It’s NOT enough to just have a primary care doctor. You need to be monitored by a blood specialist. I started out with a bone marrow biopsy to get a baseline reading; had that in August 2016. After that, I was seeing my oncologist twice annually. Well, things started going sideways in 2022. I was feeling incredibly fatigued; heavy breathing, limbs felt like 100 pound weights were attached, excessive sleeping (I felt drugged up) and couldn’t walk more than a few feet without feeling like my heart was pumping out of my chest. Oh, and the strangest of all things, craving dirt! Yes, DIRT! After feeling that way for a couple of days, went to ER and was hospitalized, I needed two blood transfusions. Long story short, I now have both acute and chronic iron deficient anemia, which requires blood transfusions and iron infusions every few months. That explains the pica cravings. My body was telling me what I needed - iron. I’ve also developed Dyshidrotic eczema. My hands blistered over and over for months and the itching could NOT be relieved. I even slept with ice bags on my hands because it was absolutely DEEP, unbearable itching. They would peel so deep that I had bleeding and painful fissures. I finally saw a dermatologist and was prescribed topical steroids & Opzelura (Opzelura is an absolute godsend.) If you read some of the MGUS conditions, this is all listed. The iron deficiency has also caused my fingernails to raise and fall off at different intervals. Still searching for the cause of the blood loss (more tests Monday!) I’m only mentioning these items because you don’t want to ignore treatment for any of them. Just stay vigilant if anything seems off so you aren’t in the emergency room! Hope this helps a bit.