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Does anyone else have MGUS?

Posted by mjlandin @mjlandin, Jun 4, 2022

I was diagnosed with MGUS last October and although I've done a lot of research, I feel there's still so much I don't know. Does anyone else have MGUS?

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karencan2025 | @karencan2025 | 5 days ago
In reply to @amberl99 "If it helps to know: I was diagnosed with MGUS last week and I presented with..." + (show)
@amberl99

If it helps to know: I was diagnosed with MGUS last week and I presented with anemia as well as other symptoms. So anemia can be a stand alone and not an indicator of MM. Hope that helps.
Keep us updated, I’m interested in what you find out.
All the best,
Amber

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Hi Amber,
That means the world to me; thanks so much for sharing it. It's a waiting game for us as we're still awaiting medical assessments, so it gives me some hope while we wait. I wish you the best on your health journey as well. Hope you get the best care in the world. I will update ours when I know more.

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kaiti | @kaiti | 1 day ago

Hi,
I am 50 years old, I recently did a blood test that showed I had Band 1 Monoclonal IgG with lambda light chains 2.3g/L. My GP believes it to be MGUS. I have my first haematology appointment on Thursday. I also have prediabetes, kidney stones and an inflammatory skin condition, hidradenitis supporativa of which I have been on Humira the past 2 years. What should I ask the Haematologist?

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1 reply
kaiti | @kaiti | 1 day ago
In reply to @hsminc "Curcumin is an anti inflammatory substance. Anti inflammatory substances are viewed as anathema by MM and..." + (show)
@hsminc

Curcumin is an anti inflammatory substance. Anti inflammatory substances are viewed as anathema by MM and also other cancers. That said, it is controversial and if you decide to take it, consult with a MM oncologist/hematologist - not a pcp and not a "general" oncologist/hematologist. I have read about many issues but have also read positive stories about this substance. The stories were enough to make me think NO but others view it differently.
I have MGUS (IgG lambda); it was diagnosed when I was 59 years old - 23 years ago. My dad had IgA Kappa SMM so I knew what this was about and I was frightened. I think my MM hematologist was also frightened. He ordered blood tests every three months for 17 years - at that time he retired and my6 current MM specialist is not as concerned. I take celebrex and a statin drug (zocor). I have taken zocor since I was 52 years old (although I did not have elevated lipids - long story) and have taken celebrex since 2006-7 (an anti inflammatory) and have never had issues with each. Both drugs are being studied because some investigators believe they can be repurposed for MM. Statins interfere with a rate limiting step for MM and Celebrex is an anti inflammatory. There have been large VA patient studies using statins, which were positive - the conclusion was that patients that took statins had lower rates of progression. Mayo (RST) and the Cleveland Clinic had a clinical trial with celebrex, MGUS and SMM. The doses, however, were low and the results were null. There have also been studies with analogues of Celebrex.
This is a long answer to your question. Again, my advice is to approach Curcumin carefully and get good information to make a decision.

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Can you please tell me about MGUS (IgG lambda) ?

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1 reply
projfan | @projfan | 12 hours ago
In reply to @kaiti "Hi, I am 50 years old, I recently did a blood test that showed I had..." + (show)
@kaiti

Hi,
I am 50 years old, I recently did a blood test that showed I had Band 1 Monoclonal IgG with lambda light chains 2.3g/L. My GP believes it to be MGUS. I have my first haematology appointment on Thursday. I also have prediabetes, kidney stones and an inflammatory skin condition, hidradenitis supporativa of which I have been on Humira the past 2 years. What should I ask the Haematologist?

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I've got my first hematologist appointment next week, and I intend to ask whether the MGUS may have any impacts on any of the other medical issues I've got going on, or whether any of those issues or their actual/potential treatments might have ramifications for the MGUS.

At this point, I've got a multi-page table tracking my various medical issues: upcoming appointments, notes/questions for the appointments, past appointments, outcomes from past appointments, drugs, side effects of the drugs, actions I've taken to manage the side effects of the drugs, non-traditional stuff I've tried, etc. Really, it's a journal in table format. Because I've given up entirely on being able to hold it all in my head.

The medical community operates in silos -- not their fault, it's just how it is. But the human body/mind is not made up of silos -- it's an integrated whole. Expecting my excellent but overworked PCP to coordinate all that effectively is just absurd. So these days, when I see each physician (let's see -- at the moment, it's seven of them plus, of course, my pharmacist), I try to encourage them to think about the consequences of each diagnosis/treatment on all the other diagnoses/treatments.

I'm 72, I'm living a quite engaged life, and I am not my diagnoses. Since I want to hold onto that as long as possible, doing my best to help my medical providers operate as a team has become one of my priorities. Because it's really hard for them to do that if the patient isn't actively helping.

I recently asked my migraine neurologist to take a quick look at several possible insomnia drugs I planned to discuss with my PCP, and she flagged one that she routinely uses off-label with success as a migraine preventive. You never know what can pop when you try to be somewhat holistic about things.

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dmdinapoli81 | @dmdinapoli81 | 7 hours ago

I was diagnosed at 36. Depending on certain factors your H/O will decide your observation track. Ask to have a baseline though with your bloodwork and... 24hr Urine. . If your doctors office uses Labcorp then all your bloodwork get from there when going outside the office. Also, don’t Google doc yourself, typing in M-spike and other blood numbers kappa lambda, etc might shock you. Ask questions if your numbers only rise and never wave, plateau or decrease. CRAB is still looked at but other factors come into play. What type of MGUS?

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dmdinapoli81 | @dmdinapoli81 | 7 hours ago
In reply to @kaiti "Can you please tell me about MGUS (IgG lambda) ?" + (show)
@kaiti

Can you please tell me about MGUS (IgG lambda) ?

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Your hemonco will be the one to actually diagnose you with MGUS. Not that your pcp is not capable but there are autoimmune diseases and other factors that can have a high M-spike and KL numbers. Did your PCP also do a 24 urine Immunofixation (Bence-Jones Protein)?

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