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← Return to Waldenstroms Macroglobulemia
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Blood Cancers & Disorders | Last Active: Apr 30 11:00am | Replies (22)
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I've been diagonosed with Waldenstrum in my blood & bones & currently taking Brukinsa meds. I also have a fracture in my back from the cancer & recently told have arthritis in my spine. Everyday I wake up with extreme pain, I can barely walk for about the 1st hour. The severe pain subsides but I have pain 24/7. A pain management doc wants to do injections in my back to relive the pain. What I'd like to know is...how do I know the pain is from the arthritis, the fracture or from the cancer? Will the injections help relief the pin? Has anyone here had a similar experience? Sincere thanks...I really need some relief!
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Kabue9,
Sorry to hear about your situation. I'm not really the person to answer your questions, but I can say I had a lower spine MRI and a PET scan that came back with a very detailed, technical report. I ran that through ChatGPT and got this explanation.....
You have generalized spine wear-and-tear (degenerative disc disease and arthritis) through your lower back.
Most serious narrowing is happening at L3-L4 and L4-L5.
Nerve pinching risk is higher at these two spots, which could cause symptoms like leg pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness if nerves are affected.
Overall, it’s a moderate stage of degeneration, very common with age, and manageable depending on symptoms.
My pain is not nearly as bad as yours and I deal with it using Glucosamine with MSM. That pretty much takes care of my back and joint pain.
I'm curious of your medical history dealing with Waldenstrum. I'm in my 3rd year of high M spike and IgM levels that are rapidly increasing. IgG is below normal and everything else is looking good. My Hemo/Oncologist isn't ready to do a bone marrow biopsy yet. About 4 months ago, I started taking Curcumin hoping to slow the progression. The limited studies I've read seem to show help with other form of MGUS, but not so much IgM MGUS. Were you aware of your condition when it was MGUS? How long was the progression from diagnosis until now?