Does anyone else have MGUS?

My dermatologist today told me I was just borderline autoimmune disease. I asked if I should see a rheumatologist and she said if you’d like!! I am so upset by all this . I see my primary on Wednesday and hopeful she will take the lead on this and I can get a definite dx. I am making a list of questions to to ask and appreciate your advice. Thank you!

You sound like me. I am in my 50’s and have osteoarthritis everywhere and diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I’m still in testing stage and had protein in my blood and high kappa and ratio. I’m eager to know what hematology will tell me.

I am also newly diagnosed, but it is a little different for me since I am 92. They have put me on the 3 month schedule and I am not very excited about it. Maybe I should be, but at my age, you learn to accept everything and hope for the best. I developed Trigeminal Neuralgia (worse pain in the world) and my neurologist ordered blood work that revealed the M factor. I was given to believe that if I did not progress any time during the next 6 months I would be put on the 1 year check routine. At my age, how many 1 year checks can you expect. I may have had this all my life and not known it??? I have always had a slightly low Red and White cell count, but not enough for anyone to get excited about it. So it is a waiting game, you may never progress any further. Smile, the sun is shining (I hope forecast for today is rain and thunder). If you can get out of bed it is a good day. I will remember you this day in my prayers.
GINA5009

Hi Gina.
I was diagnosed with IgM kappa MGUS 8 years ago. Now 82. I think we need to be proactive with appointment making. My wonderful hematologist advises seeing him every six months. However I make appointments to see him every three. It is my thoughtful determination that I’m more vulnerable so I consider more frequent appointments justified.

In the recent past there was a decline to below normal range in my ferritin level. “Low iron without anemia” diagnosis is sometimes of interest to oncologists. I’ll find out next Tuesday…not next June.

I suggest to follow your hunches with making appointments. Sometimes we need to be assertive. You go, Girl! Raye

Hi GirlRaye

I do keep my appointments, and I am probably more vulnerable (I have had breast cancer at 36, and a dermatofirosacroma in 1988, and recentely a squamous cell skin cancer), but I try to take these things in stride and just keep on going. For some reason God seems to just keep throwing me back, so I guess I have decided he will take me when he is ready, and my job is to just keep going as long as he wants me to. I have run a boarderline red cell count since I was 20 and no one seems to get very excited. Recently, a small drop in platletts. I am due to see Hematologist later this year. I feel fine, and that is quite an accomplishment at 92. So as long as I can get out of bed in the morning, It is a good day and the sun is shining to day (no rain).

Gina5009

New MGUSers like me may find this of interest:
Via the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation newsletter, I just learned about this FREE webinar (zoom) to be held next week on April 5, 2023.
It was "developed to help patients (and their families and caregivers) better understand the multiple myeloma precursor conditions MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance) and SMM (smoldering multiple myeloma)—including what they are, how they develop, and why they’re significant. "
Register here: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1601785&tp_key=da70931f7b&utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Patient+Newsletter+March+2023+PSI+RV&utm_content=https%3a%2f%2fevent.webcasts.com%2fstarthere.jsp%3fei%3d1601785%26tp_key%3dda70931f7b

Hi All. I am learning so much about MGUS/SMM/MM through this discussion group. Many thanks to all who contribute. While I still have only MGUS, my blood and urine lab M-spike and FLC values are moving in the wrong direction, and I would like to consult with a specialist at a major MGUS/SMM/MM cancer center. Could anyone in this discussion group tell me whether Mayo, Dana Farber, or Memorial Sloan Kettering is the best place to go and who are some of the best doctors there? I live in the Washington, DC area, but I'm willing to travel anywhere. Thank you so much!

@deborahjb Any of the three places you mentioned are stellar. Personally, I am not a Mayo Clinic patient. However, my oncologist was trained at Mayo Clinic Rochester [MN] and he is well respected here in my state of Oregon. I also know people who have traveled from this direction to Dana Farber for clinical trials dealing with multiple myeloma.

We have a lot to offer to fellow members here, don't we?
You can get started with Mayo Clinic by clicking here: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63
Ginger

I am new on this. I have diagnosed with MGUS and iron deficiency and cud stage 3. My kappa and lambda elevated with ratio of .69. My RBC , Hemoglobin and Hematocrit are in lower range and engraving of 54.8. Any one can shed some light on it. Thanks

Typo. Chronic kidney disease of stage 3A. Egfr 54.8.