Upper Back Muscle Spasms (?)

HI Everyone-

I haven't blogged in quite a while, but back for some advise from the experts!

My father has been very lucky and has been doing very well. During the past winter this site gave us hope and kept up prepared for our doctor visits- questions in hand.

 In November my father started Revlamid and so far he has been progressing well every month. He was doing really well  (M spike counts very low). Over the past two weeks he's been experiencing something new that we have not dealt with in all his time going through various chemo's. He's been getting what we "think" are muscle spasms starting in his left arm, moving to his jaw, then to his upper back (everything gets very tight). I have no idea what is causing this and if in fact it is muscle related. He says they last about 15 mins and are now happening about once per day at different times. He tries to do stairs to keep his strength up, but lately is having trouble due to this. 

 Anyone ever experience this?

To give you a little background when he was first diagnosed, he had a large mass on his spine which they were able to remove 98% with radiation and then he went on vigorous Valcade, went into rehab, started Revlamid and has slowly gained the use of his legs and weight back, His blood reports last month were very good, so I am nervous about what is happening now. He goes to PT two times per week, not sure if this could be aggrevating his back, but he's gone for months and never had a problem. I read online that low calcium levels could cause this, but he takes Areida and calcium pills.

He's going to call the doctor tomorrow, so hopefully they will be able to tell more. I would think if a tumor was brewing it would have shown in his blood results at the beg of the month....Any ideas?

 Sorry for the long post!

Thanks in advance for any feedback - your responses are ALWAYS greatly appreciated.

Dear kpupfight,

Has his heart been checked out lately? I hope you find out soon what is going on. Good luck.

Mary Ann

I had a large mass on T-1/T-2.  My doc used chemo to shrink it off my spinal cord.  I discovered my MM while trying to figure out the numbness in my left arm, burning in my right should blade, and pain in my right rib.  Apparently nerves transmit pain across the back depending on which nerves they are.  I now have nerve damage and I'm hopin to get it repaired.  When I look down, I get a minor shock throughout my body.  When I lift wieghts, I get a burn in my right should blade. 

Since I started on Velcade, I've experience massive cramping in my feet and legs.  Once in a while I also experience cramping in my right arm and hands.  I've attributed it to the Velcade.  I thought the Rev was causing my neuropathy in my feet, so I was taken off it.  However, I now think it was the Velcade all along...but I have no clue.  I just tell the doc what's happening and between the two of us, we come up with a solution that we're both willing to try.

Best of luck to you

Doug

Thanks MaryAnn & Utubeboy!

I just got back from the hospital and Mary Ann you were absolutely right, he was having heart trouble, but he thought he was having muscle spasms from the myeloma, physical therapy, arieda...etc..so many side effects sometimes it's a battle to tell what's what. When I called the Dr. this morning they said they tightness in right arm and jaw pain are signs of heart trouble and to get him right in!

As of tonight they were able to stabilize him and he's in intensive care. The myeloma just adds to the complexity because his platlets all of a sudden are wayyyy low, he just had blood work done a week or so ago and all his counts were good...I should know by now things turn really fast with this disease compounded by the heart issues. When we started to list everything going on the ER said...hmm we have some challenges here..ah yep! I've learned to bring my notebook everywhere we go and it's saved me for all his blood reports, appointment notes, dates and medicine lists.

Anyway sorry for rambling...just needed to vent I guess. Thanks again for your feedback - I wish I blogged sooner!

I hope all goes well for you and your dad. 

Good job Mary Ann :-)

Doug