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Living with Multiple Myeloma in Hyderabad , India . Random musings .


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Resistance to Antibiotics and Ayurveda to my rescue.

I had been resistant to Antibiotics much before I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2011. My frequent bouts of sore throat would not go away in spite of using Antibiotics prescribed by the ENT Doctor. He would often tell me to meet him and give feedback after using Antibiotics. At times there would be an improvement and at times I would not get any relief. When there was no relief he would give me another set of medications which I would promptly gulp down . The pain and symptoms were so bad that I would not think twice about what I was gulping.

I was diagnosed with MM in Oct 2011, underwent a Stem Cell Transplant in Jan 2012.

I continued getting these attacks and as usual I was taking Antibiotics. These attacks are always triggered due to any kind of dust. I reduced my visits to Malls, Supermarkets , clothes stores, theaters, exhibitions and other public places . But dust finds its way into my body some way or the other 🙁 . There is no way I can completely isolate myself from all kinds of dust. Another trigger for an attack is eating/drinking cold foods like ice cream or any cold drink which I stopped having anyway.

Had another attack recently and this time I consulted my Ayurvedic Doctor about my condition and whether I should take this new set of Allopathic medication. He said that I should not be taking Antibiotics as they affect the Bone Marrow and that the new set of medications were Steroids which are an absolute No-No.

What do I do now ??! , I was very sick …I had a very irritating wet cough , a runny nose , had fever that went up to 102 deg and my bronchitis was also severe. I continued the nebulisation with Levolin and Budecort. I was afraid I would end up with Pneumonia. Meanwhile my Ayurvedic Doctor recommended that I do a Sinus X-ray, Chest x-ray, LDH Serum and Urine Culture . Had to wait for two days before all the reports were out. Was glad that all the reports were negative :).

Meanwhile he recommended a herbal tablet for the runny nose and ‘Kantakari Lehyam’ for my Bronchitis. This Lehyam is like a paste ..a sweet , pungent paste similar to Chyawanprash. My symptoms slowly reduced. A lot of patience was required as each painful hour went by very slowly. Took 5 days off from work . Felt like a dead person during those days and finally when I was ready to go to work I felt as if I was reborn and like a bird that just got out of a cage 🙂 .

So glad I was able to escape from using Antibiotics and Steroids, for the first time in my life.

Meanwhile my Ayurvedic Doctor also sent a ‘Mishran’,  which I am supposed to take with Warm water.

The meaning of the word Mishran is ‘a mix’ , a mix of several herbs in a powdered form, for improving immunity.

Am almost normal now but continuing the new Ayurvedic medications along with Curcumin, Ashwagandha , Satavari etc.

I am envious of people who are able to dig into ice creams and soft drinks and are able to withstand any kind of pollution/dusty environments.

Looking forward to a day when I can move around without fear of another attack. A day when I can eat an ice-cream and have a cold drink 🙂 … hmmm , I know I am asking for too much 🙂 .


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Update on my break from Lenolidamide

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I have been taking Lenolidamide 5mg since Dec 2014 as there was a relapse of Multiple Myeloma.

Thanks to Lenolidamide and Alternative medication , my M spike was zero during two consecutive bone marrow tests done in 2015.

However I started experiencing side effects of Lenolidamide in the form of a drastic drop in the counts of TLC and Neutrophils in Jan 2016.
I also had several infections simultaneously. Sore throat ,stomach upset ( diarrhoea ) , asthma attack, eye infection and UTI.
My oncologist told me to stop lenolidamide for one month. During this one month , ie Feb 2016 , I continued taking Curcumin and other immunity boosting tablets.

Went for the CBP LFT AND RFT tests after one month at the end of Feb 2016. All the counts were back to normal. Got a test done for Vitamin D too and the result was normal .
Met my Oncologist with the reports. He was happy with the counts and told me to come back after 3 weeks with new reports. Told me to discontinue Lenolidamide for this period too.

I am currently taking three 500mg capsules of curcumin three times a day and other immunity boosting tablets two times a day prescribed by my Ayurvedic doctor .

I have been off chemo medication for almost 2 months now. Hope to stay away from chemo forever.

Will go for the next routine test in the last week of March 2016.

Keeping my fingers crossed.