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What are the symptoms of myeloma?

Myeloma often causes no symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage, and the most common symptoms include bone pain, easy bruising, fatigue, and kidney problems.

Myeloma often causes no symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage. Advanced myeloma can cause many symptoms, but most people will only have one or two. The most common symptoms of myeloma are: [4][6][7]

  • bone pain, usually felt in the back, ribs, hips or skull 
  • bones that break easily, usually in the spine 
  • unexplained fever and frequent infections (from a lack of normal plasma cells and white blood cells) 
  • tiredness, shortness of breath or a racing heart (caused by anaemia, or a lack of red blood cells) 
  • easy bruising or bleeding (caused by a low number of platelets, called thrombocytopenia) 
  • feeling sick, drowsy or confused (caused by too much calcium in the blood, called hypercalcaemia, that may be a sign of myeloma destroying bone) 
  • kidney problems. 

There are a number of conditions that may cause these symptoms, not just myeloma. If any of these symptoms are experienced, it is important that they are discussed with a doctor. 

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