Thursday 28 January 2021

28/01/21 Dex night, NICE, Propranolol

Three hours. Not one of my better dex nights. Back in front of the computer again.....

A little bit of swelling in the right ankle this morning. Last time around that was the "better" of the two. I've got some 40mg Furosemide in stock if needed.

Some good news from NICE this morning:

Myeloma UK welcomes NICE approval for the first maintenance treatment for myeloma

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the use of lenalidomide as a maintenance treatment for newly diagnosed myeloma patients in England and Wales who are eligible for high-dose therapy and stem cell transplantation (HDT-SCT).

This is the first maintenance treatment for myeloma to be made available through the NHS and is currently considered the global gold standard for HDT-SCT eligible patients.

I'm about to start my 10th cycle of Lenalidomide maintenance (plus dex) and when I started it could only be obtained privately at my early stage. That's one of the main reasons why I went private. It's working for me, keeping the PP and FLC numbers down and the beast under control so I'm delighted that it will now be available to many many more myeloma patients.

Keeping an eye on heart rate and BP during what are still early days on Propranolol. BP this morning (after being up for a couple of hours) 101/60 - bang in the middle of "Ideal" on my chart, although perhaps a bit on the low side for my age. Heart rate 53. As the initial effect of propranolol on the tremors has faded away, the obvious option would be to increase the dose (Dr.Zo's letter advised 80 - 160mg and Dr.Ku said to start with the lowest) but I'm not sure we should take BP and heart rate any lower. Anyway, I have to write a report for him later today and push it through the surgery's letterbox.

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