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Myeloma Side Effects Mitigation- Acupuncture
Myeloma side effects mitigation-acupuncture. I wish I knew that acupuncture could ease many of the common therapy-induced side effects that result from various treatments when I was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation for my incurable blood cancer called multiple myeloma.
According to research, up to half of all cancer patients change or discontinue therapy completely dues to treatment-related side effects. It is in your interest to reduce or eliminate treatment-related side effects.
What are some of the health benefits of acupuncture?
Which treatment-related side effects that myeloma patients experience can be mitigated by acupuncture?
Acupuncture can help alleviate several treatment-related side effects experienced by multiple myeloma patients. These include:
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Pain Management – Acupuncture has been shown to reduce pain from bone damage, nerve pain (peripheral neuropathy), and musculoskeletal discomfort caused by chemotherapy, steroids, or the disease itself.
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Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) – Many myeloma patients experience numbness, tingling, and pain in the hands and feet due to chemotherapy. Acupuncture may improve nerve function and reduce these symptoms.
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Nausea and Vomiting – Acupuncture, particularly at the P6 (Neiguan) acupoint, has been found to help with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
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Fatigue – Cancer-related fatigue is a common symptom, and acupuncture has been shown to help boost energy levels and improve overall well-being.
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Insomnia and Sleep Disturbances – Acupuncture may help regulate sleep patterns and improve sleep quality, which is often affected by treatment-related stress, pain, and hormonal imbalances.
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Anxiety and Depression – The stress of cancer treatment can lead to emotional distress. Acupuncture may help regulate mood by promoting relaxation and balancing neurotransmitters.
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Gastrointestinal Issues – Acupuncture may assist with diarrhea, constipation, and other digestive issues that arise from chemotherapy or medications.
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Immune System Support – While not a direct treatment, acupuncture is believed to support immune function, which can be weakened by chemotherapy and steroids.
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Hot Flashes and Sweating – Patients taking steroids or undergoing hormonal changes may experience hot flashes, and acupuncture has been reported to help manage these symptoms.
One of the common analogies used when talking about the experience of a diagnosis of multiple myeloma is that “myeloma is a marathon, not a sprint.” In essence, living with MM can be years of exhausting ups and downs.
Treatment-related side effects can make the ups and downs of managing multiple myeloma almost unbearable.
Do you have multiple myeloma? Are you trying to manage treatment-related side effects? Email me at David.PeopleBeatingCancer@gmail.com to learn more about non-conventional therapies like acupuncture, nutritional supplementation and lifestyle therapies shown to reduce or eliminate side effects completely.
Hang in there,
David Emerson
- MM Survivor
- MM Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Acupuncture for reduction of symptom burden in multiple myeloma patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a randomized sham-controlled trial
Purpose
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) is potentially curative for a number of hematologic malignancies, but is associated with high symptom burden (lots of side effects aka adverse events). We conducted a randomized sham-controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate efficacy and safety of acupuncture as an integrative treatment for managing common symptoms during HCT…
Results
Among 60 participants, true acupuncture produced nonsignificant reductions in overall MDASI core symptom scores and symptom interference scores during transplantation (P = .4 and .3, respectively), at 15 days (P = .10 and .3), and at 30 days posttransplantation (P = .2 and .4) relative to sham.
However, true acupuncture was significantly more efficacious in reducing
- nausea,
- lack of appetite,
- and drowsiness at 15 days (P = .042, .025, and .010, respectively).
Patients receiving sham acupuncture were more likely to increase pain medication use posttransplantation (odds ratio 5.31, P = .017).
Conclusions
Acupuncture was well tolerated with few attributable adverse events. True acupuncture may prevent escalation of symptoms including nausea, lack of appetite, and drowsiness experienced by patients undergoing AHCT, and reduce the use of pain medications. These findings need to be confirmed in a future definitive study…
The current management of symptoms is mainly pharmacologic, with the use of analgesics, antiemetics, anxiolytics, and hypnotics. If used for prolonged periods, these medications in turn have detrimental side effects such as constipation, drowsiness, fatigue, and addiction. Investigation of other treatment options is therefore warranted…
Given the high prevalence of multiple symptoms associated with conditioning chemotherapy in HCT patients and the limitations of current pharmacological symptom management strategies and indications, acupuncture may have the potential to be part of a multimodality transplantation care plan by targeting multiple symptoms…
Conclusion
In summary, we found that true acupuncture treatment, when integrated into the care of patients receiving autologous HCT, appears to be safe and leads to less severe symptoms of nausea, lack of appetite, and drowsiness than sham acupuncture.
In addition, true acupuncture was associated with less use of pain medications. Patients receiving acupuncture did not experience peak symptom burden at post-HCT nadir.
Future research with an adequate sample size that targets the specific symptoms and pain medication use identified by our study may help establish evidence for acupuncture as a part of HCT comprehensive care. If acupuncture can be shown to be effective in improving peri- or post-HCT care, patients will benefit from expanded treatment options during the difficult period of transplantation.
Myeloma side effects mitigation-acupuncture Myeloma side effects mitigation-acupuncture