Geez, that is an utter drag, Chisue. Back, hip, bony-nervy pain Cain be so difficult. Very impolite to the human (patient/victim/hero/inflictee/sufferer) body, and it can be tough to diagnose. I'm betting that some people never get an answer. Not because doctors don't care or are not talented (although some deserve that description), but there are real limitations in trying to evaluate pain and its causes. As a bit of a sidebar here, I want to say that if an MRI is ordered, I much prefer the diagnostic centers with a "High T (Tesla)" MRI unit that is closed. You get better detail. Because (apparently) a lot of patients are anxious and claustrophobic, and perhaps also because of cost and logistics, many diagnostic imaging facilities opt for the "open" and lower (magnetic) field MRI machines. My advice to any person (patient) with hard to visualize and diagnose pain, is to find a way to condition yourself to calm down and overcome any claustrophobia. And HOLD STILL! One of my friends has has bilateral hip replacements, and her last one didn't seem to go as well as the first. But she also had non-hip surgical or hospital "cooties" (?) complications. She also elected to go to what I'd consider a quasi country bumpkin (okay, yeah, slap me) hospital because she liked the doctor. A single so so doctor does not determine the quality of a facility or its diligence with infection control. A hospital is a complex place and many factors can contribute to standards, training, available staff and their training, infection control and so on. The culture of both the medical staff and patient community also plays its part. Many of us struggle with weight control, healthful eating habits and exersize, sleep, relaxation. When a person is coping with chronic, unrelenting pain and other challenges, finding the way to successfully manage these things can be tough. It can be difficult to get enough quality, restorative sleep when in pain. And without sufficient sleep we don't tend to function as well or cope with pain and frustration as well as we might if fully rested. We might crave (do crave) comfort (often) in the form of yummy snacks and sweets, shopping or escape activities, or slurping too much alcohol. Understandable, but not helpful. There are many many people in daily pain. If you're young, it can be isolating. If older, you have a lot of company. It can be helpful to find a group with similar challenges, share commiserating, exercise hour, but also the joy of living. My my. Have I gone on. I wish you comfort and some solutions, Chisue. I have pain 24/7, and although no "answer" to relief, it sometimes helps a bit to do certain gentle yoga like stretches. Of course, go easy and perhaps ask your "medical team" (hmm) if you might be okay trying some simple gentle non-bouncing stretches. One that is frequently suggested for people with low back pain is the piraformis stretch. Various ways. One is to lie on back. Bend one knee a bit, then with your hands guiding you, gently "try" to stretch the other knee to touch your opposite shoulder (which, unless you work for a circus, you're not likely to even get close. Do not bounce, but hold the stretch a few seconds, then relax. A PT or decent book or reputable site can offer better explanations.

DH and I met with the oncologist today. She's delightful, albeit only a teenager. haha. Seriously, she's a year or two past her fellowship at Northwestern's downtown hospital. I figure she must know all the latest about treatments. She explained everything carefull -- even calming my Very Anxious DH. It is probable that I do have MM, but I'm still a relatively healthy 77 -- no other ailments as far as we know. I'm not anemic. My calcium is high, but not out of range. I have no known kidney or bone problems. My light chain kappa/lambda ratio is 37; high is 100. I will have the bone marrow harvest Monday -- and turn in a 24-hour urine sample. In my future are a full body skeletal X-ray and a PET scan. They'll look for any places where I may have a cancer or other growth on my bones or in my organs and soft tissue. They will look for any genetic marker known to be involved in MM (test takes weeks for resolution). Presuming they find no bone, organ or soft tissue problems, we have a plan. The plan is to find drugs that will put my MM in remission. I'll start with a shot and a beer...no, no...a shot and two pills for chemotherapy. I'll go into the hospital one a week for this for...however long it takes to achieve remission. I'm glad we liked this MD and that I decided to go with the new hospital. It's even closer than Costco! Ten minutes, door to door. Beautiful new facility. Thanks so much for 'hanging in there' with me!

Good luck for your husband. As just one data point and with no intention at all of making a suggestion or recommendation, I'll share that I take 1200 mg all at once, at bedtime. Even when I take it earlier in the evening with several wakeful hours remaining before bedtime, I feel no noticeable effect. What I think is a funny AND sorry story - for years and years, my prescription was for a daily dosage of 4-300 mg capsules, to be taken at night. About two years ago, the day after I'd requested a refill at the pharmacy, they called me. "Your prescription administrator is only going to cover 75% of the cost, so we need to charge you an additional amount (It was something like $150). I called the administrator and asked what was going on. I was told "Your plan changed and it covers a maximum of 90 pills per month for any one drug". I asked "Does it come in a 400mg size? 4x300 is the same as 3x400, would you cover that?" "Yes, of course, that's 90 per month, but your prescription is for 120 of the 300mg size and we'll only cover 90 of those per month". So I had to call the doctor and have them send in a new prescription for 3-400mg capsules per day instead of 4-300mg ones per day. It's been fully covered ever since. Such nonsense.

My take on the study is that many people take pain relieving drugs but skip the therapy and/or exercise to address their condition. So their condition doesn't really improve. Some people find exercise is more effective than pain reducing anti inflammatory medications. If they can power through they may improve without pain management meds. Me? I take the middle ground, I use pain reducing drugs in order to continue exercise when necessary. Only when necessary. Ibuprofen got me through not missing a day of riding with cracked ribs. It got me through shingles, twice. I am not generally a fan of taking drugs, even OTCs but when it becomes a choice of being able to keep moving or not, I'll take the medication to assist me. My doctor who knows I won't do the take it easy for several weeks thing has given me prescription strength Ibuprofen. If I am feeling achy at the end of the day, I find a single aspirin helps me sleep better by taking the edge off any minor discomforts. Tylenol does nothing for me and I hate taking opiates. Well except to be perfectly honest I used to like smoking Opium way, way back when I was young and felt invincible. ;-)