In traditional Chinese medicine, multiple myeloma belongs to the category of "lumbago", "heumatism" or "consumptive disease".  The disease is cused by the
Six Evils (wind, cold, heat, damp, dryness, fire), diet, emotions, sexual strain, resulting in imbalance of Yin and Yang, disorders of Qi and Blood. At early stage, the symptoms of multiple myeloma are not obvious, some even have no self-conscious symptom. Clinically, symptoms of multiple myeloma can be seen as follows:
1. Skeleton pain: This is the main symptom of the disease. Pain degree is from light to heavy. As the state of an illness progresses, the pain will become a continuous severe pain.  

2. Bone mass: The mass can be seen in the areas of flat bone, sternum, ribs, skull, lower jawbone.

3. Fever: patients may have fever of varying degrees, which is caused by immunodeficiency and infections.

4. Anemia: 1/3 patients with multiple myeloma have dizziness, palpitation, fatigue, weight loss.
 
5. Haemorrhage: Some patients may have bleeding in digestive tract, gum, nasal cavity, or skin.
 
6. At late stage, patients may have nausea, vomit, abdominal pain and diarrhea, cough, shortness of breath, paraplegia, and gatism.
 

Symptoms of Multiple Myeloma in western medicine
You may not have any symptoms at first. As this cancer develops and plasma cells build up, though, you might have:
1) Bone pain is a common symptom. Myeloma cells grow in the bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside of the bone, and cause local bone damage or generalized thinning of the bone, called osteoporosis. This makes the bone more likely to break. The back or ribs are the most common sites of bone pain, but any bone can be affected. Pain is usually worse with movement and at night. If cancer is in the spine, the vertebrae (the individual bones that make up the spine) can collapse, which is known as a compression fracture. In advanced multiple myeloma, a patient may lose inches from his or her height due to compressed vertebrae.

2) Weight loss, nausea, thirst, muscle weakness, and mental confusion symptoms are related to kidney failure, hypercalcemia, or other imbalances in blood chemicals.

3) Fever and infections, especially of the upper respiratory tract and lungs. Patients with myeloma have lower immunity, making it harder to fight infection.

4) Blood clots, nosebleeds, bleeding gums, bruising, and hazy vision caused by hyperviscosity, which is thickened blood, or low platelets.

5) Anemia is a low level of red blood cells, which happens when myeloma plasma cells suppress or crowd out healthy red blood cells.

6) Fatigue is usually caused by anemia and occurs in most people with myeloma.

7) Pain, numbness and weakness can happen sometime when collapse of the vertebra pushes against the spinal cord or pinches a nerve root coming out of the spine.

8) Kidney damage or failure may occur when the "M protein" produced by the myeloma cells clog up the kidney filter.

9) Hypercalcemia, resulting in symptoms of drowsiness, constipation, and kidney damage. Hypercalcemia is a high level of calcium in the blood that can occur as a result of bone breakdown.