MDS: Symptom, Imagination or Side Effect?

Lately I'm itching a lot. More than usual, it seems to me. And two little pimple-like bumps have appeared, one on each arm near the area where the needles go in. Add some other phenomena and symptoms that appear sporadically—like small insect bite-like red marks on my ankle—and I find myself frequently wondering:

• Is this a medication side effect?
• An MDS symptom?
• Something perfectly ordinary?
• My imagination?

This uncertainty adds to the MDS perplexity. There are, after all, several known side effects of the meds being administered...

• nausea from the Vidaza
• constipation from the Zofran that counters the nausea
• diarrhea from the laxative that counters the constipation
• skin irritation and shot-site itching from the Vidaza injections
• general fatigue during the shot cycle.
  

Is it a curiosity, then, that any little symptom or physical manifestation causes me to wonder?

Lately it seems to me that my hair is thinning. Is it, really? After all, Vidaza is a form of chemotherapy, and chemo causes hair loss.

Lets' say it is thinning. Is that because of Vidaza or ordinary ageing?

Or is it not thinning?

My delightful spouse says it's not thinning. The hairline is merely receding in a normal fashion for a 61 year-old. Since she's the one who cuts my hair, we must give her opinion a certain validity. She knows the strands up-close-and-personal.

But, every time I brush it, I see less hair there.

On some level, I don't really care. Being bald wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen. (Although I'd be tempted to start shaving my head, which makes absolutely no sense; I haven't shaved my beard in 40-plus years on the grounds that it's too much hassle.)

But, it's the not knowing if this thinning hair is a side effect, a symptom or imaginary that bugs me. Or the

• itching
• pimply-bumps
• red marks
• diminished appetite
• sore feet
• memory lapses
• infant-like crankiness when tired
• generalized despair at sports results
• or a nearly uncontrolled urge to eat nothing but sweets.

Inquiring minds wanna know.