Re: Erosion from Prednisone

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The last bone density I had, the tech said, everything looked fine. I had a previous one almost three years ago and it was fine. At my RDs visit, he showed me a picture of my spine and my hips. There were red dots everywhere, which means my hips and spine are eroded. I am taking actonel which I seem to tolerate well. I dont drink much milk but try to eat cheese or cream cheese or a milkshake or icecream every night. I take a multi vitamin with D in it so I really "get it" about how badly damaging Prednisone is. It seems my body is just deteriorating before my eyes. I have an inch in height and I am only 44. Good luck with the cortisone. Still, I would be nervous about doing anything until that fracture heals. You are in my prayers, Deborah

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----- Original Message -----

From: dbargad@...

>The last bone density I had, the tech said, everything looked fine. I had a previous one almost three years ago and it was fine. At my RDs visit, he showed me a picture of my spine and my hips. There were red dots everywhere, which means my hips and spine are eroded.

The last bone density test I had was in 1999 and everything was fine. Now I've lost nearly two inches and my bones look like swiss cheese. On a scale of good to urgent, I am way past urgent.

> I am taking actonel which I seem to tolerate well. I dont drink much milk but try to eat cheese or cream cheese or a milkshake or icecream every night. I take a multi vitamin with D in it so I really "get it" about how badly damaging Prednisone is. It seems my body is just deteriorating before my eyes. I have an inch in height and I am only 44. Good luck with the cortisone. Still, I would be nervous about doing anything until that fracture heals. You are in my prayers, Deborah I drink lots of milk, but that is not enough. I have lost about two inches. I have to do the cortisone injection, otherwise the fracture will not heal. They have to get some of the inflammation out of there in order for it to try to heal itself. They put me on Actonel, but that was in late Feb. and I started the massive doses of prednisone last August. My PCP should have put me on it when he started the prednisone.

I would let them cut me open without anesthesia if I thought it would stop this pain. There's no way to describe how bad it is (I usually deal with pain pretty well). I can tell you that I had a breech baby with no epidural and no pain killers and it did not hurt this much!

Nina

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Dear Nina- Back Pain is the worst thing in the world. I do have some great news though. My boyfriends mother is 88 years old. She fell a year ago and broke five ribs and was in and out of the hospital and rehab for six months before she was sent home. She started to experience severe back pain. It was so severe that she couldnt sit and barely stand. She has a pace maker so they couldnt do certain diagnostic tests. The Doctor said she had Osteo in her spine which at 88 is natural. Now the Test she did have showed it in a specific disk. She got a shot of cortisone, so I am thinking maybe the doctor suspected a fracture there? Anyway- if took a few months but after a succession of the shots she is doing so much better. Take heart, I know they worked for her, and she is still getting them on a regular basis. Also, do look into synvisc, which they can inject into the joint. I dont know if its just for knees or not. Are they sure its just a fracture. If its a herniation, thats hard enough but the pain you are describing sounds more consistent with a potential rupture. Make sure you know. You are in my prayers, Deborah

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----- Original Message -----

From: dbargad@...

> Are they sure its just a fracture. If its a herniation, thats hard enough but the pain you are describing sounds more consistent with a potential rupture. Make sure you know. You are in my prayers, Deborah

It is both. He found a herniated disk in the same area, but suspects it is older and incidental to the pain. He also found a fracture. He says the severe pain is from the fracture. Last night was horrid. My husband wanted to take me to the ER, but I took some of the Ultram my PCP gave me and sat up with a heating pad.

Nina

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If it is a ruptured disk, those need to be operated on I thought. My mom had two that exploded from them doing a certain medical test. They got the best back surgeon at the time, a Dr. Paley to do the surgery. They were sure she would never walk again, but after ten hours picking bone frags out of her back but with rehab, she was able to walk and do everything she used to. you would never know she ever had a problem. I hope they can do an non invasive surgery. I am so sorry for your pain honey, usually Ice will help relieve swelling. You wake up in pain and go to sleep in pain. I hope they can do it soon. Good luck and email me anytime off board if youd like. Check your email, I will be sending you a little something!!!!!!!!! Deborah

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----- Original Message ----- From: dbargad@...

> If it is a ruptured disk, those need to be operated on I thought.

Here's an article on herniated disks (which I have). Got it from my spine doc's website: http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article43.html

And here's one on compression fractures, which is what I have (almost always caused by osteoporosis):

http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarticle.php/article323.html

Nina