Hi all, Remember my sister who is still in the hospital for the past 9 days from what they THOUGHT was only pluersy? Well turns out the pluersy is a bit better so did MRI this morning and saw a compressed fracture on her spine!!! She was in so much pain they figured something else was going on and boy were they right. Poor thing! She had a procedure this afternoon where they stick a BIG needle in your spine and inject a gel like substance that hardens like bone and fuses the vertebra. They think it was caused by the high dosage of Pred. because she's only had the RA for 11 mos. Thankfully though her pain level is SOOOOOOOOO much less already! She can even breathe better because it doesn't hurt her so. The Drs. hope to move her to rehab hospital by Monday. Please keep her in your prayers. Also she's down to 20mgs of pred. today. YEAH!!! Thanks for listening, Genesis
Genesis, I'm so happy that they found out the cause of the pain. Sometimes the medical community overlooks the pain but it sounds like her physicians took her pain seriously.
This happens with high doses of Pred. I have 7% bone loss in one year because of Pred. What a wake up call for me and my RD. I'm now tapering and am at 9mg.
I hope that everyone who is on Pred. are getting bone density studies to monitor bone loss progress.
Take care, you're a great sister. Want to adopt me? There have been times in this journey that I could have used a sister but I'm lucky because I have some great gal pals. Keep us posted.
Thanks Lin and sure I'll adopt ya lol.I only have 4 sisters now and could use another. WE lost our oldest 3 yrs. ago to heart diseaseSorry Lin, didn't mean to scare you about the MTX, but Barb is 67 and was on MTX and Humira at the same time. I'm not sure of the dosage but I know it was almost maximum allowed. She developed what her Pulminologist called RA Lung. The Dr. said it could have come from the disease itself since she was attacked so violently with it from the onset 11 mos. ago. But wouldn't rule out the MTX as a cause since lung probs. are a known side effect. She also has permanent esophageal damage from it. She's on Remicade now but her lungs are no better I'm sorry to say. Yes the pred. dose has been awfully high and 20mgs is too, but she just can't breathe without it. Just keep a close check on yourself and report to Dr. any unusual signs you may have. Many people on here love the MTX and don't seem to have the same side effects so I'm sure you'll be OK. Hope this helps..... GenesisI found that I had two compression fracures in my thorasic spine and I am not sure what the cause was. I have been diagnosed with Ra for three years.I have not been on any pred. The fractures were found about the same time I was diagnosed. I'm sure i had RA for a year or two before that.Thanks Cathy and how horrible for you!!! Those discs didn't degenerate overnight now did they???? It's awful to be at the mercy of Drs. and meds. for this or any other horrid disease!!! I had triple by-pass surgery following a heart attack 2 and 1/2 yrs ago at 50 yrs old!!! Seems like younger people are getting what used to be considered "old people" diseases more and more earlier in life . Go figure.... GenesisHi Genesis, yes I have had two fractures now in my metatarsals from pred use and my orthopaedic surgeon reckons the osteoporosis drugs will not fix the problem as the damage is already done. I have been on pred for 7 years and the doses ranged from 37.5mg to 10 mg, currently on 10mg and heaps of steroid shots too. Hope this helps, Janie. Hope your sister is ok, this is an awful disease and this is a great forum for support.Genesis.....I hope your sister is feeling better verrrrrry soooon! Your family is in my prayers. I pray she gets some relief. I also have 4 sisters. Luckily mine are all alive and well.
Love your screen name!
HMMM this is makin me think...Before i was dxd w/ RA i was dxd w/ 2 degenerative discs in my L-spine....but i wasnt on any pred except maybe an ocassional pred for my asthma but nothing that can remember. I wonder what kind of corolation that is w/ the RA..Could it have been RA all along? Ok i know that this has nothingto do w/ the thread but it might i dunno but i know ill forget it if i were to start a new post
Genesis-- Thanks
About 9 years ago I had a disc fusion in my neck, and recently found that I have 2 ruptered discs in my neck and 2 in my lower spine RA though I should have surgery, but neurologist said he did not believe it would improve things)
But anyway, about a year ago I found out that I had a fractured toe-but didn't have an actual injury. We think is was the pred (20-40 mg/day)
Was finally able to get off for about 4 months (& lost 20 lbs-which is now back!), but had to start taking about 40/day again recently. Trying to taper off now.
It's really scary how it can destroy your bones.
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