I'm 60 and suffered a spontaneous fracture

Posted , 12 users are following.

Hi I'm 60 and suffered a spontaneous fracture at T10. Since been diagnosed as advanced OS in my spine, hips not so bad. Haven't coped well with the alendronic acid so my consultant says I can have an annual injection instead. I just wondered if any one has this injection and if it makes you feel ill as I'm still in so much pain I really don't want to be gagging and dizzy as well 😕

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  • Posted

    I have been diagnosed Osteoparosis .. also have Ankylosing Spondylitis .. No one has actually gave me a read out about spine /hips (T) ?   just showed me a red line going up my spine .. said i need to act now..( ie. if i fracture i would die) put fear into me...  Yearly Injections..suggested ...  just trying to find out how safe..  

    Im not happy bunny at moment....73 and scared... like you Rosalind hope to find some good results quick..  

    • Posted

      Pat, you need to find out what the t-scores are.  At least then you will know better where you stand and can make a more informed decision.  If you do opt for medication please also do everything you can to develop natural bone health.  That can only help you.  If you opt for the totally natural way one thing you could do is learn ways to guard your spine.  It takes months, even years, for new bone to be laid down.  The meds aren't that quick either, they can't be.  But the gratest risk for fracture is falling, not bone density, so improving your sense of balance is a good idea (Nordic walking, tai chi, the right kinds of yoga or Pilates), and a physiotherapist can demonstrate ways you can move your body to avoid the forward bends which risk compression fractures.

      Studies have shown that natural means can improve bone density.  I myself am proof of that, and I'm not alone.  I've improved from -2 to -1.5 in one year, in spite of being on prednisone, over half the year at a level which can affect the bones.  All through appropriate exercise, nutrition and supplements.  smile

    • Posted

      typos - greatest

      bone density improved from -2 to -1.6

    • Posted

      Hi Anhaga.. Thank you for your reply.. sounds encouraging.. .. This morning i will try and get back to the hospital.. and ASK for the t-scores.. Shame really have to ask for any slightest bit of info.. Not given as a matter of course.. 

      I have noticed a class starting Pilates next week.. 

      My husband found this site. He is a Homeopath and has kept me going for yrs.. So good to find people same as myself.. and willing to share ..

      Thank you..biggrin

    • Posted

      In my area the doctor is only sent a summary which gives you your risk level.  For my first scan my doctor interpreted the summary to mean that I had osteoporosis and said I should take AA.  By then I'd done quite a bit of reading.  Iit was I who had asked for the scan and my GP actually said when I was so shocked at the result that one should be careful what one wished for.  Can you believe it?  Ignorance of a serious condition better than knowledge?  Anyway I refused, although some time later she had just been to an osteoporosis workshop and was really pressuring me.  I felt the medications were just too risky.  However I had a devil of a time getting my actual t-score.  Eventually I found out who I had to talk to and had an amusing phone conversation with her, she saying that she would have to get permission to release the results because of patient confidentiality and me laughing and saying, but I'm the patient!  Anyway she called back a few hours later and gave me number for femoral neck, which turned out to be osteopenia, not osteoporosis.  It took more than a year, and after a second scan, before I finally got the complete results including many for the spine (which were all relatively good).  That day I learned I wasn't about to fall apart was interesting as I went around feeling lighter and lighter.  It had been two months since the mistaken declaration I had OP and I must have been sunk into an even deeper depression thatn I realized.  But it doesn't really matter what the t-score was.  I was never going to take the medications.  Recovering from full-blown OP would take longer, but I was always going to try the natural way.  And I'm really glad I did.  I am not going to slack off, and if I'm still alive and kicking in a few years when I'm due for another scan I shall be very keen to see how I've done.

    • Posted

      Oh, if they hadn't given me the result my alternative would have been to pay a fee and go through freedom of information but as we have the legal right to all our medical records including test results I didn't like that idea.

    • Posted

      Well Anhaga.. 1 month ago i said i would try and find my T scores....  what a fiasco..  I rand the hospital..( special no.)  NO ANSWER..and again!!  then one evening had a lady ring.. said what would i like to know..  I asked her for my scores..She  said couldn't understand them  herself..and asked  who gave me this no.. // I gave her a name...  she said K.

      had left ..or  on holiday... Had  good chat about my fears about the yearly injection..  while she was friendly .. it was just lip service with no info about anything; So im afraid im no futhur forward... Still got backache..  Doing Acupunture... helps.. every six weeks.. So our search goes on..

      Just feel so intimidated at the hospital to do the injection.. .. .. 

    • Posted

      So can your doctor, the one who ordered the scan, get the scores for you?  Here my doctor would have to call the imaging department and ask that the complete report be mailed to her.  Or in some cases the doctors are set up to access the electronic portal and then there is no problem at all.
    • Posted

      Looks like im going to have to do this.. ( were told the Drs are so busy) when i go there to book an appt. no Drs seem to be there.. nurses busy .. appts staff busy ..  but will have to do it.. Although it is forcing me to help myself.. doing raw foods .. Veg.. fruit ... 
    • Posted

      It really is the limit, isn't it?  I don't know why it's so hard in some places to get one's hands on one's test results.  Where do you live?  I've been having my access problems in Nova Scotia.  But "they" are working on fixing this, although probably not for a few years, so all patients will have electronic access to all their test results.  Many already do but my dr isn't keenon signing up.  I think she is, justifialbly, worried about the time it may take for her.

      I had a very amusing conversation when I called the right person at the hospital and she told me she couldn't tell me anything because of patient confidentiality.  We both bust into laughter when I pointed out the obvious, "But I'm the patient!" but she still had to get permission to release only one part of the results to me!rolleyes

    • Posted

      I want an edit button  

       

  • Posted

    Hi Rosalind..   Im just trying to decide wether to have the annual injection... not much being said about it.. so hard with it being yearly.. I was not told about the t-scores.. so before i say YES..   i really need to see how bad my spine is... 

    The Dr. at the hospital painted a dreadful (put fear into me) picture IF I DID NOT HAVE THE INJECTION!)  I have resisted so far.... felt abit like bullying.. 

    so far with the help of sharing on here..  have got to find out how bad the spine really is... ( maybe the Dr. is on a bonus!!!  putting most of us on injections!  cry

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