Allergic to Ti

ohiomotoxer
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2/13/2019 3:10pm Edited Date/Time 3/23/2019 12:51pm
A heads up to any of you planning to have joint replacement or spine stabilization
Have your Doctors first check you for titanium allergies.
As it turns out I just found out I am hypersensitive to my instrumentation (lumbar and cervical)

This means removing all my hardware....sighs

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ocscottie
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2/13/2019 4:51pm
Wow that is crazy man! Looking back now, i had the choice to have my hardware removed, but it would of been like a 3 month process of bedrest and healing time, i was young and wanted none of that! If only i knew the problems im now having later in life 30+ years later after all the abuse i put them through, i wish i would of done it.

I know that has nothing to do with your situation, but im wishing you the best in recovery!
ocscottie
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2/13/2019 4:56pm
btw: how long has your hardware been in there?
-MAVERICK-
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2/13/2019 5:14pm
Question, do you have any symptoms?

Just wondering because I have hardware in my back as well and would like to know if there's anything I should look out for. Thanks.
ohiomotoxer
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2/13/2019 6:18pm
The lumbar opp was in 2015 and immediately after I felt pain where the disc was placed for height ( I thought it was supposed to be cadaver bone, you can see the 2 vertical lines between the screws which is the metal disc.)
Since then I feel a sharp stabbing almost like grinding glass in that area, also the area is hot to the touch and constant pain.

The cervical opp was a year last Halloween.

Last summer I had trouble breathing, neck was swelled, went to my ENT Doc he had me do a barium swallow and an endoscope, all normal but I still had that choking feeling

This started a few weeks ago when I went in for a check up because I was having trouble breathing...again, felt like I was being choked, and I had a wheezing sound, almost like having bronchitis. Im talking wheezing sO bad it would wake you up at night it was THAT loud
My family Doc had my thyroid and nodules checked for any changes since the last check up, blood work, chest x ray no changes in thyroid but I still had that wheezing cough and felt strangled. also my BP was quite high 145/90 ish on ave.
There were some elevated areas in my blood test, this and the high BP was a sign my bodies immune system trying to fight off the foreign matter (titanium ) in me.

My family Doctor and ENT had zero experience with a person like me with ti hardware ( not their fault as the population in whole with new joints etc is relatively low) compared to the people they see every day.


Then while looking over some posts on a spine forum I came across people that had issues with titanium implants although the symptoms were more pronounced with skin rashes, the more I read the more I understood and it made sense.

My cervical plate and 6 screws were done via anterior or next to my trachea so I put 2 and 2 together. No neck swelling or wheezing before plates. neck and swelling after.

So I called my orthopedic who did the cervical and he immediately had me come in and he sent me to be tested for ti allergy...bingo.

Also a really good read and test is MELISA but not all insurance will cover the test
http://www.melisa.org/titanium/

So there it is ladies and gents.....

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The Shop

Jimmy638
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2/13/2019 8:49pm Edited Date/Time 2/13/2019 8:53pm
Real eye opener, Glad you figured it out, hope the new stuff they put in place is going to OK. So on top of taking out the hardware you have to stay away from all those things listed in your link aswell?
ohiomotoxer
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3/22/2019 4:46pm
Had my lumbar hardware removed today


ocscottie
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3/22/2019 5:37pm
Thats gnarly Ohio, imagine what this shit would look like:

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-MAVERICK-
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3/22/2019 5:45pm
^^^ What level is your injury Scottie and is that some type of wire I see in there? High tech twist ties lol.
ocscottie
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3/22/2019 5:52pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
^^^ What level is your injury Scottie and is that some type of wire I see in there? High tech twist ties lol.
T4-5, see the dark spot in the middle of the rods, the verts were practically gone.
ocscottie
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3/22/2019 5:55pm
...and to think we hired an outside surgeon who was the best in the area at the time (1985)
-MAVERICK-
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3/22/2019 6:39pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
^^^ What level is your injury Scottie and is that some type of wire I see in there? High tech twist ties lol.
ocscottie wrote:
T4-5, see the dark spot in the middle of the rods, the verts were practically gone.
We have pretty much the same level of injury. I'm T5-T6. I shattered my T6. I've got 2 rods and 6 screws.

I think I might have images on a disc somewhere. I'll have to look and see if I can find it and upload them.

Some days I'd really like to have the hardware removed because it bothers me but they won't do it unless it's constantly bothering me to the point that it hurts. From time to time I get sharp pain.
Jimmy638
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3/22/2019 7:03pm
Looks like mine OhioMXer, but mine are still in of course. Don't think i'm allergic but I do get sick time to time, prob cause I drink too much or don't eat right...Life is tuff enough without the BS let alone find out your allergic to the metal put in your body because of a injury. Like we say "Keep on Keepin ON!"


Not to Hijack the thread but Scottie blows everyone out of the water everytime this subject comes up with that horrible looking X-RAY. Me? I think Scottie is some sort of cyborg reecon project developed to infiltrate social media to gain access to the secret codes to bring them back to Galaxy 905.....or sum sheeit.

My Brother from another Mother, you know who I am..Keep it shining my friend, Heads up!

ohiomotoxer
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3/23/2019 7:41am
OMG Scottie!!!
Im sure you gat barometric readings as well as digital Tv

I can say that besides the reaction to the metal i am 100% better feeling wise. that stuff in there was tearing into something when i walked i felt it.
I can tell its not in there. I can also feel some nerve feeling back in my left leg. A short walk verifying muscles sore that have not been used in that leg
So double bonus!
ocscottie
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3/23/2019 10:15am
OMG Scottie!!! Im sure you gat barometric readings as well as digital Tv I can say that besides the reaction to the metal i am 100%...
OMG Scottie!!!
Im sure you gat barometric readings as well as digital Tv

I can say that besides the reaction to the metal i am 100% better feeling wise. that stuff in there was tearing into something when i walked i felt it.
I can tell its not in there. I can also feel some nerve feeling back in my left leg. A short walk verifying muscles sore that have not been used in that leg
So double bonus!
If i knew what i know now, i would of had them removed. After 34 years, and only being 15 when i got hurt...i put my body through some gnarly abuse, from jumping my chair down flights of stairs, to all my off road racing.

What is going on now that is a real big issue, the two vertebrae below the rods are just about GONE! My xray now is about 20 times worse, the rods are fine, its those 2 verts below them that are just worn out from holding up those rods. But having them removed is not an option anymore, there is just too much bone growth around them. Long story short...im fucked! Dizzy

That xray of my "FrankenSpine" is pretty gnarly though, in all my years i have never seen fucking bailing wire to hold a set of rods in. Good ole 1985 technology.
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shuggs
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3/23/2019 11:50am
Scottie words fail me looking at your X-ray, it looks totally out there.

Some things about medicine fascinated me -
1. who in their right mind thought that this would work
2. How much convincing did they have to do on patient???

I could go on about other things too
plowboy
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3/23/2019 12:51pm
Every time I start to snivel about my aches and pains...I am reminded about Ohio and Scottie. I'm a whiney ass'd sissy. You guys are studs. God bless you and your travails.
KDXGarage
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3/24/2019 2:16am
Man. Good luck to you all!

Thanks for the heads up on the titanium.
JRT812
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3/24/2019 4:58am
plowboy wrote:
Every time I start to snivel about my aches and pains...I am reminded about Ohio and Scottie. I'm a whiney ass'd sissy. You guys are studs...
Every time I start to snivel about my aches and pains...I am reminded about Ohio and Scottie. I'm a whiney ass'd sissy. You guys are studs. God bless you and your travails.
Yup. Woke up this morning and my back was hurting from work. Time to stop being a little bitch JRT bro is what I told myself after seeing those pics

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