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← Return to Cobalt levels in blood
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Hello, have you been told you have metal-on-metal hip implants? Has anyone explained the potential effect of cobalt metalosis on your body long-term?
If your levels continue to increase, surgery is the only option. Chronic high cobalt levels can affect the heart, kidneys, live, nervous system, thyroid, and the tissues surrounding the implant.
Maybe it would help to have baseline Thyroid, liver and kidney panels drawn to see if any functions are being affected. Also, imaging of the hip area to see if there is evidence of tissue breakdown. If things still look okay, maybe it is okay to wait a year and compare not only the cobalt levels but all of the functional blood tests as well.
As a cautionary tale, I had 2 metal-on-metal hip implants, my levels were high in October, but the surgeon told me it would be fine to wait until spring for revision surgery. By April, I had hyperthyroid, tremors, a rapid heartbeat, was losing weight and my hair, and had a lot of tissue damage. It took a long time to recover - not from the surgery, but from the side effects, and I was left with a permanent tremor & rapid heartbeat. There are still grooves in both thighs where a huge a mount of dying tissue had to be removed, and my muscles never fully recovered there.
The revision surgery was easier than the original - they typically do not remove the stem in the femur or the acetabular cup, they just replace the ball & the cup liner. So you only need to wait for the tissues to heal, not for the bones and implants to grow together.
Why are you avoiding revision surgery?
Replies to "Hello, have you been told you have metal-on-metal hip implants? Has anyone explained the potential effect..."
Also, your explanation of recovery time was extremely helpful.
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Yes, I have a metal in metal hip. I do get an x-ray once a year to take a look at it. I will do that pretty soon. The reason I am avoiding revision surgery is because it takes me out of action for several months. My leg muscles atrophy and I can’t dance. Just so happens that I dance professionally outside of my Regular occupation.
What were your levels when you started having those symptoms? I have no symptoms and there’s no deterioration in the joint from what we’ve seen so far. I know it’s getting a little loose cause it’s clicking a little bit when I do certain yoga moves. You see dancing yoga are a huge part of my life.