Connect
← Return to Spinal steroid injections
Discussion
Comment receiving replies
@marlenec Clearly over time and having frequent steroid injections can’t be good for any of us as they tend to weaken bones, so it’s a catch 22 really. My bone density has been low, but I take Premarin which I believe has helped. Taking thyroid medication increases the likelihood of one of the osteo conditions so what’s a person to do? I take 75 mcg of levothyroxine daily for hypothyroid. ( since age 18). And then if you take bone strengthening medicine that becomes problematic for dental implants!! I will have steroid injections till I have no other choices. I’m a type A personality so if I rest - I rust. I guess that has held me in good stead as moving is good. Teaching K and 1 for 43 years kept me moving as well, although admittedly I wear a large brace with those metal stays to hold me together when I am in a lot of pain. Medical marijuana helps with pain. I am
not a party kind of gal, so my card expired. I tried it twice. Since I have 10 children I didn’t want to have to explain that - although I am sure they would have been fine with it. Everything in moderation is probably ok, so I think infrequent steroid shots are not too problematic. I would say to explore all options before having a fusion. Even nerve ablation is a thought. Seriously, this growing up thing is highly overrated! 🙂 irene5
Replies to "@marlenec Clearly over time and having frequent steroid injections can’t be good for any of us..."
Irene, I was interested in what you said about bone density and thyroid medications, and bone building drugs with dental implants. I found a few articles that explain the relationships. It seems that with thyroid medications (either synthetic or natural) they must be optimal doses and that changes with a patient's age, and not an overdose because an overdose increases the activity of the cells that break down bone. That is balanced against the cells that build bone which allows the body to heal and replace bone over time. Too much thyroid hormone tends to tip the scales toward lesser bone density.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00198-017-3981-8
The article about bone building drugs and dental implants seems to be focused on failure rates of implants of patients who are already taking the biphosphonate drugs. I'm curious about what applies to patients who get dental implants, and later in life need the biphosphonates to treat osteoporosis, and if that is an increased risk? In other words, is it the healing phase after oral surgery and dental implant placement that has the greatest risk with these drugs? I wonder what other medications could also affect this situation and add to the risk. These are good questions to ask if you are older and on common medications to treat various conditions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5005105/
I do have dental implants, and do take thyroid medication for hypothyroid. My mother has severe osteoporosis and is on medication for that. My doctor does monitor and test thyroid hormone levels and is doing a bone scan. I also take bioidentical estrogen and progesterone replacement which does help for retaining bone density. Thanks for your post. I learned something today!
Jennifer
Connect
I’m on the same dosage of levothyroxine - have been since 1996 when half my thyroid gland was removed. I know that med isn’t great for bones either. Had been on Premarin but stopped during the pandemic - just resumed and I never thought about the effect that may have on bones. I get PT and acupuncture and those seem to help.