DISH (diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis) or Forestier's

Thank you for your reply. I am just curious. I am a female who has been single my whole life and has done a lot of lugging and lifting to take care of two homes. Even though I am overweight, I have been very active. I’ve been overweight since I was a child. My father side of the family the females tend to be bigger.
Yes. Diabetes was on my mom side but she did not have it. She can eat sugar all day long and her BG will still be fine. she’s 88 years old and never had a problem.
Again, I thank you for your reply and yes, dish is definitely in less females than males. Maybe the lugging and lifting is why it happens to us females.

D.I.S.H. Is a disease that has no mercy. I have bone spurs everywhere,bone forming over bone at past surgery replacing hip, pain on a scale from 4-to the moon and back. It is not just a spinal disease, it IS painful, no cure. Have had both hips replaced , 3 times on left once on right, lumbar surgery, thoracic surgery, needing cervical surgery. I am trying to hang on for surgery at Mayo in Rochester.. got China virus thanks to my caretaker husband. He has been doing for me since November, and has reached his nerve end, so from hospital in town where we live will be going to rehab. Anyone else out there have this?

I am so sorry to hear everything that you are going through. I do live in pain every day and my usual pain level is about a four or five. Once in a great while I’ll be surprised, and it will be a little less but when it goes worse, it just seems unbearable. I have not had any surgeries yet because of it but I think I may be getting close. And I feel like winter where I am or not helpful but I think it’s really just just the disease.
I will certainly say prayers for you as, it makes me so upset that so much of the literature I have read they say that it’s a little pain. If it wasn’t for this website and one other that I had been on, I would never have known that others are in such pain.
There is one other patient at my pain management clinic that has dish. He and I have talked and he said that his is a little better with some weight loss. I have been heavy since I’ve been a toddler and when I did lose weight in my mid 30s, it was a second job , it took not just Weight Watchers but it also was a lot of blood sweat and tears in the gym every day for hours for 5 yrs. . Of course now looking back a lot of that plus all the regular things that I have done to take care of my own home have probably all combined to tear my joints & body apart. Even though I only found out about this a few years ago, I knew something was going on. Even when I was 40 years old and went to the spine specialist he asked me how old I was. I told him you have the chart in front of you, and he said, it says you’re 40 years old. And I said I am, he said your spine tells me you’re significantly older. And that And he said, it says you’re 40 years old. And I said I am he said your spine tells me your significantly older. And that was 16 years ago. I had to give up playing golf a few years ago.
But I do need to get back into the pool even just to move around a bit. I used to swim laps at the local Y. But now it’ll just be a little aqua, jogging and stretches and maybe some deep water walking. But I don’t feel like the future is going to be great for me as far as my body goes. I will continue to pray for all of us for some pain relief. 🙏❤️‍🩹

I’m 76 pushing 77. I’ve been diagnosed some 2 years ago, I’m assuming I’ve been DISHED for numerous years prior to being diagnosed?? My arms and back are prone to “attacks” several times a week however bed and heating pads allow me to be back in several hours. Every day I take 3 X 50gm Tramadol, quick release all at once in the morning. Oh yeah, for my further enjoyment I’ve got a hiatal hernia awaiting consultation with a surgeon. My journey seems extremely mild to what I’ve been reading here.

Gary, I’m very glad that yours has been fairly mild compared to some of us. But it is obviously still painful and I do find that heating ads are my friend in the morning when I get up before work, and in the evening when I watch a little TV before bed. I also have a heated mattress pad and during the winter time I sleep on that very low level but it just helps take a little of the edge off. Unfortunately, I can’t take tramadol because it makes me sick like the opiates. The only radiologic confirmation, I have is my back has bone spurs, stenosis, and bulging disc. My shoulders have severe osteoarthritis, and one shoulder and moderate in the left, and both of them have bones spurs. I assume that I could possibly have them in my elbows, feels like a tendinitis in both elbows. I have epidural and radiofrequency ablation and steroid blocks in my back and shoulders. My hips do bother me, but they are both mild osteoarthritis at this point.
Again, I will be thinking of all of you during all of our painful journeys. Anything anybody has to add that can make any of our lives a little easier, is welcomed.🙏❤️‍🩹

I too have been diagnosed for years 2012 with D.I.S.H. most likely had it many years prior. I’m now disabled after 8 back surgeries. Spine surgeon wants to do more but I’m tired. The way I understand it, dish causes extra bone growth at areas where you have had injury or surgery. Multiple kidney stones to the tune of 34 of them. They say stretching doesn’t make it better, I’ve had over 4 years of physical therapy no help every year there’s more. I’ve been on gabapentin for years and it really does not help no more. At least I can walk again.

I was diagnosed with DISH last week. I'm 69 years old and have had the precursors to this condition since I was young. I always had a burning sensation is my mid-thoracic area until I received 10 Structural Integration sessions. After session 6, I remember finishing my day at work and noting that my back did not hurt. That was in 1990 and it hasn't hurt in that way ever since. What prompted me to go to the doctor recently was pain in my left arm coming from a nerve compression at C5-C6. I actually became a Structural Integration practitioner because of my positive experience 24 years ago. The things I have learned about the importance of a balanced structure and bone biology, I believe has kept me going for all these years. I started practicing Dr Rolf's arm rotations (which I had forgotten about) and had a 40% reduction in arm pain within an hour after doing them. My doctor said whatever you are doing, keep doing it. It seems to help. Also, you should walk 2-3 miles a day to help develop core strength. I am not in the habit of walking myself, despite my telling clients how important it can be. Now, I have been walking more and can feel the changes. I feel more supported. Loss of core and leg strength happens so gradually that we don't even notice it until it is too late. Once we lose it, there is a cascading series of events that start to occur. Knees, hips and LB start to bother us. So, keep up a walking habit and if this site allows, I will share the arm rotations with you. Peace and be well.

Thank you very much for your update. I have lost a lot of strength in my legs. And I feel like every joint in my body is affected by this disease. I think I need to try to strengthen as much as I can but with increasing tendinitis, which can be awful with this disease, it does make it hard. I went through a major weight loss in my mid 30s and I was the exercise queen. I like to think that I still have good core strength but it’s leg strength that I am losing. I still work full-time and I think I want to retire early because of how I feel with this disease. I will have to look up this type of exercise that you teach. If it’s something that I can incorporate, I want to enjoy some of my retirement and not spend it in a wheelchair. Thank you for letting all of us know there may be something that we can do to improve our physical lives. We all have this disease to a different extent and not everybody will be able to do things to help themselves. Up until a few years ago, I was golfing. Now I can’t do that. It’s scaring me how it’s become so much harder to do things. Because I live alone, it’s even scarier. Right now, both of my rotator cuffs are in bad shape. So not sure what I might be looking forward to soon. Praying for everybody who has this disease!🙏

Hello, I have DISH Disease; also known as Forestier’s Disease and I would be Incredibly Grateful to connect with ANYONE else who has it!
Thank you!

@badtothebone81 I just wanted to welcome you to Connect. I am a spine patient and I don’t have DISH, but I was curious about your maintenance routine to maintain your health. What are your pearls of wisdom?