allergic reaction to bone cement

My story is a little bit different. I received metal on metal hips in my 50's and they were never "right". 4 years later, I was told at my annual ortho check that I needed to be tested for heavy metals in my blood.

I had very high levels which were causing lots of problems including metallosis, tissue destruction, hair and weight loss etc. I had complete hip revisions- new balls an sockets, over a year of recovery. Not fun, but 10 years later all is well.

I have been taking antihistamines for over 50 years for many allergies and I'm still hanging in there.

If I were in your position, unless there was evidence of bone loss, tissue destruction or outright rejection, my choice would be to watch and wait. Revision surgery is not something that you take lightly.

Let me know what you decide?
Sue

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Sue- For heavy metals you can have your blood chelated by a doctor of do it naturally.
Allergies raise ones internal inflammation. What you are saying about antihistamines makes sense. I am an allergic person, developing many allergies to elements, even natural like metals and rubber in middle age. I also developed several allergic forms of eczema. Out of desperation a fellow Mayo blogger told us about fellow suffers of one of my forms of eczema, Grover's Disease, GD doing a heavy metal detox using cilantro. GD is chronic, coming and going with no know treatment of relief from the rash, pain and itching.
Heavy metals are now being tied in to Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and GD. If allergic to heavy metals your histamine level is elevated. This sounds crazy, but our Mayo Connect GD group tried this and about 50% of are free of GD today, I am one of them after dealing with it for years. Cilantro is a natural way to detox the heavy metals. It could tied to GD, but perhaps it is a way to detox other allergens form Bone Cement.
I also have knee issues and because of blood testing learned of my metal allergies.
I cancelled my forthcoming scheduled knee replacement due to blood test results to metals.
Go to the Mayo Connect GD site and read around mid Feb 2019 to a post by Kimass1 who first mentions the benefits of cilantro she read about on an earth clinic site and our progress can be followed.
You may be handling this implant better, yet if you have not done so already why not get rid of your heavy metal build up and possibly this could help with future rejection.

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Thanks for the information regarding cilantro - I don't use it as a supplement, but it is a regular part of my diet, which is rich in fresh vegetables and herbs, and leans heavily to Northern Mexican foods using it. I will look into the concept of using as a supplement. I'll also take a look at the GD discussion you recommended.

As for the heavy metals, the culprits are no longer evident in my blood, having been eliminated using other supplement and medications within one year of my surgeries 10 years ago.

I know keeping histamines well under control by avoiding allergens (pretty hard for me) and using antihistamines is important in controlling the inflammation in my body - both arthritis and an overactive inflammatory response.

I do hope you eventually find a way to deal with your knee pain beyond steroids, are any of the other injection therapies a possibility for you?
Sue

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So glad you've eliminated your heavy metals, I have read that oregano is also helpful in doing that. Would you share what other supplements you used? Also tell us which antihistamines benefited you the most.
The future for my knees is not bright, but I feel good today and am grateful. I am blessed that my knee pain is only evident when I do certain activates like stairs or getting off the ground, deep bends, yet otherwise I have always felt good. I can walk on level ground all day, even even on grades, it's the bending. If I got knee replacements and I rejected then I would be dealing with 24/7 pain. So at this point I consider myself lucky.

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Did you find somewhere to get tested for allergies? This happened with my knee replacement. I had to have the hardware removed and revised with a " press fit" as I am newly allergic to bone cement. Please get tested.
Let us know what you find out.

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Thanks for the information regarding cilantro - I don't use it as a supplement, but it is a regular part of my diet, which is rich in fresh vegetables and herbs, and leans heavily to Northern Mexican foods using it. I will look into the concept of using as a supplement. I'll also take a look at the GD discussion you recommended.

As for the heavy metals, the culprits are no longer evident in my blood, having been eliminated using other supplement and medications within one year of my surgeries 10 years ago.

I know keeping histamines well under control by avoiding allergens (pretty hard for me) and using antihistamines is important in controlling the inflammation in my body - both arthritis and an overactive inflammatory response.

I do hope you eventually find a way to deal with your knee pain beyond steroids, are any of the other injection therapies a possibility for you?
Sue

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@sueinmn @gardeningjunkie I haven't had a great relationship with metals in my body either. I had some very old dental work with root canals, crowns and bridges that had been affecting my health. A root canal failed, and then another, and I made the decision to extract the teeth and get zirconium dental implants with a zirconium bridge to replace that. As soon as the 4 teeth involved were extracted, my asthma improved dramatically and I realized how much inflammation that was producing in my body. For the first time, I had no metals and my silver dental fillings had been replaced with safer resin composites by a biological dentist several years earlier, (but they had also cause autoimmune thyroid issues according to my doctor).

My metal free existence lasted for a few moths until I broke my ankle and received titanium plates and screws, and my asthma got worse again. 6 months after my ankle surgery, I developed chronic hives and I have to keep taking antihistamines or it comes back with large patches of welts on my arms, thighs or belly, or anywhere there is contact pressure like a crease in clothing. I have had pain and itching on my ankle, and I want to have the hardware removed. My surgeon said I had to wait a year for that, and the time is up, but I'm enjoying the summer and don't want to miss out during good weather. Taking antihistamines all the time dries out my mouth and lead to some dental cavities.

I have been a patient of an environmental allergy doctor and learned a lot about my health from him. He told me about the practice of Dr. Rea that pioneered the field which is the Environmental Health Center in Dallas. They do have some protocols for treating immune responses to implants, but I don't have experience with that. They are a resource for physicians and sell medical research volumes. Their website is https://www.ehcd.com/

There is also a provider search at https://www.aaemonline.org/. The blue button is in the top right corner.
The main difference in envirnomental medicine is to try to prevent a problem and they look for all sources of inflammation in the body rather than treat symptoms. For me that also means treating my allergies to inhaled pollen, dust, mold spores, etc. Does this approach sound like something you may want to try?

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@sueinmn @gardeningjunkie I haven't had a great relationship with metals in my body either. I had some very old dental work with root canals, crowns and bridges that had been affecting my health. A root canal failed, and then another, and I made the decision to extract the teeth and get zirconium dental implants with a zirconium bridge to replace that. As soon as the 4 teeth involved were extracted, my asthma improved dramatically and I realized how much inflammation that was producing in my body. For the first time, I had no metals and my silver dental fillings had been replaced with safer resin composites by a biological dentist several years earlier, (but they had also cause autoimmune thyroid issues according to my doctor).

My metal free existence lasted for a few moths until I broke my ankle and received titanium plates and screws, and my asthma got worse again. 6 months after my ankle surgery, I developed chronic hives and I have to keep taking antihistamines or it comes back with large patches of welts on my arms, thighs or belly, or anywhere there is contact pressure like a crease in clothing. I have had pain and itching on my ankle, and I want to have the hardware removed. My surgeon said I had to wait a year for that, and the time is up, but I'm enjoying the summer and don't want to miss out during good weather. Taking antihistamines all the time dries out my mouth and lead to some dental cavities.

I have been a patient of an environmental allergy doctor and learned a lot about my health from him. He told me about the practice of Dr. Rea that pioneered the field which is the Environmental Health Center in Dallas. They do have some protocols for treating immune responses to implants, but I don't have experience with that. They are a resource for physicians and sell medical research volumes. Their website is https://www.ehcd.com/

There is also a provider search at https://www.aaemonline.org/. The blue button is in the top right corner.
The main difference in envirnomental medicine is to try to prevent a problem and they look for all sources of inflammation in the body rather than treat symptoms. For me that also means treating my allergies to inhaled pollen, dust, mold spores, etc. Does this approach sound like something you may want to try?

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Sorry, I don't remember, it was a combination selected by my acupuncturist and blessed by my endocrinologist and primary doc.
Right now I use Xyzal in the evening and benadryl as needed for "breakthrough" reactions like hives - I think my body has become resistant to many others over the years.
Sue

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Jennifer, thank you for your information which could help many. Right now I have overcome several chronic diseases, Adult Leukemia and 3 types of eczema, all are in remission now. I attribute my health improvement to my anti-inflammation diet and also avoidance of specific contacts which testing identified. Cancelling my knee surgery probably saved my sanity. As I have written about in the past, my eczema inflammation was so extreme inside my skin I felt like I was being tasered: stinging, burning and itching. The sensations were more extreme at night when our histamine level is higher and I was at the point of suicide from lack of sleep. I'm glad I had the strength to keep searching for answers. I feel great today at 72. Yes I know my knee pain will return, but as I mentioned it's only limiting me in certain motions and I can still lead a productive life working around that with the current deterioration. Living with chronic pain is impossible to face 24/7. I absolutely cannot understand why Medicare will not require allergy testing for all the components in implants. This testing will immediately save Medicare the money to pay for the expensive surgeries, but more importantly this testing will save implant patients from the misery of living a life with a body at war with itself, a body rejecting a foreign body inside itself.

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