Cortisone injection with old implant

@minajo I'm sorry to hear you are suffering elevated cobalt levels - why are you avoiding revision? Excessive cobalt can be very dangerous - heart, kidneys, blood and brain can be affected as well as endocrine system. The tissue surrounding the implant can also be profoundly degraded, impeding healing. Cortisone can have a negative impact on tissue strength and healing, so I don't know if a surgeon would be willing to recommend it.

As to chelation - I don't know. Keep in mind that while the implant is still present, so it continues to degrade, therefore any chelation therapy would be an exercise in swimming against the tide. I'm not sure if you can be given enough chelating agents to lower the level of cobalt without causing other adverse effects.

The longer I lived with metal implants, the more ill I became, so I would recommend that you think hard about doing revision therapy sooner rather than later. Some effects in my body became permanent after only 6 years.

Sue

Thank you Sue for such a knowledgeable reply.. and yes, i agree with all you presented.. My surgeon who did implant didn't clue into my complaints 3 yrs ago.. course it was pandemic so visits delayed but went to spinal dr, then back to another ortho who did the lab tests , diagnosed,but no surgeries were being done in2020... I test every 6 months and original surgeon assures me my values "not off the charts" and says i can live with it..thus, he offers revision but does state complications etc..
At 75 with 2 disabled daughters i don't know if i want the whole rehab again.. i do yearly retinal tests, have had cardiac echos,.. it's ultimately my choice..
I don't feel my health provider even notified me of possible MoM issues as they should have. I initiated appt. due to r. o. m. changes..
Manufacturers had responsibilities to patients and i never was notified..
If i can i will go forth with revision ..
I appreciate your input greatly and if i might ask, how old you were when implant first done, how you knew it had to be revised, cobalt level etc?
Thanks!

I understand reluctance to go through the rehab again, but if you get worse from the metallosis, who will help your disabled daughters?

As to my situation, I was only in my mid-50's in 2006 when I had first had my hips replaced due to severe arthritis. From the second year forward I was telling my surgeon "something is wrong" - I had clicking, popping, groin pain, and after a while a long "trough" down the sides of both thighs, and I kept complaining.

In year six, I had tremors, was losing my hair, my thyroid went crazy - and I didn't connect the two at all. Then I went for my annual hip check (should have been a clue that something wasn't normal - nobody else I knew had to be seen every year.) At that visit, he handed me a notice that the implants were recalled, and I needed to have my chromium and cobalt levels - he didn't explain or discuss - just said "but I'm sure you are just fine." I still made no connection...

To my surprise, he called just a week after the blood was drawn and simply said, "Sorry, you need those hips replaced." That was in December, and we scheduled the first surgery for April - and continued to feel worse and worse all winter. At that point, I hit the Internet and was horrified by what I read. I had just about every symptom they listed, and when he did surgery, the post-report stated the muscle in my thigh "looked like gray mush."

And so the story goes on...but a year after removal, the metal levels were normal, my thyroid settled down, my hair grew back and I had rehabbed both legs. That was 12 years ago, and I have been cursed with a rapid heartbeat, tremors, permanent indentations along the femur and other issues ever since. Also, this was about the same time my inflammatory system went into permanent "overdrive" and I now react badly to every little bit of inflammation, even just a simple immunization. I don't KNOW it's from the metal, but... it happened in the same timeframe, and no one else in my family has anything like it. My biggest regret is that I did not insist on immediate removal, nor did the surgeon have any sense of urgency - perhaps some of this could have been avoided.
Sue

Oh my ! I am 74, had my first shoulder replacement at 72, just had a knee replacement and now my shoulder is badly bone-on-bone with a bone spur. Thank you so much for your feedback on this topic. As the gentleman said…’why wasn’t the public informed’ ? You are in my very best wishes ❤️