My own experience of having Spinal Fractures has prompted me to ask other readers about their own experiences when spinal fractures have ocurred regarding any help they may have had or not had from the hospital, gp, or clinics.
Has anyone been admitted to hospital overnight or longer ?
Has pain relief been quickly accessible?
I know of 3 members of who this applies to, and would be very interested to know how the numbers stack up for Good care or very little or none at all.
Thanks in advance for anyone reading my post.
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Sunseaandsand
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I found the response from the consultant was positive but there has never been any follow up since I started treatment. I've never been admitted to hospital for the fractures. GPs are completely disinterested and it took me some time to access pain relief. I had a phone consultation with my doctor who said he would prescribe diazepam for the muscle spasms but changed his mind without telling me so I have no relief for them. His reason for doing so was he doesn't think it's a very nice drug (he conveyed this via the receptionist and didn't have the decency to tell me directly.) He us happy to prescribe the controlled drug morphine though...
I was asked by the GP if I knew how much my treatment cost. I was taken aback and I couldn't help wondering if he asks his patients with cancer if they know the cost of their treatment.
Personally I think there is a very poor attitude from doctors and inadequate care and knowledge regarding osteoporosis.
With my first 3 fractures I saw 2 different GPs both of whom told me there is no point having Xrays because nothing can be done anyway and it would be a waste of time.
I like yourself had to insist on having them which made me unpopular.
Then when I did finally get the xrays done I was told I did not have any fractures everything was normal.
My 4th fracture,I was turned away from the hospital without pain relief because of an incompetent radiologist who said I only had wear and tear.
I do have a good gp now but the downside of that is that everyone else thinks that too, and in normal times it is difficult to get an appointment quickly. I am afraid though that he too can do very little. This is because I am a patient of the hospital and he sees me to be under their good care.
How very wrong he is.
He will see that I have the proper pain relief and is a good listener.
Sadly this is not the case.
They are only interested in dishing out the treatments.
It is shocking that your gp questioned if you knew the cost of your medication, it all comes down to the budget they have to work to.
Our health does not seem important if it means spending a little more.
We as osteoporosis patients seem to know more about the disease and treatments than most doctors do.
Well take care and keep safe.
Have as lovely a xmas as circumstances will allow. x
It may be me being overly sensitive, but I get the distinct impression that doctors imagine it is our own fault we have OP. I say that because their attitude is dismissive, offhand and uncaring when referring to OP. It's as if I was a life-long smoker with lung cancer.
I hope you can enjoy a good Christmas, just don't overdo it. x
I should add that I have never even been examined, I've only had xrays and these were because I had to instigate them due to my own suspicions that I had fractures.
I was sent home from Hospital 8 times (2017), 5 times 2019, 3 times 2020, each time I went via Ambulance after hubby called 999
2017 T7 fracture I begged GP to let me have MRI which fortunately he did
2019 T11 fracture
Feb 2020 cholysistites inflamed/infected gallbladder, gallstones and T5 fracture. I ended up screaming at the Drs to give me MRI Scans.Incompetence seems a mild word......
All because MRI's cost money. They don't care that someone's in agony, just dished out morphine and paracetamol and sent home!!!!!
Newspapers would have a real story to tell if they knew how we have been subject of such incompetence
Hi Thyb, My first fracture was passed off as a disc problem, I was not offered an x ray or anything else. it was not diagnosed until I had my first dexa which was a number of years later.
My second fracture was passed off for 3 months by a gp as a muscular problem again no x ray.
I n 2017 I had another 2 fractures in the lumbar spine a lady gp passed them off as muscular and refused to send me for x rays.
As you can imagine an argument ensued and she actually threw the x ray request form over the desk at me!!! She refused to give me anything for the pain saying as I could not take ibuprofen owing to gastro problems there was nothing else she could give me.
My local hospital then failed to pick up on them and again I had to wait for a dexa and x rays at the larger hospital to confirm them!!!
In 2019 I was sent home from A and E with a new fracture in T9 the doctor on duty x rayed me and said it looked like I had a new fracture in T9 but he could not even give me pain relief owing to the fact that the radiologist diagnosed it as wear and tear.
I have had 3 further fractures during lockdown this year.
I would not allow my husband to diall 999.
Why?? Because what would be the point to be pulled and prodded whilst in excrutiating pain.to be sent home after being told you do not have any new fractures.
How WRONG is this when we will not go and be x rayed because they can not even read the results of x rays properly!!!
A nice clean break in the hip or wrist that is what they see as a sign of osteoporosis, and many people will not even know they have it till that happens.
I fell down the stairs, the paramedics took me away to the hospital where i had a record of severe osteoporosis. After a couple of days they sent me home, no xray. For 13 months walked around with this awful backpain, was like a hot screwdriver going into my shoulder blade. It was termed as "unexplained back pain". The the rheumatologist said I think we should xray your thoracic spine and low and behold a substantial compression fracture of t5. So 13 months on too late to attempt kyphoplasty and now 5 years on the pain is even worse and caused scoliosis as well. I often wonder how these doctors would treat their own wives or mothers. I take a decent calcium supplement now that I have had a parathryoidectomy as that was causing calcium to drain from my bones. I also bought a LivMD low intensity vibrating plate which was specifically designed for osteoporosis as the gym plates are too dangerous. I just hope for the best now. Actually osteoporosis is not always about bone density but bone strength. livmd.co.uk/our-story/
I am so sorry to hear of your terrible experience. How can we put our faith in the Doctors and Consultants when things like this happen to us, as I said in one of my replies I am missing out on hospital treatment because I can not see the point of going to hospital to be told I do not have fractures, only to have it confirmed at at later date that I actually do have them .
No point at all.
It is disgusting the way we are treated.
Hope you get some good results with the vibrating plate.
Be very careful with a chiropractor. I saw a really lovely woman who knows all my history and extent of my osteoporosis and I was having bad neck trouble, from old whiplash injury and arthritis. Unfortunately in lockdown I smashed my index finger in the door, crushed the bone and lost the tip, also a part of the flesh which couldnt be re attached so I couldnt type for months and then I started using speech to text on my phone which has been fatal and at the ripe of age of 73 I have the young persons disease "text neck". The chiro unfortunately cracked my neck in July and it has been terrible ever since and nothing will fix it. I permanently wear heatpads around it and I can only lie on my back in bed which is uncomfortable and if I happen to lie on my side accidently, then I am plagued with even worse sickening headaches for days until it wears off a bit.
You too sound to be having a really rough time!!Problems in the neck do give terrible headaches amongst other things.
It causes sickening pain.
Since my last 3 fractueres I can not find any position in bed to be comfortable just getting on and off the bed is a ordeal.
I have had problems with my neck since I was in my 20's so I really can sympathise with you.
It is a standing joke within our family on the amount of pillows I have tried, there is quite a selection built up in the loft and that is after supplying all the family with new ones.
I still have not found one that's anywhere near right.
Thanks, yes necks are a real pain. When I whiplashed it 35 years ago and it was xrayed, there was osteoarthritis already in it and I was only about 38 then. I had an osteopath who lived around the corner from me that I had been going to for around 28 years, he knew exactly what to do and only needed one visit. Sadly he retired last year and the newly qualified son took over but he was very pleasant but too scared to touch me so was a waste of time and why i went to a new chiropractor. When i lived in Australia I bought a pilow that is about 2.5 inches at the back and then graduates down to practically nothing so is ideal for me as I put it under a dunlopillo pillow and then my neck isnt raised up too high. I bought a very nice looking ortho pillow a few months back and it nearly killed me.
When my neck problems began I went to a gp who told me to wrap a bottle in a t towel and put it a the back of my neck ( bet that sounds familiar)He then stood behind me and said he was going to have a look at my neck he said oh yes I know what the problem is I can put that back for you,the next thing I knew he got hold of my head and yanked it to one side I screamed and nearly hit the roof.
As a result of that I had to have traction and massage for months after and the specialist called my gp at the time a Quack!! Saying you can NOT put anything back.
Can I ask about the vibration plate you use?
How often and for how long do you use it?
Are you able to hold on to anything whilst using it?
Is it large or heavy and what is the cost?
A lot of questions but it is something myself and family have spoken about on numerous occasions.
Sounds awful. Gp's usually say turn your head to the left, right, down on the chin, yes free movement so take paracetomol. Regarding the plate. it is low intensity so I stand on it for 10 minutes every morning whilst I am eating my breakfast as it is boring. YOu dont need to hold onto anyting, it is quite heavy and about the size of a pair of large bathroom scales. It was only available in the US but I was lucky as in January 2017 a German company bought them out and so I was able to get one quite quickly with no hassle from the US. Then it cost me £3,000. A friend on the osteoporosis group on Facebook has one and also another friend has just ordered one about two weeks ago and I was surprised as it is still only £3000. I will try and dig out an old youtube video that Sara Meeks did. She is my idol and I so wish we had physios like her in the UK, instead of the muppets who say "see how far forward you can bend". Oh yes and see how quickly I can break a vertibrae, no thank you.
I think there should be a national campaign highlighting osteoporosis and its effects. Most people think it's a natural thing which happens in old age. They don't understand how younger people can suffer with it or the consequences of it. But first the medical profession need to treat it with the care and attention they would give to any other serious illness.
Yes my way of thinking too.There is so much ignorance around osteoporosis and like many other things it is thought of as an old persons disease.
The doctors need to be educated on it because it amazes me how little they seem to know, and lets face it how can they treat something that we know more about than they do.
I had been on Ibandronate for 3 years and whilst on a drug holiday had a fracture in T 11.After 2 years treatment on Forsteo I had 2 lumbar fractures a month apart from each other.
After being on Raloxofine for a short time I had 2 injections 3 months apart again of Ibrandonate I had another fracture in T9.
In February 2019 I had an injection of prolia.
This year I have had a further 3 fractures and have been awaiting treatment with Zoledronate yearly injection.
This has been delayed several times because of Covid 19.
I have to say that the treatments for Osteoporosis do reduce risk of fractures and increase bone density.
I also have a strong believe that the secret of holding on to what is gained is not to have a complete drug holiday but to be put on a different treatment in between.
Prolia could be a very good treatment if tolerated by the patient.
It is shocking how many times we hear of how Rheumatologists are giving out false information regarding Prolia.
This as a result does not give patients much confidence.
You do not say how many fractures you have or your T scores or if you are on treatments.
You’ve certainly been through the mill with all the OP drugs. Sadly really apart from forteo and tylmos all the others just appear to improve density due to the build up of old undiscarded bone which is, in some drugs, disposed of very quickly resulting in rebound spinal fractures after stopping them. We definitely deserve better treatments and advice for this condition that affects so many of us. I wish you luck with your onward journey, stay safe.
Thank you,No worries I will NOT be having any more Prolia injections 1 was enough for me .
The consultant wanted me to be on it indefinitely and was quite persistent but was unable to talk me round.
I so wish I had not had even the one injection I suffered bad side effects for 8 months, and I believe it has contributed to my 3 recent fractures even though I keep hearing you can not have multiple fractures after 1 injection.
It is criminal that we are not warned how dangerous Prolia can be.
If I were to be honest I do not think any of the treatments for osteoporosis are good treatments to have.
I slipped on black ice, went to hospital had an xray. Plastered my wrist and told my back was fine. I struggled to sit up due to the pain, nurse was horrible and shouted at me to get up. I went home overnight back to a more local hospital the next day to check my plaster, the Dr said I had factured T12, ended up in hospital and transferred to orthopedic hospital. They were first class and looked after me well.
Hi, very sorry to hear of your fall and resulting fracture.When you have a nurse or doctor taking that sort of attitude it really takes away your faith and trust in them.
I am glad to hear that you received excellent care on going to a different hospital, after all that is the sort of care we should receive when going to any hospital.
If your fall is a recent one I wish you a speedy recovery.
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