Hi, I was diagnosed with osteoporosis in December, after I broke my left wrist in 3 places in August. I had a bone density scan in October last year, and my GP gave me the diagnosis in December. Also I was told after numerous blood tests that I have hyperthyroidism for which I am taking carbimazole. I am taking alendronic acid, plus Theicald3,. I am also having treatment for rotator cuff tear in my left shoulder/arm, caused by my fall in August. I'm also waiting for a liver scan as blood tests show abnormalities. All this since my fall in August!!
New to osteoporosis : Hi, I was... - Bone Health and O...
New to osteoporosis
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Callmesue
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Welcome Callmesue, you have had a lot happen to you since you fell in August haven’t you. None of it anything you want to have is it! You know the saying ‘it never rains but it pours’ well it appears to have poured for you doesn’t it.
I was diagnosed with Graves’ disease back in 2012/3 unfortunately not one single person mentioned the link between Graves and osteoporosis, then in 2015 I was diagnosed with sero negative inflammatory arthritis and prescribed a short course of prednisolone- again not a single person mentioned the link between RA, taking steroids and osteoporosis. So much time wasted when I could have been working on my bones.
More work definitely needs to be done to educate the public about the importance of looking after our bones.
I don’t know if you have found the ROS website but it is well worth having a look through or even joining, there is a mass of good information on there as well as on this HU site that you can read theros.org.uk
Hi, thanks for your reply. Always useful to hear someone else's opinion. My physiotherapist actually told me about a link between hyperthyroidism and frozen shoulder, (something they have to discount before treating me for rotator cuff tear)
Hi.
I broke my wrist start of October last year. I broke the Distal Radius. I should say demolished it really, it was a very bad fracture and had to have surgery and a metal plate and screws inserted. I broke the other wrist Distal Radius 3 years before that and no one ever mentioned about having a DEXA scan.
This time I asked for one, as my mother had Osteoporosis. Anyway, results show I have it too. I am not on any medication as yet.
I have Hashimotos Thyroid Disease which means I sometimes go into a temporary Hyperthyroid state if I have a flare but I am mainly Hypothyroid. Since the fall my Thyroid has gone all over the place so I am having further investigations with my Endocrinologist. I have never been discharged from the hospital for my wrist fracture in October as I have complications, I believe CRPS, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
I still can't use my hand properly, stiff, swollen and still in pain. I have hand therapy and see Dr in Trauma clinic. Last 2 months my shoulder has been so painful. I mentioned it to therapists etc and no one really bothered. However, xray shows impingement. I have since had an ultrasound, results next Friday. I saw a private Physiotherapist who diagnosed a Frozen Shoulder. The Trauma doctor believes my shoulder problem is result of my fall back in October.
All I am trying to say is you are not alone, out of one thing seems to come more problems down the line or opens up a can of worms and it all appears to be never ending!!
I was actually standing still when someone accidentally pushed me in a dance class and I ended up on the floor. I can't believe that out of that I now have so many issues and everything seems to have gone wrong.
Anyway, do keep positive as I am sure in the not too distant future all will be resolved and happier times lie ahead and this awkward period will be a distant memory.
Thanks, good to read your comments. As you say, from one fall, it's just escalated out of control. I was pretty healthy up until that point. I also have a plate and screws, and still swelling and pain in my hand.
Take care
Same here. I have a few little health issues but all was under control and I was leading a happy life, now everything has changed in what was a split second but I suppose that is life!!
Interesting to hear you still have hand problems. I believe after ORIF wrist surgery it can take longer to recover as I am finding out and you too. It is a bit of a ongoing nightmare and I do wish you well.
It's strange that we both have shoulder problems after our falls, that started a few months afterwards .Recently my middle finger seems to lock in towards my palm. I have to push it back out!
I'm seeing my hand injury specialist on Tuesday, I'll ask her advice
Dr in Trauma clinic says it is sometimes injury from fall that remains asymptomatic and then flares up and shows itself. All I know is it is very painful. My fingers go stiff, two in middle go stiffer than others. My hand and wrist sometimes lock almost like I just broke it and next day it will be better!!! All a mystery. Hand injury specialist sounds a good idea. I think I might have to resort to that myself. Good luck with that.
I was referred to hand injury specialist by my physiotherapist. My middle two fingers are the worst. I hope you can get to see the hand specialist
The NHS do so much but its not brilliant so I will see what scan shows. The guy who did scan said my thumb tendon is rubbing on metal plate!! I hope that's wrong. Anyway, good luck.
I broke my wrist just as covid was kicking off so the physiotherapist I was due to see was cancelled. Fortunately she phoned to ask how my wrist was because by that time the cast had come off and o had developed something called CRPS because the casts I had on were too tight - that was really horrible - and I couldn’t even get to see the doctor never mind get the support I needed for that.
I was so lucky because the FLS physio phoned to ask about my fracture and I said the wrist was fine but my hand was totally trashed and I was sure it was CRPS - she was amazing and got me online support from a hand therapist and with a bit of hard work we sorted out the CRPS. My fingers have never been the same since the fracture - for some reason or another they just don’t straighten.
The weird thing is I went in to develop a terribly painful shoulder, I couldn’t raise my arm at all - it was absolute agony - although what was really was strange was that the physio could lift my arm right up without causing pain. Also I couldn’t fasten my bra for a long time which was really annoying p, well I couldn’t put that arm behind my back at all.
Fortunately places were opening up after covid - needless to say NOT my GP surgery though - that was when I found a private physiotherapist who specialised in shoulders and went there for a lot of sessions but it was getting to be very expensive to go every week. I stopped but kept doing her exercises and eventually with my Pilates that shoulder is pretty much back to how it used to be.
It is really strange though that we all had distal radius fractures and we all ended up with a shoulder problem.
Hi
It is weird about the distal radius fractures, CRPS and the shoulder problem. I know CRPS can be a complication of wrist surgery. I have had CRPS but believe I am coming out of it now although my hand is still stiff and painful. Its much better than was but still a long way to go before anywhere near normal.
I too am paying for private physio and treatment which is helpful but very expensive!! I find it hard to believe my hand will ever be quite the same again but I live in hope to get somewhere near to it eventually.
I don’t know what you have done for your CRPS but the hospital physio got me started on desensitisation, where I started by touching it with different types of fabric - such as silk, velvet, putting my hand into a bowl of dried lentils. I used to fill a washing up bowl with warm water and squeeze out a dishcloth, it felt really good as well as being was good exercise for my fingers.
I also did mirror therapy and I found an amazing app called Recognise that I bought online in the APP store. There are several of them for different body parts, I bought ‘Hand’. It was very easy and fun to use and along with the mirror therapy I’m sure it really helped my recovery.
My fingers still aren’t perfectly straight but I’d say they are pretty much back to how they used to be. I remember trying to throw an apple out into the garden for the birds and it went hardly any distance - well now I can do that and get it right to the foot of the garden just like I used to be able to do before I fractured and got the CRPS. It’s awful how one little accident can have such a knock in effect isn’t it. I’m sure you will get there in the end.
Wow you have done really well.
My hospital has done nothing other than hand therapy. In fact CRPS has been muted but not actually diagnosed. I brought the subject up when the nails on my broken hand started growing very long and quickly, my nails usually break easily, my hand was hot, very red and mottled, sweaty between my fingers, swollen and the pain I had from wrist to arm was burning almost like it was on fire. I couldn't stand clothes near my wrist as it felt like it had been burnt. I mentioned it to the hand therapist and the doctors but no one acknowledge it, only saying it "might" be CRPS.
After an Ultrasound on my hand and shoulder (now frozen) last week I will be seeing Consultant this Friday and I will be putting a few questions to him and I will be looking for some answers as I think my symptoms have been overlooked.
Glad you are making good improvement that is encouraging.
Sounds very similar to how my hand was. I couldn’t bear anything to touch it, and I had a patch on my arm that was ultra sensitive - my hand was a really strange purple / brown sort of colour and it was sweaty and hairy!
It felt as if I was wearing one of those huge American baseball catchers mitts. It just didn’t feel like my hand at all - it was as if someone had swapped my hand for a giant’s hand.
I tracked CRPS down myself and was able to speak to my GP who said the hospital was ‘shut’ and ‘no I couldn’t be put on a waiting list for when things opened up’. That really bothered me because I think you have to work with CRPS as soon as you can.
The best she could do for me was to prescribe pregabalin which didn’t really help and which didn’t agree with me at all so we stopped that. When the wonderful FLS physio spoke to me she agreed it sounded very like CRPS, told me about touching my hand with the different fabrics / textures and booked me in for the zoom call with the hand physio, I sent the hand physio lots of photos and she agreed with my own diagnosis. I couldn’t make a fist - when I tried things fell out of my grip. It was all really weird. The hand physio suggested trying gabapentin but I just don’t think the GABA drugs agreed with me so I did without, the hand physio also posted finger splints out to me which helped too. . I definitely owe my recovery to those two physios and the funny thing was they both thanked me for working so hard!
My husband volunteers with a man who had a dreadful accident and fractured his Nile then developed CRPS and was lucky enough to get a physio in his local hospital who worked on desensitising and he is back pain free and walking again. So it is something that is well known, hopefully yu will find someone who knows all about it.
I think if you try the Recognise app you will enjoy doing it, it is something you can do anywhere at any time, I had it on my phone as well as on my iPad. I can’t remember what I paid for it but it wasn’t much at all. For the mirror therapy I just sat on the floor next to my sliding wardrobe mirror door and put the damaged hand behind it and did my hand physio exercises, mirror therapy is a really interesting thing to do.
I hope you can get the answers you need, especially for your shoulder, I know I found that to be one of the most painful things I’ve ever had to deal with and that includes the fractured wrist.
Let us know how things go on Friday. 🤞 for you.
Thank you so much for your reply and your sharing your CRPS story.
I still can't make a fist and my hand/wrist is tight. You were very lucky to have someone who recognised what it was and you got help. The key to dealing with it is early diagnosis but its getting the diagnosis. My hand therapist has left and to be honest she wasn't that great, leaving me 6 weeks at a time just to do one set of exercises. The assistant I have at moment concentrates only on bending my fingers. Anyway thank you for the information and I will see what happens at consultation Friday.
I must apologise as this was someone else's post originally. I will leave it at that.
I hope you get the treatment you need. I have seen the hand injury specialist twice now in 8 weeks, I have exercises to do daily, but I can't do them every day as sometimes it's too painful. It's amazing to read how many people are in a similar situation, but reassuring that we can advise each other
Hi Fruitandnutcase. Referring back to our posts re CRPS and my visit to Orthopaedics on Friday.
Update is, saw Head Consultant. Ultrasound showed nothing untoward, thank goodness, as in tears in the shoulder tendon. Bit of wear usual age related stuff. It is inflamed. He referring me for physio but when this comes through who knows. I am having some private treatment in mean time for frozen shoulder.
Arthritis in two joints in thumb and slight inflammation of tendon, he says due to arthritis?? Ultrasound showed my tendon is slightly rubbing metal plate in wrist because my wrist is small but wont touch it unless a problem occurs. He also said I do have CRPS and to continue with Hand Therapy. My CRPS is mild to what is was so don't expect to be referred to a specialist clinic. Consultant said it is a slow process and said I am looking at 1.5 years to see a recovery. Well I hope it is going to be before then!!
Back for review in 4 months.
So carry on the good work and hope this thing clears off quicker!!! 😁
Good that you’ve seen a consultant and that he agrees about CRPS. It’s a weird condition isn’t it. I felt like someone had chopped my hand off and replaced it with a giants hand - either that or it felt like one of those catchers mitts American baseball players wear.
I downloaded this app from the Apple App Store, it didn’t cost much, it’s very simple to use and I found it really good and as I said I used my mirror doors for the mirror therapy. I can’t remember how long it took but I’m sure my CRPS took less time than that to get sorted out
noigroup.com/product/recogn...
It was both of my thumbs that first bothered me first with my inflammatory arthritis. No idea why that was but I think it’s fairly common.
Your money will be well spent on the shoulder physio.
Good luck with it, just keep plodding in doing the desensitisation and all the exercises and hopefully like mine it will go away, even if it’s mild you’re better off without it.
Aww thank you so much for App link, I will take a look at that.
Yes CRPS is weird and not very nice. I now realise it started a few weeks after the fracture when my hand turned a strange golden colour and the severe burning pain etc begun. I knew something wasn't right but was told it is tissue damage. I felt like someone had taken my old hand off and replaced it with one that had just been glued on the end of my arm, it never felt like it belonged to me. Nail growth has slowed down a lot so I hope it is slowly clearing.
Anyway, thank you for sharing your story and for the information, much appreciated.
It does seem to happen this way, all's calm and you're happily getting on with life then bam, just like that in an instant life changes and sorry to say if you've got Osteoporosis, it's not likely to go back to exactly like it was before. There seems to be a link between thyroid and OP in a lot of people that post on here, that seems to be one quarter that I'm ok in, so that's something for me to be thankful for!! My mum broke her hands and her foot, she used to find the hot wax bath really soothing, I've not checked to see if they're still for sale, there was a craze on them early 2000, both for hands and feet. I hope you're tests are ok, oh the joys of living!! Keep us updated how you get on, it's a lovely community here with us all on journeys with Osteoporosis but with it affecting each one of us in different ways.
We need our hands so much, I do really hope yours improve.
My problem is my spine, I do a bit, lie down, do a bit more, lie down and so on, all day everyday, I often think, it's a good job we don't know what's ahead of us and try and make the best of the situation but as no doubt you're finding, somedays it's easier to be positive than others.
Take care xx
You can still get wax baths. I was always tempted to buy a wax bath from Amazon. I love the idea of soaking my hands in hot wax. In the end I bought a man sized Thera Mitt (again from Amazon) that I put in the microwave.
In Pilates our teacher often gets us to lie on our backs - I like to do it with my knees bent - it’s a good thing to do because when you’re lying down like that you’re not being lazy - you are decompressing your spine.
You’re right, I had Graves’ disease (autoimmune overactive thyroid ) and yes this is a lovely, caring community.
Hi Callmesue, tell me about it, I fell whilst on holiday, broke my wrist, had surgery, inserted, a plate and seven screws. Dexa Scan last November, osteoporosis in the femoral neck, osteopenia in the lumber spine. I cannot take AA orally, I have gastrointestinal problems, so awaiting my appointment with a Rheumatologist in May (appointment given last year) to talk about infusions.
I was diagnosed with Graves disease in 2001, but it had gone undiagnosed for at least five years. I felt in a constant state of anxiety, couldn't tolerate the heat and despite eating like a horse, didn't gain weight. Classic symptoms, but I was dismissed as being neurotic. My legs became increasingly weaker and my resting heart rate was over 120bpm. I was eventually diagnosed, treated with drugs but it returned 2 years later. I decided to have radioiodine treatment and now take a small daily dose of thyroxine as I'm now hypothyroidism. At the time, I was a member of the Thyroid association where I read about the link between hyperthyroidism and osteoporosis. After the menopause I asked (probably demanded) a Dexa scan. Fortunately at that time all was well. I think my osteopenia is most likely inherited from my mother and having never taken hrt.When I read how some of you on here are suffering, I feel very lucky that my condition doesn't seem to have progressed too far and that I have the chance to do everything I can to keep it that way. 🤞
Keep going brave people and lots of love...
I was diagnosed with graves disease in January, and had all the symptoms that you had. I love the friendliness of this community and how everyone offers advice
Same here for being dismissed! I think if a doctor thinks their patient is a hypochondriac then they ought to check out that patients thyroid and do it with an open mind. A couple of months before I had a Graves meltdown a GP actually said to me ‘I think you’re needing your holiday’. I had no idea there was a link between osteoporosis and the thyroid - or between osteoporosis and RA or the steroids and PPIs you are often prescribed.
Love t you too 😘
Hi Boneness, sorry to hear about all your troubles.I've just failed to respond to teriparatide, so have been researching reasons this might be. Parathyroidism is one thing that stops you absorbing it, so this is just a heads-up that you do need to make sure this is sorted out before you go on to treatment like that. I don't seem to have had a PTH test before I was put on, though I have now and am OK.
Best of luck on this journey we'd all rather not be on!
Hi, I was diagnosed with OP recently. Not on treatment yet. I have tests with my Endocrinologist in a week's time to test Parathyroid and few other things related to bone loss. My GP didn't bother testing it but I understand if you have a Parathyroid problem taking all the Osteoporosis treatment going won't make a difference as its the Parathyroid that needs sorting. I'm no medic but that's my understanding.
Hi Sue - your broken wrist sounds worse than mine (broken Sept 7 places, fragmented radius) but I just wanted to say that the stiffness is difficult and peculiar, isn't it? Not to say unwiling to go.
My hand loosens up in the day and in warmth, but overnight stiffens again so that its Groundhog Day each morning.
The last week in the cast was awful to endure, It felt as though it were mummifying, and I broke down completely when they took it off.
I was 69, and within a few days it was my birthday - a row of cards like tombstones - 70, 70, 70. And the new diagnoses to go with them, in my case concussion, OP, a compression fracture of the vertebrae, as you say.
The orthopaedic guy said my hand would take 8 mths to a year to get better - which was very helpful. It is improving overall - I can turn a door knob now and open the fridge - and I hope you are at least seeing some improvements in strength?
I read another good site which said such a bad break was the equivalent of being in a small car crash, and that it would take a year before I stopped thinking about it, and that was very helpful too.
It helps me to know it is long term, and to focus on the small slow improvements I see, and being on here makes me see how incredibly fortunate I am. And the tips and advice here make me feel a little more in control, less that awful feeling of being helpless in the hand of time.
But I am never going to send a birthday card with the age on the front to anyone over 21.
Awww it is so tough!!!!
Hi. Just reading your post and others and have to say I don't feel so alone on this journey of a wrist fracture. I thought it was just me who is having the poorest recovery. I'm 5 months after my operation and still have a way to go. Trouble is people say to me, isn't your wrist healed yet, and can't believe I am still suffering with it (neither can I)!! Makes you feel a bit freaky. I have only just been able to hold my hairdryer with broken wrist hand and a few other things I can do which couldn't before, so slow progress which is better than nothing.
Anyway, I wish everyone to be pain free and have a good recovery very soon.
ROSModeratorPartner
Hi Callmesue ,
Just wanted to drop in and wish you a very warm welcome to our community 
As another member kindly noted, we do have lots of information about osteoporosis and bone health on our website that might feel helpful at this time: theros.org.uk/
It sounds like it's been a difficult few months with you having to cope with one thing after another! So, it's really great to see you connect with our wonderful members - our community has a wealth of experience and kindness to offer, so we hope this helps you to feel supported in your health journey
Wishing you the very best,
Lulu
ROS Moderator
Thank you for your welcome to the community. I find it very helpful, and so much support from other members in similar situations
Hi everyone, I've read all your replies to Callmesue, and apart from being impressed by the warmth and kindness of everyone, I'm fascinated by the frequent links you've mentioned between osteoporosis and thyroid issues. I want to add that thyroid isn't the only pituitary hormone that can affect your bones. Growth hormone deficiency can do it too. If you have a head injury or even just a concussion your pituitary gland can be damaged, and growth hormone is the first to be affected. GH is vital for grownups as well as children, and if you are deficient it can damage not only your bones but your heart/arteries as well, not to mention causing many other symptoms, both physical and mental. These effects are described by NICE in their TA64 nice.org.uk/guidance/ta64/c...
So I'm telling you this just in case any of you may suffer from growth hormone deficiency as well as thyroid deficiency (they can both be caused by head injury), to say, please get your cholesterol and triglycerides checked as it may save you from a stroke or heart attack. And of course, if you can, get checked for growth hormone deficiency itself - much easier said than done! Details on our website ChristopherLaneTrust.org.uk
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