Allergic to titanium?

[kr4st]

Allergic to titanium? I have had three knee replacements, one a cement/antibiotic one. I am in constant pain and my leg has red spots on the aria of the knee replacement and is always wormer then the other leg. Now I have developed a severe allergy in my sinus, with the tubes plug and water on one ear. No one can tell me what I am allergic to. I read many people having the idea of allergies to titanium and I have read that the medical community say it not possible. The last two night I have had a temperature of 101, that comes and goes.
my meds are:
Mometasone Furoate 50 mcg 120d nasal
Loratadine 10mg
Rifampin 300 mg cap
my Gatofloxacin was discontinued by the VA
replaced with ciprofloxacin 500 mg twice a day.
Are you sure that there are no allergies to knee replacements  jeff graham

[B4SuzieQ]

Dear Gunter,

I did have panic attacks, but it effected me in strange ways.  For examples, I could not watch anything the least upsetting on TV; all I could watch was comedies.  Another thing, I was claustrophobic prior to the implant, but my claustrophobia became extreme.  

I can watch TV programs that are more suspenseful now, so it has improved.  Because it hasn't been a full year since my revision surgery, I try to carefully and slowly try things to see how I will react.  As far as the claustrophobia, I think I am better.  The last experience I had prior to the revision surgery was an MRI.  It was horrific and left some mental scarring.  I did manage to go into an extremely large cave a couple of months afterwards the revision surgery and stay there (Carlsbad Caverns) for a several hours, so I am hoping it is better.  I still have bouts of depression, but when it happens I take DHEA for a couple of days and it seems to help quite a bit.  But all in all I think the depression is improving.

I will tell you this, with me it was like taking 2 steps forward and then 1 back and then maybe 3 steps forward and 1 back and sometimes things would go back even further, but know this, the quality of my life has improved considerably.  If faced with this situation again, I would definitely would do the revision surgery.  

I have always had reactions to jewelry.  In fact, I still do not wear any jewelry, not even a watch, I attach one to my purse.  When I was younger I had my ears pierced, but could not wear any earrings at all.  So yes I had allergies to metals prior to my implant.

After my revision surgery I had the Melisa test again and my nickel levels fell quite a bit.

Something came to me when you mention the allergy to the disc just now.  The surgeon I had remove my metal implant was explaining to myself and my husband that he was about to redo someone's artificial disc.  See I am starting to have a better memory.  If you would like his name I would be more than glad to provide it to you.  

I hope you have answers for yourself soon.

[guent13]

Hello folks,


four month after I was implanted an artificial disc I received panic attacks.
Does anybody else had this experience?

Thanks for answering!

Günter

[guent13]

Hello Suzie,


I would like to thank you again for your quick answer.
I was tested on nickel, titan, chrom, cobalt and molybdan.
There was no reaction apart from nickel.
Did you have any nickel (skin-) reactions before the first operation on your neck (for example to jewellery or to a button of a pair of trousers)?
And what about the panic attacks. Have they completely gone away since the revision?
I phone to the manufactor of my artifical disc once a year.
In the first too years they told me, that an reaction to the disc is impossible.
Last year they told me, that there were 11 cases of reactions to the skin (but this is not my problem, as your know I suffer from fatigue, headache,
foggy head and so on).

Thank you so much for answering.

Many greetings from the other side of the Atlantic, Günter

[B4SuzieQ]

I am sorry to hear that you are getting the run around.  I too went to a dermatologist and didn't receive any help.  The sad thing is these docs know this problem exists, but they are not warning people.  My implant was in for almost 2 years and did a lot of damage in other areas too.  I have had to have 6 surgeries after that implant, including the revision surgery.  You know your body better than anyone, trust in yourself and do what is right for you.  All my best to you.

[Prissy2]

Thank you for responding. I shall contact Melisa.org right away
. I went to thedermatologist- he too stated it' s not possible that it could be the clips implanted and prescribed a steroid ointment for the itching. It last for a short time. He even told me there is no such testing for titanium allergies! I' m miserable. I feel totally exhausted.

[B4SuzieQ]

When they put the titanium plate and screws in, it was only to hold in place a donor bone in between my C5 and C6 to support it since the disk was removed. Once that fuses with my own bone the plate and screws are no longer necessary.  So to answer your question, they didn't put anything else in they took out both the plate and screws.  I had my plate removed along with the screws and have been doing extremely well without it.  I am glad I had it removed.  One other thing, after I had the plate removed, I no longer tested positive for nickel.  According to Dr. Valentine-Thon, the nickel was in the upper normal range.  She said if that had been my result prior to the implant she would have told me I would have become allergic.

How many metals did you get tested for and are you allergic to any of those?  Do you know the manufacturer of the metal plate and screws they implanted?  If you do you can find out if there is other metals in there besides titanium and nickel.  I saw my implant and it looked like both the plate and screws were made of different materials.

The other thing you can look into is a substance they also use in a single level fusion, I do not remember the name of it, but it is made by Medtronic.  I just found out about this and it is also making people ill.

I know how upsetting all of this can be.  You have to do what you feel is right for you.  Please if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask me.  I know that this is a process that isn't easy to go through.