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Old 02-10-2013, 02:11 PM
Doculot Doculot is offline
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Post Autoimmune disease after Prodisc-C at c6/7

I am a 45 year old female suffering from autoimmune disease after my Prodisc C at c6/7.

This is long but I would like to know if any other ADR patients suffer from autoimmune disease after disc replacement or if there is any information about ADR and Autoimmune disease.

In may 2011 MRI showed 4.4 mm right disc extrusion @ c4/5. Bulge left @ c5/c6. Left extrusion w/ ventral cord compression & severe nerve encroachment c6/C7. The nerve pain was excrutiating, radiating down my left arm and tingling in my thumb, forefinger and middle finger. It felt as if I had nearly 100% lack of use. I was limited in being able to twist my hand, push or support any weight with my left arm.

In Oct 2011 I had ADR Prodisc-C Surgery at c6/c7. The surgery went great! I was able to turn my head and the pain was mild. My arm pain reduced.

I was having a lot of left shoulder pain and intermittent tingling in the left arm so in Feb 2012 I had an EMG/NCS. The findings were consistent with C7 Radiculopathy resulting in left tricep reduction at 50%. Reduction 75% Pronator Teres, 75% reduction Anconeus.

I had started having weird whitening of my hands, a lot of joint pains and Hospitization due to GERD. I thought I should see my primary Dr. From there I was referred to an arthritis Dr. who I saw in May of 2012.

Mixed connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) I had a positive ANA & RNP. I also showed several symptoms of Sjogrens. I currently take medication for RA/Lupus and Sjogrens.

I had continued pain in the Left shoulder and it was suspected that when I fell and injured my neck that I may have also injured my shoulder. My MRI on my shoulder did not show any sure signs of injury. We did shoulder injection that offered temporary relief so the Dr. believed that I was a good candidate for surgery. On 6/12 I had my shoulder surgery where a bone spur and Synovitis debris were removed.

I started PT and was put into a work conditioning program. The PT therapists had me doing a lot of strenuous activity including a crab walk that I would collapse on from the weak left arm. My strength is slowly improving but the strenuous activity would put me out of commission for a couple days at a time. I would end up with severe shoulder, neck and elbow pains. I suffer these pains anyway but not to the severity as when I am in PT.

My RA Doctor just recently put me on a nerve medication to help with the constant pain.

I would love to connect with other patients that are having difficulty with ADR.
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45yr female -may 2011 MRI showed 4.4 mm right disc extrusion @ c4/5. Bulge left @ c5/c6. Left extrusion w/ ventral cord compression & severe nerve encroachment c6/C7. Oct 2011 ADR Prodisc-C Surgery at c6/c7. April 2012 left tricep damage 50%. Left shoulder surgery 6/12 - developed Autoimmune disease after disc replacement.
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  #2  
Old 02-10-2013, 03:21 PM
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jss jss is offline
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Doculot,

Sincere condolences on your new condition.

To my knowledge there is no known connection between ADR and the onset of an autoimmune disease. There has been at least one poster on this site that discovered she had multiple sclerosis after a successful ADR surgery. The cause of MS is (I believe) unknown, but it is known to be an immune-mediated disease. The aforementioned poster, tumblebug, has not continued on this site, but has responded to PM's; and may respond if you want to contact her.

Good luck, Jeff
__________________
C4/5 - ACDF in 2000
C5/6 - ACDF in 2002
C3/4 & C6/7 - M6 ADR, Nov 2009, Barcelona
Conceded defeat to a manifestly disingenuous BCBS-TX in my quest for reimbursement, Jan 2011
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  #3  
Old 02-10-2013, 04:21 PM
Doculot Doculot is offline
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Thank you for the feedback and sympathy JSS. It's unfortunate that so many individuals have so much pain I will PM tumblebug.
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45yr female -may 2011 MRI showed 4.4 mm right disc extrusion @ c4/5. Bulge left @ c5/c6. Left extrusion w/ ventral cord compression & severe nerve encroachment c6/C7. Oct 2011 ADR Prodisc-C Surgery at c6/c7. April 2012 left tricep damage 50%. Left shoulder surgery 6/12 - developed Autoimmune disease after disc replacement.
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Old 02-10-2013, 04:39 PM
annapurna annapurna is offline
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There are a couple of potential reasons for autoimmune problems after ADR. One is a biofilm infection at the ADR site. Rich has quite a bit of data about that here and his other website. That's probably the hardest to diagnose and the easier of the two to deal with, although neither are easy. The second major one would be an allergic reaction to the alloy used in the Prodisc. It's fairly easy to test for that but there isn't much you can do other than pull out the Prodisc at great difficulty and expense and fuse in its place using something you're not allergic to. There are a number of posters who've talked about their allergy testing. That might be a starting point for you to go down that route.

Basically both mechanisms rely on the idea that you might have been near to the point of having an autoimmune problem before you had the additional insult and that was enough to push you over to the point of having it manifest. I've had a similar situation, manifesting differently but of the same character, arising from a mix of long-term allergies, poor diet, and air pollution.
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Laura - L5S1 Charitee
C5/6 and 6/7 Prodisc C
Facet problems L4-S1
General joint hypermobility

Jim - C4/5, C5/6, L4/5 disk bulges and facet damage, L4/5 disk tears, currently using regenerative medicine to address

"There are many Annapurnas in the lives of men" Maurice Herzog
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Old 02-11-2013, 09:43 PM
Doculot Doculot is offline
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Thank you for the information Laura! This is a great forum for information. It is interesting to read the stories and information that is available.
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45yr female -may 2011 MRI showed 4.4 mm right disc extrusion @ c4/5. Bulge left @ c5/c6. Left extrusion w/ ventral cord compression & severe nerve encroachment c6/C7. Oct 2011 ADR Prodisc-C Surgery at c6/c7. April 2012 left tricep damage 50%. Left shoulder surgery 6/12 - developed Autoimmune disease after disc replacement.
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  #6  
Old 02-13-2013, 01:52 AM
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Lillyth Lillyth is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jss View Post
Doculot,

Sincere condolences on your new condition.

To my knowledge there is no known connection between ADR and the onset of an autoimmune disease. There has been at least one poster on this site that discovered she had multiple sclerosis after a successful ADR surgery. The cause of MS is (I believe) unknown, but it is known to be an immune-mediated disease. The aforementioned poster, tumblebug, has not continued on this site, but has responded to PM's; and may respond if you want to contact her.

Good luck, Jeff
Actually, there IS. Not ADR Specifically, but surgeries and trauma. Depending on your point of view, some docs believe there is only one auto immune disease, it simply manifests differently in different people. I'm not sure that I believe it, but I am also not sure I don't

40% of the entire population has the gene for celiac disease. If you have that gene, you may go your entire life without it never being turned on. However, the three most common triggers for turning that gene on are childbirth, auto accidents, and SURGERY. Any type of surgery.

I swear I will not start going around telling *everyone* on here they have celiac (since I just suggested Emilio get tested), but the rapid onset of auto immune disorder right after surgery suggests celiac. Mane people with one auto immune disease find out that they get significant relief from going gluten free, so you could always try it and see. I am always happy to help on this topic. I may have months worth of date on spine stuff, but I have nearly a decade on celiac.
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Multiple traumas to spine starting age 13.
1st American to have 6 ADR's in one surgery. C3-4 - C/7, & L5-S1 - L3-4.
Surgery w/ Dr. Clavel, 3/18/13, M6.
Before surgery: severe spinal stenosis C5/C6 (cord "flattened" per stateside doc), + for Hoffman's & Babinsky's.
At time of surgery: 5 yrs MAX before ending up in wheelchair.
Clavel found L5-S1 partially fused. Had to cut it apart to put in M6.
Please excuse brevity - SEVERE carpel tunnel.
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  #7  
Old 09-30-2013, 11:10 PM
mary2013 mary2013 is offline
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I have a belief that DDD is just a symptom of auto immune and the auto immune actually came first. Basically, my theory is that my bacteria attacked certain parts of my body and it happened to include my discs. I have L4 - S1 ADR from DDD and I have cartilage deterioration in my hips, but I am also seeing a rheumatologist tomorrow for possible sjogren's syndrome. It is interesting that so many of the symptoms include the "drying out" of parts. I guess it doesn't matter if the chicken or the egg came first, but it is very interesting what is occurring at a micro level within each of us.
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Aug 2010 Disc Herniations at L4/L5 and L5/S1
Natural Recovery with PT, Chiro, Pilates, Inversion
Dec 2012 Head on Car Accident
Feb 2013 DDD at L4/L5 and L5/S1
June 2013 Stem Cells at Centeno in Colorado
July 2013 2 level ADR with Clavel
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  #8  
Old 10-01-2013, 09:03 AM
simeoni simeoni is offline
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Hi,

Also bear in mind that when you suffer from long term, intense pain (and possibly take multiple meds because of it), your body and mind are posed to an enormous stress. This alone can trigger an autoimmune disease. When you go through a surgery after all this, the chances are even bigger.

I totally "burned out" already pre-op. After surgery I was weaker than ever. It has certainly left a mark on me. I do not have an auto-immune disease (that I know of), but I have found that I benefit from gluten- and lactose free diet. My stomach has always tried to tell me that it does not like certain foods, and now I have begun to listen.
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- 35 year old guy
- Constant pain and tightness in the right scapula area since 2004
- Misdiagnosed for years
- 2010 cervical MRI -> c6/7 problem
- Developed frozen shoulder during "conservative treatment"
- 2011 prodisc-c nova c 6/7 by Dr. Bertagnoli
- Ongoing neck, scapular and shoulder issues
- Nerve root canal narrowing osteophytes behind adr. Considering revision.
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  #9  
Old 10-01-2013, 12:50 PM
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Lewis01 Lewis01 is offline
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I know people with autoimmune disease that have done a "Heavy Meal" cleanse and have had good results. I believe they just did smoothies everyday with handfuls of Cilantro in it and followed it with Chorella tablets. Some people believe that heavy metals in the body cause MS and other disorders. I don't know if the titanium or other metals from an artificial disc can contribute to that or not. Someone else may have answers to that.

Also, I just started last Thursday an Essential Oils protocol for my back and have had good results already. I thought about this because Essential Oils are supposed to be good for autoimmune disease. My back pain has basically gone away for now. I was extremely skeptical before I started that it would really help, but their are testimonies of people who say they were cured with this. A friend got me into Doterra. It is 100% pure oil they say. I put drops of Frankincense, Helichrysum, and "Deep Blue" (their blend) on my back twice a day. I definitely feel healing going on. Sleeping through the night is one of my biggest problems, but I have been sleeping like a baby every night since I started. I'm not saying this will last and I am still very skeptical that it will actually fix my completely degenerated, dried out, flattened discs, but I like how I feel. The oils are NOT cheap, but if it works it beats the $%#$# out of the cost of surgery.
__________________
Pre 1999: Damage caused from Car & Motorcycle wrecks, Football, US Army, bad diet, etc.
1999: Collapse at work lifting heavy desk; Weekly chiropractor visits until present; Steroid Inj. Pain Mgmt.
2002: Began mostly Raw diet. Got off pain meds Showed much improvement. Weekly Chiro visits
2010: Discogram & MRI - S1 - L2 Lumbar DDD
2011: MRI same. Quality of life issue. Wake up middle of night with leg pain often.
2013: MRI. Had enough. Ready for surgery.
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  #10  
Old 10-01-2013, 09:37 PM
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Harrison Harrison is offline
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I am very happy to see such helpful replies for so many different reasons, thx everyone for helping our new member. Quick thoughts:

- Mary, right on: many people have surgery because of these pre-existing conditions. With RA, many or most conditions have an infectious etiology that include Lyme (Borrelia Burgdorferi) or mycoplasmas.

- Lewis, right on: in countries outside the US, you can get IV with essential oils for a range of chronic conditions. This therapy is not allowed in the states - doctors will be thrown in jail for helping patients heal. Many essential oils can actually penetrate biofilms and disrupt the matrix, allowing other botanicals and/or antbx to kill bugs that get disturbed and awoken.

- simeoni, Lillyth: right on: stress can knock an immune system into overdrive; but so can the constant stress of celiac disease.

- Jim/Laura: thanks for the helpful posts and so MANY years of replying to patients on this forum! Eight years of helping others!!!

- Jeff: Many MS cases in the press in 2013 reveal that patients actually had Lyme disease, and, they've seen improvement with various antibacterial therapies. One reason is crappy Lyme testing: only one of 100+ strains are used for Lyme testing (like in Western Blot)!

I posted more videos on my ADRSupport youtube channel, one today on gut health. More later when I update the foundation forum.

Doculot, you may benefit from DNA-based blood testing like PCR. Doctors will do their damnest to deny you this diagnostic tool -- which is good enough to catch criminals -- and for ALL life sciences -- but usually not good enough for patient care. Most of my documentary is about this very topic. We can talk about this offline later this week if you want.
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"Harrison" - info (at) adrsupport.org
Fell on my ***winter 2003, Canceled fusion April 6 2004
Reborn June 25th, 2004, L5-S1 ADR Charite in Boston
Founder & moderator of ADRSupport - 2004
Founder Arthroplasty Patient Foundation a 501(c)(3) - 2006
Creator & producer, Why Am I Still Sick? - 2012
Donate www.arthropatient.org/about/donate
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