I was pulling something heavy about 3 weeks ago and felt a huge pop in my ribs. I am still sore so I could have broke one.

I have had hip pain for months. I have an MRI scheduled for Monday morning. The doc thinks it is Avascular Nocrosis (spelling??). Something to do with blood supply cut off from bones, pretty typical for people on steriods. So he says. Not sure which is worse, the damage that the steriods cause or Addison\'s untreated?

Ugh. My doctor told me today I have osteoporosis. My lab work confirmed it about the same time I discovered all the rib fractures. So I get more meds to try to treat that. I will soon have more damn pills than the pharmacy. The pain is unreal. These ribs have flattened me. I can hardly move. Now I have to travel with them. UGH. I\'m beginning to think more than half my problems are from taking the frickin steroids alone. What kind of treatment are they if they cause more problems than they solve? Sigh. I\'m distressed. And frustrated. And scared. And angry. AND IT HURTS.

I totally understand......I have not broken anything yet (knock on wood) but having constant pain does start to wear away at the inner strenght. I am really ticked off at my specialists, he put me on the steriods but did not put me on anything to help the bones, like Fosamax. Surely he knew that the steriods would destroy bones, alot of us are talking about bone pain....so why not prevent it!!! If you are reading this and you are new to Addison\'s then bug your doc about preventing bone damage. Might help you out in a few years.

You know, I'm kind of amazed that no one has thought of putting me on bone meds before this. I've been on prednisone for about 6 years now and you would think someone in the medical mess that are my doctors would have thought of it. But no . . . they wait until there is so much damage that my ribs are breaking like twigs to do anything. UGH. Course, now they put me on stuff and we're playing catch up, but geez, too little too late. My bones are damaged and who knows if we can get them better. I swear the medical care we get anymore is so dismal . . . .

I asked my endo during my initial visit this week about bone density issues. She told me it should not be a problem since I'm only replacing (with hydrocortizone) what my body naturally produces. That seems to make sense to me, but reading what you are going through is scary and confusing. I see her in a few weeks again, and will bring it up again.

JCoatney,
That is what they have said to me as well. It shouldn't be an issue. THey keep saying if you get the side effects from the steroids you are taking too much. Well, over time I have not taken large doses of this stuff, except for periods when I was real stressed. I think I was taking too much over the winter this iyear, because I put on weight on got some of the fat face stuff and so on. But this degree of bone degeneration has to have been happening for a long time. I know I broke a rib 2 winters ago - same sort of thing that has been going on this year, but it only happened once. This year it just keeps happening over and over. And these recent breaks are so painful. Gah. Anyway, if it is just due to the steroids then maybe I should get off them - but then what happens to the whole adrenal issue? Gawd, I don't know.

I recently read this article (see link below) about how high cortisol levels affect the body. I wonder if your levels are too high and possibly causing the bone loss. I would be curious to see if you have any of the other issues described in this article.

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2004/jul2004_report_cortisol_01.htm

-Jim

Well, My MRI came back positive for me not having Avasular Nocrosis....Yeah!!! So I asked my Doc what the next step was. His response was "Keep taking your pain meds and lets ride this out and see what happens". Ride this out?? Let him walk around everyday in pain and see how much he wants to "RIDE IT OUT". I agree with your comment Vanyel, when you said that the medical care is getting so dismal. I am just at a loss, I have to take the steriods to live, but the damage they cause.... Which is the lesser of the two evils???

Morning Vanyel,
I'd been reading through some older posts to get to know some people and the problems they're having. I'm so sorry for the pain and the fractures you're enduring. And God Bless You for being there for so many, when you are hurting. When my bone scan was done last fall, ( the whole 5'8 1/2' of it. ) :) ( I always was 5' 10 1/2. Anyway, I've shrunk due to osteoporosis. And the osteoarthritis. I've had some bones that fractured easily, but nothing like what you're going through. :( At an orthopedic specialist, I'd asked him, ( plus I had asked many before, that had no clue), why I have all these little hard bumps along my bones. They're like little bb's under the skin. If I bend my arm up, and rub the back side of my elbow, there's a group of them. They move on occassion, cause I've gone to lean my elbows on a table and get a shocking pain. I have some on the front of my shin bones, and even on my fingers. Near the joints. It's hard to explain them actually. no one could tell me what they were. I was just curious. The surgeon that did the artroplasty said they are bits of calcium that had been leached from my bones. That if your body is very acidic that it will leach the calcium to alkaline the body to it's normal state. I remembered that from somewhere else long ago. ( nursing maybe ??) Plus the amts of protein and the sodium we ingest, boosts the amt of calcium from our body in the urine. ( We all love our sodium ) I'm not saying that's your problem. But that it does happen. It's good to replace the calcium. I unfortunately couldn't tolerate it. I'd be violently ill every time I'd try to take it. I'd tried them all.
But I looked up bone leaching / reasons, and found a site that pretty much explains what I'd been told. It doesn't mention the little bumps I have though! If ya feel up to checking it out it's:

www.vitalearth.org/benefits_of_calcium.htm

years ago we went to a natural healer and got herbs and whatever for different things ( one of the many times I was deathly ill and no one knew why ). But I remember her testing the ph of our bodies

I'm going to try to get something down. These antibiotics ar ripping my stomace apart. And I'm glad you feel somewhat stronger today! I don't know if you'll even see this since it's an older post. Hope you do!.

Perhaps it is not the steroids that are causing this.
I know for sure my mother NEVER took steroids for anything and she is having serious trouble with breaking her ribs doing the oddest things. Such as, leaning over her bathtub trying to wash it, being hugged bu her brother, etc
You may well ALSO ha
ve osteoporosis NOT caused by the steroids. I also have not been on steroids and I have begun having problems as well. I used to have SUPER strong bones. I have taken some violent falls, had my hand crushed, been hit by a car and shockingly nothing was broken!
4 years ago I fell backwards off a ladder and hit the cement and broke my tailbone. I can no longer stub my toes on anything or they break, I cannot get my fingers smashed in anything or they break.
I have osteoporosis in the lower end of my back now and I have problems with vitamin D deficiency that I had to take prescription D for. I take a multi vitamin every day. I drink milk eat cheese and still had the problem.

Vanyel, I didn't have time to try to find other posts but didn't you say that you have complete arenal failure? As in NO cortisol, NO aldosterone, NO DHEA?

I read about how people with lupus (and on steroids) are given DHEA to prevent mineral loss in their bones and studies had shown that those that take it regain bone density.

The gradual loss of DHEA coincides with muscle mass loss, bone density loss and weakened immune systems. It also causes depression.If a gradual loss causes all this imaginewhat having NONE of your own DHEA does to your bones.

Maremma,
Thanks for the idea. I have been taking DHEA since we discovered the lack. I take DHEA, Cortisol, Aldosterone, and Progesterone. Also thyroid hormone and testosterone. And I'm still a mess!

Vanyel