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Nickel allergy

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I just found out I am allergic to the bone cement (Methylmethacrylacte) the main component. My knee replacement was canceled....I am 65 and overweight.... Have had no luck finding a doctor. I do not even know if I would be a candid for the cementless method....any help with information would be helpfull...Is there a list of doctors that perform this method.?
 
cizaus05 said:
I just found out I am allergic to the bone cement (Methylmethacrylacte) the main component. My knee replacement was canceled....I am 65 and overweight.... Have had no luck finding a doctor. I do not even know if I would be a candid for the cementless method....any help with information would be helpfull...Is there a list of doctors that perform this method.?
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Where do you live?
 
cizaus05 I live in Wisc. and a snowbird in the Phoenix area in winter.
 
I am so sorry. I know this is devastating news to you. My doctors were not too optimistic about cementless implants at my age, 64. I guess the cementless implants are designed for younger people whose bones are more likely to grow. Maybe your bones are in good condition and it will be possible. I hope so. I will keep you in my prayers. There are so many people allergic to bone cement I hope someone is working on a better alternative. Keep in touch and let us know how it works out.
Best Wishes:flwrysmile:
Pam
 
Maybe I missed something but what type of allergy testing did you have? How allergic are you to this additive in the cement? Have you gotten several opinions? Several testing? Reason I'm asking is I am allergic to a lot of thing also, therefore I have the nickel free journey 2 smith and nephew knee and have had no problems.
 
Well as a Snowbird in the winter, you aren't that far from TX! If anyone can help you, it would be Gerhard Maale in Plano TX. He has made a world of difference for me and he does all types of problems so it would be worth a call to find out if he could help you! :)
 
Allergy testing is not done as a standard protocol before surgeries from what I have experienced and read. Many people think they should be standard procedure but some scoff at that. Some will say it is a low percentage of people who are allergic but I can tell you if you happen to be the one allergic, you are going to be in a world of hurt if you have something to which you are allergic implanted in you. My philosophy is better safe than sorry and my health and legs are certainly worth $850, the expense of the two tests I had, to me. The effect of having an implant placed in the body if one is allergic is severe and can cause great suffering. The surgery is difficult enough. I want to avoid as many complications as possible.

www.orthopedicanalysis.com and www.ccrlab.com These are the two places that I know of that test for both metal allergies and bone cement allergies. Orthopedic Analysis Lab is located in Chicago, and Clifford Consulting and Research is located in Colorado Springs. the Orthopedic lab might be the better lab but not sure. Their kits are more professional than the ones that come from Clifford. Clifford claims to test for 4200 things that could be used in TKR surgeries - at least that is what the scientist I spoke with claimed when I called. Clifford tests for everything from soup to nuts including every implant out there. I paid $525 for the Orthopedic Analysis test and $325 for the Clifford test. Clifford will not bill Medicare or any insurance for that matter so their cost will be out of your pocket if you have Medicare. The Orthopedic Lab will bill Medicare but unless you have a doctor code it correctly, it won't be covered either. I had my doctor give me a prescription with the various codes and I sent it in with the kit. I am still waiting to see if Medicare will approve the Chicago lab test. They both will tell you that Medicare probably will not cover the expense of the test. It was worth it to me to be tested because I am sensitive to many things from medicine to adhesive tape. One scientist wrote in his study that 30-40% of the population may be sensitive to nickel. Nickel is an alloy used in every implant that I know of except the Smith and Nephews Oxinium implant. If one is allergic to nickel, the results can be devastating to one's health if nickel is implanted in one's body. Some people, including my OS, claim that no one is allergic to bone cement. I have read the contrary and have read numerous things about the effect it can have on one's health if a person is allergic to it so I was tested for that as well.

The labs will send you a kit. You have your blood drawn somewhere. It might be a challenge finding someone to draw the blood. My hospital was willing to do it for me since I am going to have my surgery there. You Fedex Express the blood kit overnight back to the lab and then they will report the results back to you via email.

My personal feeling about testing is it would be terrible to have something implanted in me that would make me sick and then have to go through another surgery to have it removed. The process of finally determining that a bad reaction is actually caused by an allergic reaction is long and arduous because most docs don't want to admit or are ignorant about allergies. Meanwhile the patient suffers until the doc admits it may be an allergy and agrees to remove the implant. I just don't even want to go there so I was willing to pay the expense to find out if I was safe and I found out that I am indeed allergic to nickel and possibly bone cement. My doctor changed the implant he was going to use to the Smith and Nephews Oxinium implant because of my test results. He said the test results were, " most impressive" and knows the doctors who established the lab in Chicago. I am on the borderline of low sensitivity to bone cement according to the Chicago test. I am waiting for the results from Clifford to see what they come up with. Better safe than sorry I always say. If I hadn't been on the borderline of an allergy to bone cement and also to the zirconium that is in the Oxinium implant, I probably would have just gone with the Chicago Lab test. Good luck.
 
Ducktape, I don't know what to tell you because I haven't been able to get a clear answer about sensitization over time. I believe it is not known. The Nobel Peace Prize winners for medicine for 2011 studied this to some extent but I didn't fully understand their article. I think it is possible to become sensitized over time but no one knows for sure why or how. If what my OS says is true and what Josephine has written on the subject is accurate, you should be fine. You can still be tested for bone cement allergy at the Orthopedic Analysis Lab out of Chicago that I wrote about above. If you test positive to bone cement, I would just keep this in mind if later on you become ill and no one can figure out why. I personally would get a test now to get a baseline. If you become ill on down the line, I might be tested again to see if the rate has increased. This might help to diagnose an allergy/illness problem in the future. I am no doctor but this is what I would do - just my common sense I guess. I have read about people who become ill years on down the line and they can't figure out what the problem is until they find out about their allergies. So far I have talked to 3 OS's about sensitization and an allergist. None of them knows whether a person can or will become sensitized over time. I will be interviewing another at USC on Sept 6. If I learn anything different, I will let you know.
Best wishes,
Pam
 
Ducktape, I have been thinking about my response to you and realized you may not know what I mean by sensitiztion over time. It is possible to ingest a substance and not experience a reaction right away but later on experience a full blown allergic reaction. That has happened to me. My concern about the implants and the bone cement is whether I may be OK now but over time I may develop an intolerance to the metal or cement. No one seems to know whether that can or will occur. That makes me uneasy. Because a small percentage of people end up allergic, the docs don't seem to know much about allergies. I read that there are about 1,000,000 knee replacements per year so that would be about 10,000 people who suffer from allergic reactions. That seems like a fair amount to me but the doctors don't seem to know much about it and don't seem to care to bother with the subject. It can be devastating to the patient who ends up allergic however.
 
I don't know much about allergies, really, because it's one of the few issues I don't have. But if your knees are bad enough, it's pretty devastating to continue living with that pain. :sad: As I sure I don't need to say, there's no way to be sure about everything and eliminate all risk. You're smart to investigate these things but I suspect at some point you will just have to decide if you're willing to take some risks in order to be able to continue walking. Hope you can get the info you need to feel somewhat reassured and come to peace with a decision to go for it or not.:whistle:
 
Yes, there will be a point when I just have to hold my nose and dive in. I am just about there. I have done my best to eliminate as much risk as possible and if things don't go well, I won't have regrets because I did my best to protect myself from a bad outcome. My grandfather had a funny saying, "None of us gets out of this life alive anyway." :) This whole knee replacement thing seems to be scary to everyone. At least we have one another to lean on. If I hadn't found this site, I probably would not have considered the possiblity of allergy and would not have found out that I was allergic to nickel before the surgery. That would not have been good at all since the surgeon was going to use an implant that has nickel. This forum basically saved me. I can't even put into words how grateful I am to have found that information on this site.
 
Mind if I jump in here even though I'm a hippie? :) Preparing for a RTHR in a few weeks and I was just thinking about metal allergies. I found this article, even happens to be local! Followed the story to the hosiptal in town that seems to have been doing this for a few years broken link removed: https://www.nationaljewish.org/professionals/clinical-services/diagnostics/adx/about-us/lab-expertise/metal-hypersensitivity/.

Hope this may be useful to someone out there!
 
Thanks for posting that article. People don't realize that allergies to the metals or cement can be really bad. The worst is when a person doesn't want to spend the money for the test. That decision, in my perception, is being penny wise and pound foolish. How much is one's health worth?
 
I got my allergy testing back from Clifford Consulting and Research and I am GOOD TO GO! I tested negative to bone cement and the Oxinium implant will work fine. I am so relieved. That eliminates a lot of worry about this surgery for me. I am very impressed with the test I had. They reported on everything from sutures to staples to formaldehyde - 4200 things a person might come into contact with during a surgery. As long as my surgeon can avoid the things I tested positive to, I think I am home free! What a relief! Now to get up the courage to actually go through with the surgery. I am still terrified.
 
One thing I did react to is the new silver bandages that are used to discourage infection. I am allergic to silver as well, so it will be the old fashioned kind I guess. That really isn't so bad I think.
 
Don't worry about the silver dressings - so far as I have been able to discern, they are not very commonly used as they are humongously expensive!
 
OK. Thanks. I know the first surgeon I interviewed uses them. I never would have thought of something like that but it showed up on the allergy test results. The test includes more than I could imagine. I also found out heart stents would not work for me as well as mouth guards. I am really glad to have learned all of the things that don't work. I will be prepared for no matter what kind of surgery I may have in the future. I think I also just figured out why my knees fell apart. It is the Sjogren's disease. I like to know why things happen and have been wondering since no one in my family ever had knee problems. I didn't realize all of the things that are affected by Sjogrens.
 
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