TOPIC: At the PMMA start line.

I do have a picture...

It looks similar to what happened to Olafspo. Unfortunately he removed his photos, but if you PM him, he might still have them. His cleared up after a couple of weeks.

Whilst I'm sure it doesn't feel great to touch, at least it's hard to detect by sight. I can see some lumps and can imagine it's much more obvious to touch, but you Flaccid looks better than most, not that it will be much consolation.

Thanks for posting pics - red. I see what you're talking about. Did Dr. C and Wade agree w/ Lemperle that Gonorrhea was the cause? Is that little bump on top where they tried injecting the new 10% ?

Ya - the little red bump is the entry site.

Apparently systemic infections can trigger an immune response to attack the PMMA. Once cleared up I've been told it shouldnt happen again. Fingers crossed.

The Alopurinol is making my joint pain much worse so I'm going to stop taking that. I'm going to my Dr to get blood work done and see if the inflammation in my joints is something that is actually causing the inflammation in my implant as opposed to the other way around.

I was hoping by now I would have better news, and for a week or so I thought I did but things have not improved.

I think having the 10% to cover the "nodules" was a BIG mistake as my body is having a pretty strong inflammatory response. All my joints and ligaments around the joints are in pain. It comes and goes and hits different joints at different times. The area where the new PMMA was added has many lumps, maybe its granulomas or maybe just inflammatory response but it's very bothersome. Still looks normal but feels anything but. Nodules are bigger when joint pain is occurring.

My layman's mind thinks that the increased joint pain etc is happening as an immune response to the new product and that HOPEFULLY, in 3 - 6 months, when the normal collagen formation process would be over, the inflammation will calm down.

In the meantime I'm taking oral hydro cortisone which has helped a bit and going for my 3rd visit to TJ.

Sorry to hear things aren't going so well. It is interesting to me that when you started Allopurinol your joint pain worsened. This is very typical response when you have gout, also is very common to have flare up when going off Allopurinol. It sounds to me like you may have some underlying gout and or arthritis issues. When you go see your Dr. you should have your uric acid levels checked which is strong indicator of gout. Have them check sedimentation rate as well which can indicate any number of arthritis conditions as it show levels of inflammation in your body. I can be sort of guinea pig for you as I went off my allopurinol and Sulfa because the immune suppressing and anti-inflammatory nature of the meds totally killed any decent response to my PMMA treatment. I go back in about 4 weeks to try again, and I will be off all meds for almost 2 months, so if I have strong reaction it will be interesting to see if I get same joint pain response as well. If you have any type of arthritis or gout then even when your body is done responding to PMMA your joint pain will likely continue and even get worse as time passes. I really think you should see rheumatologist at some point as they have wide array of decent meds that really stop the joint destruction and pain. If you have autoimmune disorder then it makes sense that the PMMA is making joint pain worse because your immune system is on high alert and most likely attacking your joints more aggressively as well. Take care Red

My Dr tested my liver and kidney function and said that was enough of an indicator to rule out any auto immune disorders and Gout. I asked if he could test my uric acid levels and he said no. Maybe I'll find a new Dr. He also said that Gout attacks one specific joint and not an all over case like mine.

I thought it was strange that Allopurinol made my joints flare up, but how many people without Gout actually use the drug? Seems like joint pain could be a random side effect for anyone.

Puell75 wrote: Have them check sedimentation rate as well which can indicate any number of arthritis conditions as it show levels of inflammation in your body.

Yeah, I had mentioned this too...would be a useful test... also called an ESR. Sorry things aren't improving. Hopefully someone in the states can get you the right labwork to stop whatever is happening. You might need a medrol dosepack or prednisone to just calm things down.

Blood work is all fine. No Gout, no arthritis of any kind. Attribute joint pains to systemic reaction to PMMA triggered by bacterial infection 3 months prior.

Things have calmed down substantially and many of the bumps have disappeared or been reduced. It's not perfect but it's much much better. I did 2 rounds of Kenalog which probably helped a lot.The area with new 10% has also smoothed out more than I could have hoped. In time I'm sure it will get even smoother as was the case with my previous round.

Joint pain still comes and goes at times but nothing compared to before.

Glad I pushed thru. Thanks everyone who offered support and advice.

Great news! Glad to hear pain is getting better and your penis is smoothing out as well.

Really glad to hear that you're doing better. Hope it keeps improving and that you're totally comfortable with your condition.

That's great! Phew. Is the size looking good too? I found that the 10% really smoothed out around 10 weeks. was bumpy week 3-8.

Quick update. I had another "flare up" about 5 days ago. Implant was inflamed and looked all lopsided and lumpy, groin area was sore, joints inflamed and I think my lymph nodes were swollen. It lasted 5 days and then suddenly just went down. All seems fine again today.

Update: Been 3 months since the inflammation of PMMA started. Things are much much better. The implant feels pretty good with most bumps having smoothed out considerably. It's not perfect yet but it feels much more natural than it did even a month ago.

Joint pain has also gone away for the most part. Took oral hydrocortisone for past couple of months and now slowly reducing the dose. Also did a Candida cleanse which seems to have helped a ton.

All in all I'd say I'm 85% back to normal. I am very glad I muscled through and took the advice of Dr C. There were many moments where I thought I was going crazy but I made it through. If you are going through the same type of thing my advice is have patience and try to stay calm. It will get better.

Thanks
R

Sooo good to hear. thanks for the update red.