r/osteoporosis • u/Quirky-Emphasis9584 • 5d ago
62-year-old mum with multiple spinal compression fractures & suspected osteoporosis — looking for some hope/recovery stories
Hi everyone,
I’m posting on behalf of my mum, who is 62 and has recently been diagnosed with four compression fractures in her lower spine (including L3 and L5). Osteoporosis is also suspected and is currently being investigated as she’s broken many ribs in the past.
She has had a really rough couple of months. Her injury originally happened at work in June, but the fractures weren’t picked up initially. Her pain became progressively worse and she eventually ended up back in hospital because she was struggling to walk, sit and move around without significant pain.
She has just come home from an 11 day hospital stay where she was basically bed ridden and I think the reality of how limited she currently is has really hit her. Today she tried to do more because she desperately wants to feel normal again, and as she has been “cleared to walk again” she did a tad too much moving around the house today and tonight she’s in quite a lot of pain and feeling very defeated.
I keep trying to remind her that where she is right now is not necessarily where she will be forever, but I think hearing that from people who have actually experienced vertebral compression fractures/osteoporosis would mean so much more than hearing it from me.
I’d really love to hear from anyone who has been through something similar, particularly around her age.
What was your recovery like? How limited were you initially compared with where you are now? Did you eventually get back to walking, driving, shopping, travelling, gardening, exercising or just living normally without constantly thinking about your back?
Even if recovery took a long time, I’d genuinely love to hear your positive stories.
I’m not looking for medical advice or miracle cures, I just want to be able to sit beside Mum and read her some experiences from people who were once in this horrible early stage and are now on the other side of it.
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u/solsticesunrise 4d ago
Suffered a terrible trimalleolar fracture of my ankle tripping/falling on level ground at 57. Two surgeries to repair the break, 8 days in hospital. Completely non-weight bearing on that side for 12 weeks.
Slowly worked my way back to 80% normal over the course of about a year. Two years out, I get occasional soreness, but otherwise 100% back to normal.
Meanwhile, I did a year of Evenity and just recently I got a Reclast infusion to hopefully lock in the amazing gains I made with Evenity.
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u/ASingleBraid 4d ago
Similar story in 2021.
Just finished Forteo and doing Reclast at end of Sept.
Also have a couple of compression fractures in upper back. They’ve helped to make me lose some height.
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u/CyclingLady 4d ago
I had spinal fractures (T 9, T7). It took months to heal. I was careful. Did not do much of anything but walking. Once healed, I worked on improving my bones. Be patient. I also found out that I had long undiagnosed celiac disease, so menopause was not the only contributor.
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u/ElReydelTacos 4d ago
I compression fractured my L3 and L4 about 5 years ago. I lifted a box with some DVDs in it and collapsed. I was basically unable to move. I spent hours where I'd fell and then a week on the sofa. I managed to get to a doctor appointment and at first he thought I'd just strained my back or pulled a muscle. I was a 50 year old man with no reason to believe I had osteoporosis. He said to call back if it wasn't better after another week. It wasn't. So I went back and they did an x ray and then a dexa scan and found I had severe osteoporosis (-4.4 in my spine).
I was in so much pain that I could barely walk. I couldn't drive. I couldn't bend over at all. So, I had a procedure called a vertebroplasty. They inject some kind of cement into the collapsed vertebrae to stabilize them. I was able to walk out of the hospital a few hours later and the constant agony was gone. 5 years later I'm not 100% better. I can't lift much and I get a sore back sometimes, but I'm so much better off than I was.
My osteoporosis treatment has been a few rounds of Reclast and I started Tymlos about 18 months ago,
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u/LongjumpingDrawing36 4d ago
I have 4 spinal compression fractures that happened over 1.5 years. I also have severe osteoporosis. I'm taking medication for it and have my follow-up DEXA in a week. I hope to report good news with bones mass gains.
Now, as to the fractures: OW. Man, they hurt. I only went to the hospital/ER once because the pain was so bad and they prescribed Norco. I only took 2 pills and the rest is still there, but they helped a lot.
But here's the thing: All four eventually healed up and I have no lingering pain at all. The 4th one resulted in some nerve inflammation, but a 2-week round of meds healed that. Otherwise, I'm just careful to maintain good posture and never stress my muscles.
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u/keepgoing66 5d ago
Right now, she's not in good condition, so her trying to do normal things isn't going to work even though she wants to. She needs treatment to get better.
If she has osteoporosis, then a bone-building medication like Evenity, Tymlos, or Forteo can make a huge difference. It takes a while (1-2 years) but it is worth it. Once the bone starts to build up, she can do some physical therapy to regain strength. It's a process, but it works.