I'm only in my 40's but have little bits of bone growing in
various places where they shouldn't. Some unfortunately
into major nerves in my neck and also into my spinal cord.
Thankfully it went into remission before my date for
surgery came up so operation on hold. The surgery itself
carries a risk of paralysis or death, so I'm hoping it
stays permanently in remission. I just have to take care
not to jar or inflame the vertebrae. Swinging an axe is
something I do with care and moderation!

David, this sounds horribly familiar. I have bony spurs growing on my neck
vertebrae and without gentle chiropractic intervention can't walk straight
after a week or so. Yesterday, I did some gentle gardening but it involved
quite a lot of bending and then standing up etc. just to tidy things up and
carry the debris to the wheelbarrow. Later that evening I had a sudden loss
of balance which usually indicates my entire spine is right 'out'. A couple
of weeks ago, I suddenly had a brief period of double vision and feeling
very weak, almost faint. My previous doc wouldn't even arrange for an X-ray
on the grounds that I wouldn't want an operation such as you describe,
whatever happened to show up on the X-ray. The chiropractor *did*
commission an X-ray and while it's not awful, it's not terrifically good,
either.
I wonder if you'd be kind enough to email me about this? (remove weeds from
address) I'd be very glad to hear from someone with similar symptoms,
though yours sound worse than mine are at present.


I have similar things that come and go -- and thanks be, go for a lot of
the time;!..

BTW read today on the Ceefax news that theres an upsurge in cases of
Gout in the US of A, seems to be caused by too many sugary fizzy drinks
wrong sort of fructose..

Not directly to do with osteophytes or bone spurs, but all part 'n
parcel of the arthritic parcel of problems we have to endure;!....

BTW there is a news group uk.people.support.artertits but its a very
low post rate group..

And some there are -very- afflicted by this awful condition.

Some would love to be able to walk around in the garden, let alone tend
it..
--
Tony Sayer