> Nobody told me gadolinium can be retained before I had it the first couple times.

The reason these publications exist is that this is new knowledge

> Like somebody else mentioned, they swore up and down it's perfectly safe.

I am positive that you were not told that '[gadolinium] is perfectly safe' because there is a well-known complication of gadolinium administration. It's rare, but it's mentioned in every consent form.

> I am positive that you were not told that '[gadolinium] is perfectly safe' because there is a well-known complication of gadolinium administration. It's rare, but it's mentioned in every consent form.

Consent is not "Sign this cause its the only course of treatment". And thats what happens almost every time.

And yes, I too have gadolinium retention in my joint. 3 MRIs. And no, was not told this was a complication... But I'm sure the papers I signed included weasel words to that effect.

> And yes, I too have gadolinium retention in my joint. 3 MRIs. And no, was not told this was a complication... But I'm sure the papers I signed included weasel words to that effect.

The presence of the gadolinium is not a complication. At best, it is an unintended side effect whose clinical significance is not known.

A complication is an unexpected/non-routine, negative outcome. We now have learned that the deposition is something to expect. There is no new information around clinical changes that one can attribute to gadolinium.

On my recent MRI, it caused significant metallic cloudiness in interpreting. It was metallic cloudy specks everywhere.

Making every future MRI worse is of large concern, especially if there are other nonmetallic contrasts.

I think you must have misunderstood where the artifact was coming from. Gadolinium retention has been shown to occur, but has not been reliably linked to any clinical symptoms. Gadolinium tissue retention also does not interfere in interpretation.

> On my recent MRI, it caused significant metallic cloudiness in interpreting. It was metallic cloudy specks everywhere.

I am sure this is true - and it also occurs in people who get braces, certain piercings, people who have had implants or (unfortunately) gun shots.

These aren't complications in any sense of the word.

Metallic cloudiness isn't a thing in MRI.

Metal artifact and contrast enhancement (from gad) look very different. Accumulation in a joint is unusual too, though direct injection during an arthrogram would cause this. It generally goes away over a couple of days as it’s absorbed.

The more I see these types of things the more my skepticism shoots up when someone tells me something is perfectly safe.