Hi Yellowbrd, welcome... Mild to severe muscle, bone and joint pain is a side effect of Fosamax and all the bisphosphonates (Actonel, Boniva and Reclast) and I can't say if it will go away because we all react so differently. Many Drs aren't prescribing this med for osteopenia, but it's up to the Dr. depending on your family history, whether you've fractured or not and what your current risk of fracture is. You may want to discuss this with him to see what he thinks. The general concensus now with the experts is to not prescribe this for osteopenia unless it's absolutely necessary. They can also do a FRAX score to see what your precentage of fracture risk is, and this will help with the diagnosis. With the FRAX link (above) you can enter your info and see what your risk is for fracture, but you need the results of your last DXA to fill it out, plus some other info.
If you do continue to take this, it is not recommended for more than 3-5 years. Let us know what you find out if you choose to- OK? If you have another question just post again.
Good luck...
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I'm steamed about the side effects of Fosamax and these other drugs. I would rather not take an osteoporosis drug if I could prevent falls and trips and fractures through my own use of common sense and via my own behavior, like working out at the gym and getting 1200 mg of calcium in my diet every day.
There's no excuse for popping a pill instead of doing things on your own to prevent illnesses that a person might have control over. If you absolutely can't control something on your own, immediate treatment with a drug might be necessary.
Only I also read where drugs used to treat other things caused dementia. When the drug was discontinued, the person was fine. Only because they developed dementia due to the drug the doctor diagnosed them with Alzheimer's.
I read about this in the sensational book Our Daily Meds by Melody Peterson. It was quite an eye-opener.
Do you think it's possible to prevent osteoporosis simply by getting enough calcium and exercise?
Regards,
Christina
Hi Chris, thanks for stopping by! I believe that anything is possible, but if you asked the Drs this question they'll probably say that diet, exercise and supplements aren't enough to prevent bone loss, but definitely necessary to help. I took all the supplements, calcium, vitamin d, magnesium, etc. and was extremely active most of my life but still got osteoporosis. I did go through early meno, and had many spinal fractures so maybe that's why it didn't work for me, plus I had a strong family history of hip fractures on both my mother and fathers side.
My best advice is to take the supplements mentioned above and K2 (Mk4 fraction form) and see how you do. Have a DXA, and see where you stand. If you don't improve your t-scores you can always revisit your treatment later. If you haven't had a DXA yet, please get one so you'll have a base line score. But what you're doing is great you just need to add some additional supplements. Without vitamin D, and the others mentioned you won't be getting all you need.
Here's an article with Dr. Bill Davis on the Institute of Medicine recent recommendations on calcium and D that have been highly debated. I think you'll find this interview very interesting, and his theory is much the same as my Dr. and many of the D/calcium experts.
I get most of my calcium from food to prevent arterial plaque/kidney stones, but even some disagree with this, but not many. I have to be careful because I had hypercalcemia for years and had to lower my calcium intake and use mostly food sources. Be sure to calculate you food sources of calcium/D and then add that total to the supplements that you'd need to make up the difference of the RDI.
Good luck with whatever you decide and keep us posted on your progress. Please have your vitamin D tested, so you know how much to take. Without this test you won't know how deficient you are, and very few foods have D.
Thanks for stopping by...
I used to take a supplement vitamin D cholecalciferol gel caps. Maybe I should resume taking them. My calcium-fortified orange juice has Vitamin D. I get 1,000 to 1,200 mg calcium from my food sources every day. Most likely I could resume having a glass of skim milk with dinner to make sure I get at least 1,200 mg calcium in my diet every day. Right now I don't take calcium supplements. I get about 300 mg from the fortified orange juice, and 200 mg from yogurt and oh, yes, 500 mg from my multivitamin I take that has calcium in it. So I get at least 1,000 mg in calcium. I read years ago that women in our later years need 1,200 mg of calcium per day. I will read the article you link to and see.
Would insurance cover a DEXA at my age? I'm 46, I'll be 47 in April.
Regards,
Christina
Hi Chris, Your calcium intake sounds good, and I would start the D again. You should take D with your largest meal of the day since you need fat to assimilate it. Vitamin D is fat-soluble.
It's hard to say if your insurance will cover the DXA, but many do at any age. Many younger individuals have a medical disorder that can cause bone loss or are taking medication that can cause it as well. You may want to look at these and see if any apply. Even if you don't have any secondary or medication causes, many insurance companies cover this any way as a screening test. Unfortunately children and young adults can have bone loss, so I think the insurance companies are trying to include these patients, in most cases, but I'm sure there are exceptions with some insurance companies.
If you haven't had you vitamin D tested, you should. The test is a simple blood test, and most people are deficient, especially if you live in a northern latitude. If you D test score is normal, then you could take the RDI which is 1000 IU's a day. If you are low in this, then you'd need to ask your Dr. how much to take.
Good luck with all this and let's us know how you do.