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Dear Pam,
I am sorry I was not on this site earlier to have seen this sooner. Now that I have, I am making a response as best as I can. Is osteopenia in men as serious as it is in women? Or will women progress faster to osteoporosis? I was diagnosed with osteopenios just incidentally when I went for a slipped disc check up. There were two doctors there-- one of them prescribed a high dose injection 6,00,000 IU of vitamin D, once a wekk for one month, saying "You will feel like a different man!"-- to get rid of my leg fatigue. He also prescribed some daily small dose biophosphonates, I think it was the alendronate, Fosamax, and Calcium. Another doctor prescribed Just Actonel 35 mg once a week and Calcium citrate tablets. I took the Actonel for about a year and then stopped. I am taking just Vit 60,000 IU per week for the past one month and calcium citrate one tablet plus three glasses of milk daily. And I am walking long hours on alternate days. I am also doing (infrequently, and once a day) weight bearing exercises like the lunge and back stretch. I am feeling fine -- but I havent had any bone density tests done as there are no facilities here. I will continue with the Vit D for a while longer. How long? I dont know! I wonder whether "feeling fine" is any indication that the osteopenia is in check? Or are there any tell tale symptoms for the lay man??
Thank you for your interesting posts. As some of them relate to women only I havent been able to give my opinions!!
Hope you have been well yourself!!
Best wishes and thanks,
Priya
Hi Priya, thanks for joining us!! Since osteoporosis is a silent disease, I suppose many of us that have it would feel fine until we break a bone. Here's some more info from the National Osteoporosis Foundation and from HealthCentral on men and osteoporosis.
Be sure to get the recommended amounts of calcium, vitamin D and exercise to help slow some of your bone loss. If you have a secondary cause for osteoporosis, like low D levels, low sex hormones or a medical disorder that causes this, you'll need to treat that as well.
Good luck with your treatment, and I hope you can find something where you live that will slow your bone loss.
Dear Pam,
As always we have the consolation of knowing that we have YOU as such a wonderful source of help and medical aid any time that we need it. You guidance and your knowledge are so perfect that one wonders why you are not a doctor or medical researcher yourself! Many thanks. Hope you have been well yourself!
Yours,
Priya
Hello,
My doctor prescribed 70 mg Alendronate Tabs to treat my osteopenia. I am also on steriods for treatment of Addison's Disease and Hypothyroidism. Unfortunately, the Alendronate Tabs caused almost constant muscle and joint pain. I took the meds for 7 weeks and stopped after I realized the medication was probably causing the problems. After being off the medication for 3 weeks, the symptoms started to subside. I notified my physician about this but she told me take the medication anyway. After only two additional doses, the pain has returned, but much worse than the original pain. Needless to say, I am not going to take any additional Alendronate. Would you have any suggestions as to what I could take as a substitute medication? Many thanks.
Hi There are several treatments that aren't in the bisphosphonate class of drugs, that may interest you, which are listed below. The steriods you're taking cause bone loss, but I realize you need to take them for the other medical disorders you have so try to balance this medication with something that slows bone loss.
~ Miacalcin nasal spray (Calcitonin salmon)
~ Fosteum (FDA approved medicinal food)
You could ask your Dr. about these two options and see what they say.
Good luck...
I have just been diagnosed with a 5% decrease in density in my lumbar spine but have been told that it is still within the normal limits. At the same time, my bone density test revealed osteopenia in my left hip. When asked my what my scores were I was told they were not on the report. I am 55 years old and am still pre-menopausal. My mother and two of her 3 sisters had osteoporosis. My mother has had 5 back surgeries due to osteoporosis and her entire spine is now metal. And so, I am very concerned about osteoporosis. About 70-75% of the time I walk, take a multivitamin with calcium and vitamim D and also take 2 tums a day. My doctor, even knowing of my family history is not suggesting any medication, only increased supplements and exercise to prevent further loss. And so while I am not perfect, I wonder if the other 25-30% of my time is enough to stop and/or decrease what I have already lost.
Hi Ellen, I've never heard of a dxa report that didn't have numbers on it, maybe you could ask for a copy, since you have a right to see it and then look it over.
What you are doing for supplements and exercise sound great. I understand that you would be worried about this given your family history, but the osteo medications, are not approved for those pre-menopausal. Some Drs will prescribe them anyway, but others feel that this may not be the best type of treatment.
Since you have osteopenia in the hip, hopefully your good supplement and exercise routine will be enough to raise your t-scores. If you feel that you want to take these meds discuss it with your Dr. to see what he/she says keeping in mind that they really aren't for those pre-meno.
Good luck to you and if you have another question just post again.
hi. i recently had mulitple xrays due to joint pain and swelling. it showed a bone island in my right ankle which is one of the main places i have pain and swelling and "diffuse osteopenia" that "seems a little excessive for age and gender raising the possibilty of osteoporosis" on my bilateral hand xrays. my doctor hasn't even contacted me yet with the results. i was just allowed to view them online thru the mychart service at cleveland clinic. i was on steroids for 6 months 2 years ago due to vasculitis. is this what caused it? should i be concerned? is it reversible? what medications should i be started on? should i have a more indepth bone scan to make sure its not something more serious? at my age (32), am i going to have brittle bones before my two kids get out of primary school??? i am very upset over this and don't know what to do next or what kind of life i have to look forward to...... please help. thanks
Hi ZWSmom, welcome...Sorry to hear about your osteopenia. First an x-ray is not a good indicator of bone mineral density. I would ask your Dr. to order a DXA scan and then see what that says. The World Health Organization on t-scores are as follows:
Normal bone: Any score above -1.0
Osteopenia: Any score between -1.0 and -2.5
Osteoporosis: Any score below -2.5
**These scores will appear on your DXA scan report telling you what your bone mineral density (BMD) is.
Many people feel that osteopenia can be treated with diet, exercise and supplements. Most of the osteoporosis meds are not approved for those who are pre-menopausal.
Here's an article on osteopenia if you'd like to read it. I had osteoporosis at your age, but I wasn't treated, because the only thing available back then was HRT.
See if you can't get the DXA first and then look into the natural things you can do. You probably don't smoke, but if so stop, and if you drink limit it. Supplements and exercise links are below.
There are other things that cause osteoporosis like secondary causes. Also there are medications that can cause bone loss too like steriods, as you mentioned. However, you need to take it daily for over 3 months for it to be considered long-term use and it's the long-term use that causes bone loss. If you have any of the secondary causes, or are taking a med that could cause bone loss, recitifying this can turn you bone loss around. If you do find out from a DXA that you have osteopenia, there as some test that should be done for bone loss that you can read about.
National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) on Calcium
If you have another question just post again, after you get a chance to read all the links.
Good luck...
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I've been diagnosed with osteopenia, brought on by cancer drugs. Since I was already pursuing a healthy lifestyle, including both aerobic/cardiac exercise and weight-lifting; no smoking; no alcohol; and a healthy diet with plenty of vitamin D and calcium, my doctor prescribed a bisphosphonate to try to slow my bone loss, which is continuing to be exacerbated by the cancer drugs.
I'm now on Actonel; I'll be finished with the cancer drugs next year, and although they don't know if my bone loss will be reversed (drugs are too new for much data), they're hopeful that I'll show improvement and be able to discontinue the Actonel at some point thereafter. Thanks for asking this quesiton, Pam - it's an interesting scenario, where you're in between healthy bones and osteoporosis, so neither "no drugs" nor drugs apply to your situation. PJH
Hi PJ, thanks for joining us!! You have a very unique situation and I believe you and your Drs have chosen the correct path for your treatment. I hope Actonel helps and at some point you can stop it.
Many of us do all the right things; exercise, supplements etc. and still have bone loss. Unfortunately cancer drugs cause excellerated bone loss, but I can't imagine you chosing some other course for the treatment of BC, you took what you had to, and now are cancer free!! The down side is the affect that those drugs had on your bone, but you just do what's best for you and keep plugging away. You had to pay a price for taking those drugs, but it saved you life and that is incredible, so the trade off in this case seems unfortunate but well worth it.
All the luck to you, and I hope you can stop both meds at some point with a greatly increased t-score. I'm also glad you have top-notch Drs following your treatment, you can't ask for more in that respect.
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