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Untitled Comment
PJ Hamel
Thursday, October 08, 2009 at 07:39 PMre: Untitled Comment
Pam Flores
Friday, October 09, 2009 at 03:47 PMHi 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.
Join us anytime
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osteopenia treatment
nathji
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 11:02 PMDear 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
re: osteopenia treatment
Pam Flores
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 03:39 PMHi 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.
re: re: osteopenia treatment
nathji
Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 10:43 PMDear 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
re: re: re: osteopenia treatment
Pam Flores
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 03:17 PMHi Priya, thanks for your kinds words, that is very nice of you!! We appreciate your input as well and hope you continue to enlighten us on your experiences dealing with osteopenia.
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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