pre menopause osteopenia
I am 31 years old and my dexa scan revealed osteopenia. -1.7 in my femoral head and -2.1 in my lumbar spine. I had a past history of an eating disorder for many years. Is there any hope for me in reversing this? I am scared.
Hi vtivt, welcome and thanks for your question. First off try not to be scared, it's a common reaction for all of us be it does go away once you understand this bone disorder better. I was your age when I was diagnosed and back then the only treatment was HRT, but with medical advances I was able to find something that worked very well.
There certainly are things you can do to treat and slow your bone loss even though you are pre-meno. Almost all of the osteo meds are approved for post-meno women but some Drs will prescribe it anyway if your scores are really low, which yours aren't. That said, you still need to be diligent in your treatment choices to prevent osteopenia from turing into osteoporosis. Osteopenia is not a disease like osteoporosis is, but it's a precursor to osteoporosis that just mean "low bone mass," which most of us have.
If your eating disorder is resolved you should see improvements in t-scores since you no longer have this medical disorder that robs your bones of vital nutrients.
Be sure to get the recommended amounts of calcium, vit d, and weight bearing execises as often as you can. If you are able to exercise without causing pain, then as much as you can incorporate into your life the better. The links above are from the NOF.
The National Osteoporosis recommendations for Supplements are:
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1,000 mgs a day of calcium in divided doses (those under 50)
400- 800 International Units daily of D3 (those under 50) These figures are under debate, so do some reading on vitamin D3.
Exercise for half hour or more most days of the week.
There are other supplements that help bone like vit K, phosphorous, magnesium and potassium. This is not a complete list, but you can find that at the NOF (National Osteoporosis Foundations) web site under "prevention."
If you are interested in a natural treatment that is FDA approve for both post and pre-meno women you could ask your Dr about Fosteum. Here's an article that explains the supplement. This medicinal food does require a Dr's prescription.
Good luck and let us know how you do
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