Hi emmie, welcome...great question!  According to Primus, the manufacturer of Fosteum, FOSTEUM® consists of a specially formulated proprietary blend of high purity genistein aglycone from a natural source, citrated zinc bisglycinate and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), and the Citracal Bone Density Builder doesn't mention this type.  On the Citracal bottle it recommends 2 tablets twice a day totalling 108 mg of genistein, so I would ask about this amount as well since Fosteum only includes half that a day.  I'm certainly not a chemist, so I can't say what the difference is between the two.  You can read more about Fosteum's Prescribing info from Primus and see what you think.  I would also ask your Dr. or a Pharmacist what they think since they would be the best source of info for evaluating and comparing these two forms of genistein.  I'm assuming there must be a difference between the two, but I really have nothing to base that on.

Here's an interview I did with one of the Drs who work on the clinical trial for Fosteum; maybe you can gleen some info from this.  I do remember a question about taking over the counter genistein and there was an answer that explains this.  There's also an interesting quote within the above interview, which I'll include here about over-the-counter supplements and prescribed medicines and the differences between the two.

I know that there is a OTC product that claims to have the same ingredients. I have a problem with that, and I won't even mention patent infringement. Fosteum is a medical food. One of the requirements of the classification is that the product be used to treat a recognized disease state and that it be given under supervision of a medical professional. Every Fosteum bottle comes with full Prescribing Information (PI). Included in the PI are such things as Contraindications, Drug Interactions, etc., all based on scientific studies. There are people who should not take Fosteum. The OTC product does not address any of these potential problems leaving the consumer unaware and vulnerable.  ( Armbruster, MA, 2009: Interview on Fosteum).

Also, Primus does offer financial help to pay for your prescription, even if you have insurance, so you may want to look into that also, just in case you decide on the prescribed form. 

Good luck on your search for information on this!

emmie

10/21/11 7:03pm

Hi, thanks for looking into this. I have a  bottle of Citrical with Bone Density Builder right in front of me, and you are supposed to take 2 tablets, twice daily. 2 tabs (the "serving size"contains 27 mg genistein, and 2x27=54 mg which is exactly what is in the recommended dose of Fosteum.  I suspect it is exactly the same genestein as in Fosteum, but what we really need is a chemist from Citrical to answer this one for us; not enough info on the label for me to tell.  The Citrical contains zinc as well, but as zinc oxide instead of citrated zinc bisglycinate, and it also contains vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). In addition, it throws in some magnesium, calcium, molybdenum, boron, manganese and copper; I suspect this is just to make it different enough from Fosteum to avoid patent issues but I don't really know. What I'd like to hear from readers is if they have had any success (or not) with these products. Some clinical studies showed results from genestein on the same order as that seen with HRT (Morabito et al, J. Bone Min. Res. 2002, 17:1904-1912; also see Atteritano et al, Osteoporosis Int. 2009, 20:1947-1954) which looks promising to me. I'd like to hear from anyone out there about their experiences with genestein, either as Fosteum or Citrical w Bone Density Builder. I've started taking Citrical but it will be a while before I have another DEXA scan to know if anything is going on. Can't look at bone markers in my case because I'm recovering from recent fractures. Just have to wait and see. But what have others seen?

Pam Flores, Health Guide

10/21/11 7:55pm

Hi emmie, I hope some of our members who take this will chime in.  Those that I know taking it are doing well, but that's only about 10 people.  I thought the Citracal site said to take 2 tablets twice a day equaling 4 tablets total; that's where I got my total from, did I read this incorrectly?

 

Good luck with this and I hope it works, I just don't have any information on it or know anyone taking it.  I hope your next dxa shows improvement.  To bad you can't have your bone markers checked, since that is one way to determine whether or not your resorption markers are declining, as they should on this.

emmie

10/21/11 8:31pm

You read the info correctly- 4 tablets total per day. But the genistein content is listed as 27 mg per "serving size" on the bottle, and the serving size is 2 tablets. So if you follow their instructions to take the serving size of 2 tablets twice a day, you end up with 4 tab and 54 mg genistein. I think it is definitely a little confusing. Anyway, here's to hoping some readers chime in!