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Newbie needs advice on osteopenia

pattibee
0 Recommendations

I'm new here so please forgive any lunacy on my part. I just had my first bone scan and got a score of -2 in the hip area. I fell and broke a foot a few months ago and the hip on that side still hurts like it was bruised inside when that happened. Mostly it's just when I'm still for long periods of time. Anyway, the doctor immediately put me on 5mg of Fosamax daily along with calcium and vitamin D and now I am wondering if I want to be taking this drug at this early stage and am looking for some opinions. I'm wondering if the calcium and vitamin D and (dreaded) exercise may help and maybe I should save the big guns (Fosamax) etc. for later if they are needed. Thanks, Patti

Explore topics in this discussion:

Exercise Osteopenia Interstitial cystitis Osteoporosis Fosamax

4 replies

cliffold

Pattibee

Without knowing anything about you (eg age, pre or post-menopausal, quality of diet etc) I would make the following suggestions.

Try to get your daily fresh veg & fruit and take the vit D and Calcium as suggested. This will make sure your body has the building blocks for bone growth

Do exercise which involves you being on your feet. walking is a great way to start and try to get into the habit of doing it every day. Everyone agrees that weight bearing exercise stimulates bone growth. You obviously are not currently a fan of exercise but as an alternative to taking the big gun drugs it wins hands down. You may be suprised that your attitude changes once you know it's doing some good.

I'll bet your doctor won't disapprove

pattibee

Thank you for your advice. I have begun walking and, you are right, it does help. I eat a pretty healthy diet yet there is certainly room for improvement and we're working on that as well. My only real concern right now is that the calcium seems to be affecting my bladder. I have interstitial cystitis and it's mostly not a problem but since I started taking 1500 mg of calcium every day, my bladder has started acting up. I'm going to back off and try to get as much as I can from food and take less in supplement form spread out over the day and see if that works. I want to take care of this before it has a chance to develop into something more serious. I'm just glad that I know about it. Thanks again! Patti

DBM

Pattibee, enough physicians agree no medication is needed for osteopenia but if it shows rapid progress toward osteoporosis then medication is called for. Diet and exercise, especially resistence training (weights) become very important. A couple of more additions (or should I say subtractions) to the diet list. Minimize caffeine. One cup of coffee per day is OK but then nothing else with caffeine in it. No colas or any soft drinks that have caffeine and phosphorus compounds in them - read ingredients label. Diet Sprite is OK. My favorite is key lime water found in Walmart and many groceries. Increase antioxidant foods - green tea without caffeine or sugar, broccioli and many others. You may read about avoiding carbonated drinks but it is the caffeine and phosphoric acid that should be avoided. Here is a reference:
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/4/936
Good luck

geyedlady

Patti I noticed you have IC. I do too.
I would be interested in hearing sometime how you have been treated for it.

Thanks

Julie (Geyedlady) at snofyre@aol.com

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