<p>I’ve done IV Boniva - no problems at all though I am no longer taking it.</p>
<p>twinmom- did your bone density improve? How long did you take it?</p>
<p>Like moonchild, I had a tumor removed from my parathyroid gland last summer, and am so hoping that my next DEXA scan is much better. Before my diagnosis, I’d consumed so much calcium that I thought the first scan was a mistake - but it wasn’t. For MOWC, I assume your docs have checked you out for the possibility of hyperparathyroidism, but if not, make sure they monitor your calcium and PTH levels for awhile to rule that out. It’s an often undiagnosed cause of osteopenia and then osteoporosis in otherwise healthy and youngish women.</p>
<p>Any one have opinions on Reclast, the annual infusion biophosphanate? While it is expensive, it is not much different from most of the oral drugs on an annual basis. Somehow the idea of getting it directly into the bloodstream makes more sense to me than the weekly dosing that seems to aggravate some people’s gut. I have been having DEXAs since my 40s to have a premenopausal baseline given my family history. I was about to become the world’s oldest menstruating woman I guess, but finally got there at 58 and now have my first post-menopausal numbers which are in the 90% of age matched (but still considered osteopoenic) except for the lumbar being at 2.5 which makes me officially “osteoporetic” there. So I am starting to deliberate options. Like others here, I’m hesitant to just jump on the drug bandwagon–but also worried that if I try to manage by lifestyle changes I will have a big irreversible “drop-off” before the next test. Anyway, I was very glad to find this discussion and hope others will keep sharing what they’ve learned and experienced.</p>
<p>Various drugs are OK. They are temporary solution, though since when you stop taking any of them, bones get britle very quickly.</p>
<p>Are you doing weight training on a daily basis? I imagine that you are spending at least one hour daily outside because of your training. I also imagine that you are very thin which is one of the major contributor. </p>
<p>I have never had a test. However, I measure my height on very regular basis and I also falling very hard on a regular basis on rollerblades. Since I have not had bone fructures yet, I assume that my bones are OK. I do weights daily and spend at least 1 hour outside daily year around in any weather. I am not very thin either, just within normal range for my heights. I do not know if any of these hints are useful for you, you are the one to decide.</p>
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<p>Good for you that you’re in the 90%! At 58, that’s wonderful. I’m not sure about a drop off being entirely irreversible, though. I think in your case, I’d become very diligent in my exercise, eating and supplements, read as much as I can, and see how much I could maintain. You can always go on the drugs, which usually does improve the numbers. Maybe they will come up with something better in the next few years.
Isn’t it amazing that you can have a bone density of 90% and still be labeled “osteopenia?” That’s when I question these measurements. I mean, who at 58 would expect to have the bone density of a 20 year old? That would just be weird! ;)</p>
<p>I’m curious about Reclast as well, mmaah.</p>
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<p>If you are past age 50 this may be an unwise assumption. Especially if osteoporosis runs in your family. No one with osteoporosis has a fracture – until they have one. The idea is to <em>prevent</em> that first fracture by finding the problem first and taking steps to prevent fractures, not to wait for a fracture to signal that you have a big problem and have waited too long.</p>
<p>I expect I have had fractures in my spinal column, since I am over an inch shorter than I used to be- but since my Drs don’t measure height annually, they don’t have a record.</p>
<p>* I remember how tall I was though* almost 5’ 3 ".</p>
<p>When you are less than 5’6" , you want every inch to count!</p>
<p>I also think I should be referred to an endocrinologist, as there has to be some reason for the bone loss- but my Drs. recommendation is to keep taking the vitamin D & have another scan in two years.</p>
<p>* I was about to become the world’s oldest menstruating woman I guess,*</p>
<p>Oh well- at 52 I am happy that my husband had a V, all I need is a change of life baby.
( actually- I have been oohing over the spring babies- but practically- I don’t want to go there)</p>
<p>Emeraldkity, loss of soft tissue (disc compression, meniscus erosion/compression in knee, etc.) could account for loss of height too.</p>
<p>thanks schmoomcgoo ( boy that is hard to pronounce), I should have realized that- although I also have alot of upper and lower back pain.
All the more reason to start getting deep tissue massages- get my synovial fluid moving around! :)</p>
<p>This is great information and thanks to everyone.</p>
<p>I do not do weight training on a daily basis. I don’t think that is necessary or recommended. When I am training well, I am outside about an hour a day (some days less, some quite a bit more) but much of it is in the early morning and, depending on the time of the year, in darkness. I do think I probably get more sun exposure in the summer than most people, despite working inside. None of that is going to overcome the genetics, though.</p>
<p>Is there some reason why a person can’t take a bisphosphonate but discontinue it temporarily if they have a fracture?</p>
<p>To me, that would seem like the most practical solution.</p>
<p>I take Fosamax, and my bone density (which was in the osteopenia range) has actually increased a little in the past two years even though I went through menopause at the time. I hope I’ll be able to stay on it (although I’m concerned about the occasional reports that seem to indicate that it can become counterproductive if you take it for many years). But if it slows fracture healing, then maybe discontinuing it for a few months after a fracture would make sense. After all, the period of disability after a fracture is a major nuisance that interferes with any attempt at a normal lifestyle. I broke my leg a few years ago (before starting the Fosamax), and I remember very well what an inconvenience that was for me and my whole family. Making your healing time as short as possible is a high priority.</p>
<p>I am outside ( with the landscaping) for 6 or so hours a day year round.
Unfortunately, I am usually too tired to then go to the gym to lift weights, but the work is pretty physical.
Apparently everyone in the 47 latitude is at risk for vitamin D
I still think I need to go to an endocrinologist, cause H remembered that I had to take hormones to maintain my pregnancies and a deficiency can mess with your bones.</p>
<p>Marian
The studies that I’ve seen say that the drugs don’t leave your body for many years. The changes that they make to your bones don’t instantly disappear once you stop taking them, if ever. That’s why you can take them for five years, stop them, and still be getting benefit for many years afterwards.
Dr. Susan Ott recommends only taking them for five years for this very reason.</p>
<p>They haven’t done any long-term studies on these drugs to see what happens after 10 years or so.</p>
<p>That’s very helpful information, moonchild. I hadn’t realized that.</p>
<p>So if you have been taking one of those drugs for a while and you have a fracture, you’re stuck with the slower healing even if you discontinue the drug because the stuff will still be in your body. </p>
<p>But on the other hand, without the drug, you’re more likely to have a fracture!</p>
<p>No wonder it’s hard for doctors to give patients advice.</p>
<p>I have heard the five years thing, too, but I thought it was because the changes in your bones from the drugs can increase your risk of certain types of fractures after that length of time. I didn’t realize that you might get any lingering benefit from having taken the drug for that length of time, but that would be a nice fringe benefit. </p>
<p>I have been taking Fosamax for about 2 1/2 years now. In another 2 1/2 years or so, I’m going to need to have a very thorough conversation with my doctor.</p>
<p>coreur,
You have taken my sentence >>Since I have not had bone fructures yet, I assume that my bones are OK.<< out of contest. I said, that I did not have fructures after I have been falling very hard on very hard surface while moving very fast (on rollerblades) on a regular basis. I am way way past 50,… into another decade. </p>
<p>I do not believe in preventing any problem with drugs. They have so many side effects. As I also mentioned and you also skipped, I do weights on a daily basis (they are much heavier than most HS girls do in my gym) and I am outside in any weather 1 hour/day. These are the only preventive measures that I am aware. I am not fond of many high protein foods. It is known that calcium is getting exctracted from our bodies with excess of protein. For that reason, I do not believe in great consumption of milk products either.</p>
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<p>You bring up an interesting point. So much of medicine now consists of prescribing medicines for preventive reasons. (Have you ever noticed that practically nobody in the doctor’s waiting room is actually sick?) But there is downside to that approach. Not only is it expensive, but the drugs themselves can cause problems. Sometimes, you feel like you’re trading one problem for another.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with the idea of avoiding all preventive medicines completely, but I think that often doctors are not as judicious as they could be about prescribing them. Maybe we should be working harder at trying alternative routes to the same goals.</p>
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<p>That is a concern as well. The studies show safety at five years. It is those who have been on them longer who are turning up with problems. So Dr. Ott feels that if the fracture risk is the same after five years for those who stop at that point and for those who continue, which the studies have shown, it makes sense to just go to five years.
There’s a lot of interesting info on this website.</p>
<p>[Osteoporosis</a> and bone physiology](<a href=“http://courses.washington.edu/bonephys/]Osteoporosis”>Osteoporosis and bone physiology)</p>
<p>I’m starting to supplement with strontium citrate. I’ve researched it, and think it’s worth a try before I go to the “hard stuff.” ;)</p>
<p>MOWC, I am sorry that you are having bone density problems! I hope that you will find an effective solution. </p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the medications, because my bone density is fine (see below). But I do have a couple of suggestions for you and other posters with osteopenia or osteoporosis. These may or may not be helpful, but they are benign and promote health in general. One is fish oil (n3 fatty acids). I have seen scattered reports that it might help with bone density (e.g. [Ratio</a> of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids and bone mineral density in older adults: the Rancho Bernardo Study – Weiss et al. 81 (4): 934 – American Journal of Clinical Nutrition](<a href=“http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/81/4/934]Ratio”>http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/81/4/934)), but I don’t think this has been established. I’ve been taking a medical-grade supplement for several years now (omegabrite.com) and it has had a dramatic effect on two problems I had. At the time I started the supplements, I had had a shoulder problem for 10 months. I had pain and limited mobility in one of my shoulders. I could not raise my arm higher than shoulder level. After I’d been taking the fish oil for about 6 weeks (I was not taking it for the shoulder problem, and had not expected it to help), I noticed that my shoulder was much less painful and my mobility was better. In the next few weeks, the pain completely disappeared and the mobility came back completely. I also found that I could stop taking CosaminDS, which had been keeping my osteoarthritis completely at bay for a number of years. My other suggestion is sardines, which are a good source of calcium. I started a thread on them a few months ago, because I wanted to start eating them but found them repulsive. One poster suggested a particular brand, and another posted a great recipe, and they are now one of my favorite foods. </p>
<p>I don’t know whether either of these suggestions will be helpful to anyone, but I am posting them just in case.</p>
<p>moonchild, I do, apparently, have the bone density of a much younger woman at age 60. My results were in the normal range for young women at all points measured (1 in the spine, 2 in the hips?) - I believe that the standard age is early 30’s, though, not 20’s. I specifically checked this point with my doctor to make sure that my interpretation of the test report was correct. I don’t know why my bone density is high. I imagine it is mostly genetic.</p>
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<p>To each his (or her) own. In most diseases, and for that matter most problems of any type, prevention is almost always better (and cheaper) than cure.</p>