Hi everyone,
Hows the weather over there? It was 38 degrees here last night. Heat wave!
8 degrees tonight plus wind will feel colder.
I was reading about how steroids ( pills and inhalers) thin your bones. Just wondered if you guys are taking calcium,
Vitamin d, and vitamin k. Plus we need to be doing weight bearing exercise. Would the stretchy band exercises help bone density stilltruckin? I'm not sure on that.
just thought I would mention it and see how many of you do take calcium.
Rubyxx 
Hi Ruby I can't seem to keep warm where ever Iam this winter, we really are having a cold spell with Artic winds I live in midlands, the North is worse off. I'm sure your right about thinning the bones I have been on Calcium tabs 600mg with Vitamin D from GP for last 5 mths she won't let me come off them at the moment. Don't feel any livelier though, can't go out much this last week cold Imakes me cough.! Sorry feeling miserable with myself this week, you stay well
Hi JuneCov,
Thats good your taking them.
You don't want to stop.
Stay warm
Rubyxx
"Hello..Yes Ruby i too am taking calcium tabs 6oomg and vitamin D...all prescribed by my Dr, and like you juneCov..I Don't feel any livelier either lol... Also june I live in the Midlands..(Birmingham) and Yes!!!! its freezing here, been trying its hardest to snow but i think its too cold. to snow.Brrrrrr....Awe and you say your feeling all miserable today..well here is a massive big squeezy ((hugs)) for you..just keep yourself all wrapped up and put yer feet up with a nice cuppa tea...Oh!! and Ruby.. I was told any kind exercise was a huge benefit to us all..hehehe!! So keep stretching my friend......Megan.xx
You got it! Ever get your bone density checked? I didn't hear your 3 wishes Megan on my other post. Maybe you didn't see it. You gotta have some wishes.If dreams could only come true. It don't hurt to wish and dream. Its fun
take care buddy
Rubyxx
"Awe Ruby...Not recently for i already have osteoporosis, alongside my rheumatoid arthritis so there is no need for further test's for my bone density...and three wishes you ask....well...let me think....
Think my first wish would be......To Win the Lottery..
Think my second wish would be....To Win The European Lottery.
Think my third wish would be ....To give it all to the BLF.. And find a cure for US!!! all...Yeah!!!!
Thems my three wishes Ruby.....hoping your doing okay...Megan."
Thanks for your kind comments and the big squeezy hug, I'm so tead up I feel like moving into the bathroom then I think sod it that's my daily excercise at the moment. You sound like a typical warm hearted Brummie, I visit the Heartlands hospital very often ! I find all the staff wonderful friendly with a great sense of humour, we love to have lunch then in the city. Are you a true Brummie?
" Yes!... A true Blue Brummie, June....i even support the Blues i was born in the old Queen Elizabeth hospital along side my twin sister....that was 17th february 1946, my delivery time was 12:15pm..and my twin was born 12:45pm....she weighed 1lb:2oz..i weighed 2lb.6oz..thank good goodness we where two weeks over due..hehehe!! bless us..But most my working life i loved on farms and in breeding kennels out in the countryside.which till this day i so miss.Don't get me wrong..June.. i love B'ham..But i loved the freedom and space plus the country folk when i lived in the country..Plus a much quieter and slower pace of life there.. i am now in Bournville where they make the Cadbury chocolate.. gosh!! and doesn't it stink every day. ..yuck!!well i hope your feeling much better soon ..keep yourself well wrapped up..Megan.xx"
Megan, that is amazing you were both so tiny! One of my daughters arrived nearly 6 weeks early and she weighed 7lb 7oz, we were so lucky that she was a good size and strong, imagine if she had been full term
I was on steroids for a misdiagnosed asthma which turned out in the end to be COPD while being treated for asthma I was fed steroids as if they were smarties now for my sins I have advanced osteoporosis and until I had them removed 3 years ago cataracts of all things I have so far managed to steer clear of getting or developing type two diabetes sorry for the doom and gloom but these are are the three long term side effects of using steroids.
I nearly went down that road,thanx to people like you that tell the truth or are not afraid to speak out ,that I was able to educate my self on such toxic matters.
Hi Colors 23,
Your replies are always good. You don't just "YES" everybody. You ck. Things out. You have too. Doctors aren't Gods. What do you do in place of steroids? I know some people have no choice. Its kind of like you keep your lungs going and the rest of your body gets destroyed. Gotta be a better way! Don't know what.
Rubyxx 😴
Hi Ruby,
That is a very interesting and pertinent point you have just brought up, as I was told the other day by a GP that a physio I am seeing on the mainland ( I live on an island) for neck issues thought that I may have osteopenia, and so had written to him about it. I have the beginnings of a hump on my back apparently which I cannot see, and have lost a lot of muscle there too. I was also on vitamin D for many months, but has been stopped now. Osteopenia is not as bad as osteoporosis, and some docs think it is the stage before it. To cut a long story short I have to go for a bone density scan and have been started on calcium. I had a long spell on oral steroids, and have also been on a steroid inhaler ( among others) for years. It appears that weight bearing exercise, a healthy balanced diet and lots of sun will help.!!
It will be interesting to find out if I have this osteopenia as hopefully it can be halted and prevented from progressing.
Take care,
hugs from Huggs xxx
Hi Huggs,
I know they give steroids out like candy. Not so much in the usa. But, you guys seems to be on them constantly. Its kind of scarey. I also have osteopenia. I have heard of people increasing their bone density by exercise. We need to work on that for sure.Like to hear how you make out.
take care,
Rubyxx
Hi Ruby,
Although I did have to spend months on oral steroids, I have been fortunate in that I have not needed them for seveal months njw. I am unsure if the inhalers have any noteable side effects long term, so will have to look it up.
I have found out that weight bearing exercise helps bone density, but other conditions prohibit me doing that at the minute, but hope that ewill change. Have you had osteopenia long and how did they find out you had it, because apparently it is symptomless unless you get a fracture? However I do have symtoms over an area on my back but that might be unrelated. I am assuming you have had a bone density scan also? I will let you know how it goes, but have no idea when I will get an appointment. The nearest place to me that does these scans is around 40 miles away, to a former private hospital which is suppose to be very posh. lol
hugs from Huggs xx
Hey Huggs,
They keep an eye on me as my mom has osteoporosis. She is bent over some and has bad knees. Her bones are bad. So I havent broken anything. They do them every 2 yrs here. Right now they are doing free ct scans on people that smoke or did smoke. For some reason the health care is very different in uk and usa. They don't give antibiotics out here unless you have an infection. Their more for nebulizer s and inhalers. Sometimes steroids if needed.Everything is so different. But we're all people that deal with the system whatever it may be
Take care
Rubyxx
hi Ant, did they advise you to take calcium or do bone density tests? So now your on those strong bone building pills? I'm so sorry to hear of your advanced osteoporosis. How are you dealing with that? Plus you have copd right. Wow thats a plateful Ant. Do you live by youself?
We'll listen to your gloom and doom any time Ant. Maybe we all learned something from you.
Take care
Rubyxx
Hi Ruby - my last DEXA scan showed osteopenia consistent with what would be "normal for a woman of my age"! I don't take calcium as i've been told i have plenty in my diet but i worry about adequate absorption so i take Vit D3 and magnesium which are both required to absorb calcium properly.
Stretchy bands will provide resistance exercise and build muscle. Stilltruckin and others may have more specific info about working with bands. I do weights myself as part of my PR workout but its important to start slowly and from where you are, bad to attempt too much to begin with.
Can you tell me what Vitamin K is good for please? I think i knew once but its gone the way of many lost bits of info.
8 degrees would be a heatwave here at present, its freezing 
Thanks for the follow btw
Hi O2 Trees,
You need the k also for your bones.It also helps your blood clot.But you need it along with the D and magnesium to absorb the calcium.I've read of people increasing their bone density with exercise. It can be done.Do you take alot of steroids? Did you read Ants reply to me? If not you should.Everyone should know what these steroids are doing to them.We need to check it out better.
gotta go,
Rubyxx 😇
Oh i do really know about them. Difficulty is i'd be dead without them so on balance id rather take 'em. But do everything to compensate against damage. Thanks for K info x
02Trees...I totally agree with everything you have just written.... i'd never survive without my steroids...My Dr refuses to give me a steroid inhaler. saying the amounts of steroids are bad for my already damaged diseased bones. but i still take the oral steroids when i am having difficulty trying to breath..forget my pains in my legs and body i tell him...so long as i can breath then thats all i am going to worry about right now.. keep safe..keep yourself warm..Megan"
Hi Megan (my daughter's called Megan )
Don't quite understand your doc's logic as oral steroids are so much stronger than inhaled ones, and you might not have to take them if you had an inhaler where the amount is so much less. But s/he is right to have concerns - over the years various GPs have said to me that you don't absorb the inhaled steroids which never seemed credible to me - if O2 gets absorbed through the blood why wouldn't inhaled steroids. I think GPs are less cavalier these days.
Anyway its all a balance of risk - breathe or die and we've all made our choice.
Trying to stay warm; don't know where you live Megan, but its very cold here in Kent. You take care
" flibberti....you echoed my very words... so glad i am not alone with my own notions on steroids ..Keep safe...Megan.
Hahaha, flibberti, yeah, me too 
I just got a new deep purple small bruise on my forearm, looks a bit like australia, and how did that happen? No idea, but i get them all the time. Defo the steroids, it looks like something leaked. Ive taken a pic of it to show my consultant. Sometimes I'm covered with them, very attractive, and the skin is so stretched on each arm it would cover twice the arm area.
But like you say, who cares, WE'RE ALIVE!!!!!
Thanks flibberti. This just started in the last year, steroid intake gone beyond the tipping point i guess. Strangely i don't wound easily and when i do, it heals pretty quickly. But maybe that's the next stage. Always something new, and not usually in a good way! I'll remember re Wendells and that cream
Hi Ruby,I had to take oral steroids for the whole of last year and still do,just to help me breathe,very severe emphysema.I take Calceos and Alendronic acid,I also take vit D3 supplement.I had a Dexa scan but it seems only my fillings falling out and my finger nails chipping are the main side effects,My eyes are also deteriorating.I wish there was an alternative to steroids but it seems not at the present time.Regards D.
Hi farmer D,
The steroids are effecting your eyes? It seems they really do a number on your whole body. I have copd but don't take steroids. I just take one puff of qvar.what can you do to buffer the side effects of it? Just thinking out loud. Its like to breathe the rest of your body has to fall apart. It is what it is? Sure is something to do some reading on.what are the two meds you take for?
Rubyxx😺
Calceos is for calcium as is Alendronic acid.My Seretide inhaler also has steroids in.The usual dose of steroids is 30mg while taking antibiotics then I would reduce 5mg a week but each time I got down to 5mg another infection would occur.On 20mg at the moment just to breathe,roll on the transplant lol.Steroids give us cataracts and in my case glaucoma,just waiting eye hospital appointment.Aaaaaarrrgghh! Lol D. 
Morning Rubyred, What a temperature change 38 and then down to 8 deg, Where do you live, when my husband suffered with IPF he was put on calcium pills, but had to come off them because he only had one kidney,he developed osteoporosis, apparently caused by long term steroid treatment, talk about between the devil and the deep blue sea.Hope your weekend goes well. Regards Bulpit
Hi Bulpit,
I live in New Jersey, usa. Its a really cold winter here. Last winter we had snow constantly. This winter so far is worse with cold temps. But its not over yet! Where do you live! How is your weather? Yes you can't win with the steroids. I dont really take them . Just one puff of inhaler.
There must be some things you can do to minimize the effects some.
Take care
Rubyxx
Thanks for your response Ruby, I live in South East England, our weather is very cold at the moment,about 1 deg Celsius, Nowhere as bad as you. My nephew lives in New Jersey and he tells me that you have to keep the sidewalk outside your house clear of snow. How on earth do you manage that when you have any sort of health problems, especially breathing problems,always worse in the cold weather, My very best wishes to you and yours, bulpit
We don't have that problem , as we live behind a strip mall. No sidewalk! No problem.
That's good Ruby, What is a Strip Mall.Bulpit
Its a little row of stores . We are behind them in the back of their parking lot. Its actually quite convenient, as in front of them is a main road and everything is near by. Including buses if you dont drive.
Over 2 years of steroids will it stop?
Organising pneumonia - how soon do the steroids kick in?
Steroid inhalers and oral thrush.
Steroids for COPD flare up
