Long Term Avoidance of calcium

[Fishing_fred]

Hello,

I am male and 62yo. I have had issues with digesting dairy products for a number of years. At my last GP blood test the calcium number was 'normal' but I understand that this only gives a number for the calcium in the blood. Other blood results are normal. I am suffering from muscle aches, tingling/pins and needles in my legs and lack of energy and would like to get an idea if my body has effectively been starved of sufficient calcium for a number of years and my muscles and nerves need some help. I am currently taking more calcium foods and a couple of calcium citrate+D3 tablets per day.

Would having a bone scan be sensible and if so can anybody suggest a suitable place to go. I am in Manchester,UK and would be fine paying for the test rather than waiting for a GP referal.

Thanks

R.

[Jumpey]

I can 't help with where to get the scan.But would suggest you take vitamin k2( including mk4 andmk7) alongside the calcium to ensure it gets into your bones and not your arteries.

[Fishing_fred in reply to Jumpey]

Thank you. I had heard of K2 but was unsure what it's function was. I have now looked it up thanks to you message.

[Hidden in reply to Fishing_fred]

I also lactose intolerant, found I can handle yogurt, hard cheeses and orange juice with added calcium.

[LM100]

How about here as a starting point?nuffieldhealth.com/hospital...

[Fishing_fred in reply to LM100]

Thank you. The Manchester clinic is just a few miles away. I will see if I can find out if the GP will arrange it or failing that I will go and pay.

[LM100 in reply to Fishing_fred]

I doubt GP will refer you unless you meet any of the risk criteria.

[Fishing_fred in reply to LM100]

I will let you know. I have been a smoker for nearly 50 years and am tall and skinny with very low body fat. Take care.

[1000Miler]

You might wish to consider having a different type of bone scan from that which the NHS uses. There is a new type of scan, called REMS, that uses ultrasound instead of x-rays to measure bone density. It also gives you a "fragility score" for your bones, indicating their quality.The scans are offered by two private clinics in the UK. One is in Amersham, Buckinghamshire and the other is based in Daventry. The consultant who runs the Daventry clinic also takes a mobile clinic around the country and so scans can be booked closer to home.

The website for the Daventry clinic, Osteoscan UK, is here: osteoscanuk.com/

I see that your nearest mobile clinic is in Warrington. The mobile clinics get booked up very early, so you might have a long wait. If you don't mind the drive, you'll probably find that you can get an appointment much sooner if you travel to Daventry.

The scans currently cost £220 for the standard length appointment.

[Fishing_fred in reply to 1000Miler]

Thank you for the message. I will bear this in mind.

[Hidden in reply to 1000Miler]

Wish they had that in USA. Here they won't allow any upgrades unless you pay yourself.

[CloudyD]

Hi. Not sure why you think that the symptoms you list suggest a lack of calcium. Your symptoms could be down to a lot of different things, some of which may be more likely such as insufficient magnesium, one or more vit b, or iron, and others that don't come to my mind straight away.

If you think you have a lack of calcium, there are lots of food source alternatives to dairy and you can also get bottled water that is high in calcium. Getting calcium from a balanced diet is much better than taking a supplement - if you don't need it, a calcium supplement could cause you harm in other areas and it puts other needed nutrients out of balance.

Think it would be better if you did some more research into your symptoms and speak to a doctor about those before embarking on a journey of self treatment after self diagnosis. Good luck though!

[Fishing_fred in reply to CloudyD]

Hello CloudyD, Thank you for your comments - you are of course quite right and my issues may be due to others things rather than calcium.

However given my long term lack of calcium it seems a reasonable path to try. I am eating much better now and including alternative calcium FOODS in the diet as well as taking a dose of calcium supplements, taking vit K2 to try and direct the calcuim to the right place and making sure to get Vit D either from the sun or diet. My iron, B12 and folate have been fine on blood tests recently.

I will be making a call to the GP this to check on a bone scan.

R.

[Southerngirl2787]

Your symptoms resemble my nerve damage, non-diabetic neuropathy. Muscle ache, fatigue can be helped with a good quality magnesium, not oxide. A good quality salt may help some, but nerves are hard to get back to normal once they start to go wonky.

[Fishing_fred in reply to Southerngirl2787]

Thanks for your message. Will consider.

[Frodoles]

Take a look at Osteoscanuk.com run by Nick Birch. He had several sure around the country. The nearest to you I think is Warrington. There is also a list of dates when it is open in November and December. I have an appointment in early November but at his head quarters in Braunston as it's nearest to me. Good luck

[Fishing_fred in reply to Frodoles]

Thanks for your message, That clinic was mentioned in the postings above. I have it bookmarked.

[Fishing_fred]

Thanks for all the posts on here. I spoke to the GP today and he has refered me for a bone scan - he reckoned I was 'medium risk'. The waiting time was quoted as being 2-4 weeks---we shall see.

R.

[Frodoles]

But is that a dexa scan? Most people that have the Rems one find it more accurate and quite often the results are lower than those of a dexa scan.

[Fishing_fred in reply to Frodoles]

I don't know if REMS or DEXA are better and how does anybody find out ? I am just trying to find out if years of ( probably ) sub-optimal calcium intake have left me at risk of suffering breakages of my arms or legs. If anybody had BOTH tests done who is to say which is a more realistic report. Thanks for your thoughts.

[Met00 in reply to Fishing_fred]

There's a lot of evidence that DEXA is more liable to error than REMS. REMS is more fully automated, so is far less likely to have positioning and interpretation errors. It can also give accurate results when there's arthritis, curvature of the spine and other issues that can make DEXA inaccurate. Osteoporosis is systemic, meaning bone loss occurs at a similar rate throughout the body. My last DEXA gave a spine t-score of -3.6, hip -2.6, but REMS 15 months later gave both scores as -2.6. I trust the REMS scores far more than DEXA. REMS also calculates a fragility score, which gives an indication of bone strength, which isn't the same as bone density.

[Fishing_fred in reply to Met00]

Thanks for your post. I will bear this in mind.

[colospgs]

Check your Vit D level. Your problems remind me of problems my son had for almost half a year He did a abattery of tests for autoimmune diseases. I , not his physician, asked him to check Vit D and it was 11 units; the norm is above 20 units.. After he startedf vit D supplementation, all problems started to dissapear and in a week were gone.

[Fishing_fred in reply to colospgs]

Thank you. My Vit D level is OK at present but will keep an eye on it.