How effective is Actenol 5mg daily in reversing Osteopenia and in what timeframe and by how much - does anyone have real-life examples? Thankyou in advance.
I am a 59 year old male. I broke my shoulder last year in a low speed dirt motorbike fall, so 12 months ago I had a bone density scan out of interest, and was shocked when I was told I had osteopenia in the Femoral neck and the Lumbar spine was almost Osteopenic.
For the last 12 months since that test, to try get my numbers up, I:
- did brisk walking 50kms/week
- Took vitamin D and K supplements daily to help absorb calcium
- Drank 3 large decaffeinated coffees per day to get milk/calcium. (I’ve put on a lot of weight)
Last week, (12 months later) I had another bone density test to see my progress and ALL the numbers are worse (most recent summary report below).
The doctor wasn’t too fussed but I am concerned my bone density is decreasing annually and insisted on medication. He put me on daily 5mg Actenol I started it today.
I have started running 4kms daily and doing skipping and hand weights and pushups to increase weight bearing excersises, as brisk walking alone, isn’t doing anything for my bone density.
Latest numbers (this week)
————————-
Femoral neck: The BMD is 0.727g/cm .
T-score -2.0.
Z-score -1.1.
Lumbar spine: The BMD is 0.951g/cm .
T-score -1.0.
Z-score -0.5.
Comment:
The femoral neck is osteopenic. The lumbar spine is osteopenic.
Written by
MrFizz
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Sorry to hear about your motorbike accident and I hope that the large amount of exercise you're doing means that you made a full recovery from the fracture. Looking at your DEXA scan results, I wouldn't be unduly concerned. Your z-scores, which compare your bone density with average for your age, are within the normal range (the NHS website says a z-score better than -2 is within the normal range. Your lumbar spine z-score, at -0.5, is almost bang on average. I'm really surprised your doctor agreed to prescribe medication with those scores. All the medication does is increase bone density, but it does it by slowing or stopping the breakdown of old bone, which in turn interrupts the bone remodelling cycle and slows or stops the building of new bone. So you can end up with denser bone, but in the long run this will be poorer quality. Actonel (risedronate) is one of the bisphosphonate group of medications, so you might find it helpful to read this patient decision aid: nice.org.uk/guidance/ta464/....
I would say keep up all the exercise, which will be improving your bone strength, something that's far more important than bone density. Yes, loss of density does have some bearing on strength, but we all lose density as we age yet not everyone fractures. DEXA scans unfortunately don't measure strength, meaning the diagnosis based on them leads to the anomaly where some people with very poor bone density never fracture, while others with osteopenia or even normal density may have multiple fractures.
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Actenol is prescribed to slow down the rate of bone loss. Exercises which cause impact are most likely to build bone density so skipping should help.
We vary as individuals. My mother had osteoporosis and her mother before her and I think there can be a genetic component. Some people develop osteoporosis secondary to another condition such as parathyroidism which effects the calcium levels.
Keep doing what you are doing, and exploring all options is a great idea. Although my mother had osteoporosis for years she walked everyday and lived independently into her late 80s.
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