A huge thank you to everyone that replied regarding my recent post and reluctance to take Risedronate tablets.
I had a lovely email from Vivian, one of the dedicated nurses who has given me various options and advice on diet, exercises etc.
My appointment with my GP is tomorrow morning and I now feel able to query my medication options.
Will let you know how I get on.
I have just been reading a recent and useful summary called Nutrition and Osteoporosis, Rizzoli. If you search you will find. Rules here prevent putting up links to medical articles for some bewildering reason.
Interesting read. I have been taking calceos chewable 500mg, twice a day since breast cancer in 2012. These also have vitamin D in them.
What really upsets me is that this is first Dexa scan since 2012 but I’ve been having joint problems for over 10 years.
Be worth checking your vit D level , seems to me. If NHS won't, private blood test. Amount in calceos might be low. There aopear to be a variety of opinions in various countries/practices on how high to take the D. And yeah, there does seem to be a reluctance to Dexa scan us, probably because of the costs, given half of all women - over 60 is it? have OP. Major policy blunder I think.
Given their refusal to screen us, private scans in London are around £130 I think, and if I could only go back in time and advise myself I would have gone the moment I had intense back pain, and treated myself to an X ray too.
Totally agree. Have a review booked at surgery early feb. I’ve asked for blood test for thyroid which receptionist said they would book after my review?? Why not do blood test before so results are already at surgery when I go for review.
Will def ask for vitamin D check. I’m in Essex so possibly cheaper for private scan, will look into this.
I asked if my breast cancer and hysterectomy was the cause of osteoporosis and he said yes, so why wasn’t my bones checked. NHS seems to work backwards in a lot of things.
Have you had a range of blood tests checking for underlying causes? You need vitamin D, calcium and parathyroid (not the same as thyroid) in the same blood draw, plus thyroid, coeliac and a full blood count. If you haven't had any of these, I would ask for all of them.
Hi, thanks for replying. Would I still need a parathyroid check if I’ve already had partial thyroid removed in 1976. I was only 26 then and didn’t ask questions. I do remember doctors round my bed afterwards saying “we have to be careful of this one as we’ve removed too much”.
The parathyroid glands (4 of them) regulate blood calcium and are nothing to do with the thyroid. Raised parathyroid levels are a known cause of osteoporosis, yet many GPs don't seem to be aware of the importance of running a parathyroid blood test. It has to be done at the same time as vitamin D and calcium because all three interact with each other.
Thanks for quick reply. I will certainly ask when my gp does my yearly review.
I also take Calceos tablets, but vitamin D levels still low, so take a vitamin D tablet too.
I’ve got annual review 10th February so will ask to get my levels checked for this as well.
So much useful info on here
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